Up in Smoke: The Best Oregon Smoked Seafood

In small smokehouses along the Oregon coast, brined or cured Pacific Ocean seafood is exposed to the smoke of burning and smoldering hickory and alderwood to infuse it with rich, woodsy flavor. Many of these smokehouses ship their product across the country. Among our favorites are those from Josephson's, a fourth-generation family operation in Astoria. We love the sweet glaze on the meaty fillet that makes up its 1 Hot Smoked Wine-Maple Salmon ($40/lb.). Josephson's also employs indirect cold smoking to slowly add flavor to the fish before blasting it with a drying heat to make its 2 Hot Smoked Salmon Jerky ($10/3 oz.). The jerky comes seasoned in six different varieties, including garlic and sweet-and-hot peppered. Smoking since 1940, Bell Buoy of Seaside sources fat-rich Columbia River Chinook for its 3 Smoked Salmon Strips ($18/lb.) and big, plump Willapa Bay bivalves for its 4 Smoked Oysters ($26/lb.), which are soaked in sweet brine and treated to a light amount of heat so they retain their natural tenderness.