Stove Top Smoker

Here it is: The Cameron Products, Stovetop Smoker! This was my gift from Tim for Christmas and it works like a charm. It is made out of stainless steel and designed to work directly on top of the stove. It has a very clever and compact design. It is just a bit bigger than a 9 x 13 pan. The handles wrap around the outside of the pan for easy storage.

Inside the pan is the drip pan and a wire rack. The lid slips tightly over the top to seal in the smoke and it keeps the meats very moist. It was recommended to line the drip pan with aluminum foil to help with clean up, which I did and it was suggested to spray the wire rack with PAM, which I did not do!

Here are the little canisters that are full of the pulverized woodchips that go into the very bottom of the smoker. There are many varieties of wood. We have alder, hickory, cherry and oak. There is nothing added to the woodchips. They are simply dried to remove resins, then ground to a fine pulp.

We chose cherry wood for smoking salmon. Any of the fruit woods have a wonderful flavor, as do any of the hardwoods. Anything can be smoked also! Meat, cheese, vegies, garlic...you name it!

Add the woodchips first directly to the center of the ridged bottom pan. Only using 1 1/2 Tablespoons of chips. This was more than enough for a pleasant flavor.

There they are, looking so innocent in the middle of the pan!

Next, the foil lined drip pan, then the wire rack is added. The drip pan is place directly on top of the woodchips.

Now a beautiful piece of salmon with great thanks to my sister, Valarie, who is the best fishing guide! She and her husband own and operate Early Fishing and fish in both Oregon during the fall, winter and early spring, and in Alaska during the late spring and summer months. This precious fillet was part of our Christmas package.

The salmon was seasoned lightly with salt, pepper, and dill weed. That is it! Any seasoning could be used, like teriyaki, marinade, a jerk rub, or just lemon and butter, but we wanted the full flavor of the smoke for this piece of fish.

The whole pan is placed on top of the burner and the lid slides shut with a lip that wraps around the edges to help seal in the smoke. The burner is preheated to medium heat which produces the effect of 375 degrees inside the smoker. Within a few minutes, it was already smoking, but it seemed like a little too much smoke.

The directions and cooking guide have a special note about smoke escaping. It said it was easily fixed by "The Tweak". Basically, the smoker was slid off of the burner and using the palm of my hand, I applied downward pressure to the center of the lid, where you see the purple pot holder. It worked like a charm!

The smoker was placed back on the burner and as you can see, the only smoke or steam was from the potatoes and eggs boiling for hot potato salad which was cooking on the back burner!

The salmon was finished cooking in 25 minutes. It had a very delicious woodsmoke smell and our mouths were watering! As you can see, there was very little mess in the drip pan as well.

We served up the smoked salmon with green beans from the garden, hot potatoes salad with eggs from our hens, and bread and butter pickles from our summer garden harvest.

Here is a closer view of the freshly smoked salmon. It was moist and delicious with the perfect smoky flavor! Thank you Val and Tim for a wonderful gift!

The Cameron Stovetop Smoker is made in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It can also be used for larger items like chicken, turkey, or a roast by simply using a foil tent over the pan instead of the lid that slides shut. Here's to happy smoking!