If you’re looking to buy smoked salmon then make sure you choose one that is traditionally prepared using time-honoured techniques and delivers a rich, succulent smoky flavour and a firm texture.

After all, smoking salmon is not a scientific process. It’s a craft and one that John Ross Jr has developed for over 150 years. Using traditional brick kilns dating back to 1857, here’s how we do it:

•  The salmon arrives on boats in Aberdeen’s harbour and is then taken to the smoker

• Each fish is then hand filleted and dry salted

• Once the dry salting has finished the salmon are rinsed off and sprinkled with Demerara sugar

• The salmon are then hung in brick kilns to be cold smoked over a unique blend of oak and beech chippings. With our traditional smoked salmon this is all we use to create its distinctive flavour although our specialist flavours require a little something extra. Our Tea Smoked Salmon is smoked over Lapsang Souchong Tea whilst our Balvenie Whisky Smoked Salmon is infused with Balvenie Whisky.

• Depending on a number of factors including weather and climate, the salmon is then smoked for up to 24 hours

• The Master Smoker then inspects each salmon by lightly squeezing the tail. By doing this, he knows whether or not they need to be smoked for longer

The entire process is down to an intuitive technique that has developed over years and years of smoking; the result of which has made John Ross Jr the connoisseur’s choice throughout 36 countries across the globe.