The Chef-Approved Smoked Salmon You Should Always Buy At Costco

Salmon has been eaten for well over 11,500 years, being consumed in different ways for each meal of the day. There are six different types of salmon that you'll be able to find and purchase in grocery stores. Five of the types are from the Pacific Ocean, and the sixth type is from the Atlantic Ocean. In today's time, some of the more popular options to prepare salmon are by making a cream cheese bagel with smoked salmon or a smoked salmon eggs benedict for breakfast. But, what exactly is smoked salmon? 

Smoked salmon is salmon that has been processed using two techniques, curing and smoking. Curing is where the boneless and thawed filet is coated with salt or sugar for between 12 to 24 hours. In the curing stage, the salt or sugar is used to preserve the salmon and stop bacteria that could cause food poisoning from growing. Once the time has passed, the salt or sugar is rinsed off and the filet is put into a kiln where the actual smoking takes place, usually burning hickory, maple, or oak wood. Luckily, smoked salmon is fairly easy to find in most grocery stores, including wholesale warehouse store Costco. Interestingly enough, the smoked salmon from Costco is so great that it's even approved by a baker and chef couple, according to Insider.

While the five types of Pacific salmon are all unique in their own right, the type of salmon native to the Atlantic Ocean has a big difference: The salmon from the Pacific are all wild-caught, and Atlantic-caught salmon is always farmed. Luckily, the wholesale warehouse store Costco sells some chef-approved smoked salmon that shouldn't be passed up. Kirkland's Signature smoked salmon is farm raised and comes pre-sliced and ready to be used easily in many dishes with the added benefit of having a low cost.

If you're looking to make a dish using smoked salmon and you're not sure where to start, here are a couple of ideas that might help inspire you to create something truly special in the kitchen: Add smoked salmon to your usual salad for a smoky touch, spread cream cheese onto cucumber slices and top with some smoked salmon, or loaded baked potatoes with tomatoes, smoked salmon, and sour cream. As you can see, it's not hard to find a way to zhush up a dish and add some creativity to your kitchen with this ingredient.