How long to smoke salmon
salmon at 225°F takes
35min to 45min
- Pull at
- 145°F
- FDA safe minimum
- 145°F
Your cook
At each smoker temperature
| Smoker | Time |
|---|---|
| 225°F answer | 35–45 min |
| 250°F answer | 25–40 min |
| 275°F answer | 20–30 min |
| 300°F answer | 15–25 min |
When it is done
- Take it off at the minimum
- For salmon the pull temperature and the FDA minimum are the same: take it off at 145°F.Pull temperature: the internal temperature at which the meat comes off the smoker, read with a food thermometer whose tip sits at the center of the meat.FDA safe minimum: the internal temperature the FDA gives for fin fish, as measured with a food thermometer. The meat must reach it before it is served.
- Rest
- None neededRest: the FDA gives no rest time for fin fish, so the meat is safe as soon as it reaches the minimum above.
Other cuts
- How long to smoke whole turkey 6 h 45 min – 10 h 15 min
- How long to smoke pork butt 9 h 35 min – 15 h 35 min
- baby back ribs smoking time 5 h 15 min – 6 h
- Smoking brisket 10 h 50 min
- whole chicken smoking time 4 h 15 min
- chicken wings smoking time 2 h – 2 h 40 min
Sources
Figures built October 2026.
Where these figures come from (3)
- Cook times: Masterbuilt, “Smoking Time & Temperature Guide”, retrieved from https://www.masterbuilt.com/blogs/master-it-blog/smoking-time-temperature-guide on 2026-09-23. Restated as numbers and normalised to 225°F by the formula on this site; no text or table is reproduced.
- Safe minimum internal temperatures: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures”, August 2017, retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/media/107000/download on 2026-09-23.
- Smoker air temperature: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, “Smoking Meat and Poultry”, last updated 2024-08-13, https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/smoking-meat-and-poultry; read on 2026-09-30 from the Internet Archive copy https://web.archive.org/web/20260119024449/https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/smoking-meat-and-poultry.
Times are estimates for planning. Meat is done when a food thermometer reads the safe minimum internal temperature, not when a timer ends. The USDA advises keeping the air in the smoker between 225 and 300°F for the whole cook.