This article was written by National Geographic Traveler (UK).
Smokers, rooted in medieval farmers, where their families kept lit to preserve meat, fish and cheese, flourished after the advent of refrigerated storage. One theory is that smoked food reminds the limbic system of the brain to tap on the faucet and cook over fire. Or maybe it's just the aroma of the wood used and the juicy taste layered. All over the UK, blackened stone smokers use a process that takes several days to reach optimal results, setting the pits on fire for hot and cold smoking. Here are eight visits.
London's oldest working smoke opened in 1880 at Crouch End behind a fishmonger of the same name. It is still a family-run company, with recipes from six generations dating back to ruthless, oily fish from British ports. This process takes hours and the fish are hanging high above smoldering wood shavings to cool down. Salmon, Mackerel, Herring, Trout, or House Speciality: Dive into Kippers' store.
Located in a home in the Cambrian Mountains in Welsh, this microsmokelly specializes in dry smoked bacon and lamb using a two-week process. Look for interesting flavor combinations, such as smoked rum, molasses bacon, and barbecue rubs with smoked salt and sugar. Owner Claire Jesse runs workshops (including streak bacon, bringing home) and offers accommodation in a 200-year-old stone barn.
This award-winning smoke speciality is set up by former chef John Caufield in a crate (storage shed) with stone walls and peat roofs – is a completely flaky alder smoked salmon . It is sustainably sourced, Atlantic is raised, and after 24 hours of paint and injected, it undergoes a hot, gentle smoking process of nine hours. Organic cold smoked salmon and smoked trout are also packed with flavours. Tours and tastings can be booked.

Kipper's smoky oak scent can be traced throughout Craster thanks to local L Robson & Sons Smokehouse. Photos by Alamy and ClearView
Old stoned L-Robson & Sons at Cluster Harbor have been pouring the scent of legendary cluster kipper smoky oak into this Northumberland fishing village since 1856. Perfect for breakfast), buy kipper fish cakes and traditional smoked salmon, haddock, cod or kipper patties and sham on the oat cake and enjoy the coastal snack to nearby Danceborough Castle.
Using the method handed over by his grandparents, Bill Spink has been producing North Sea haddocks since 1965, which have been salted, dried and salted in hot smoke on hard wood. With crab, salmon, mackerel, shrimp, kipper, halibut and herring, picks up this protected local specialization.
On a 300-acre cow and sheep farm, Douglas, on a rippling hill near Castle Douglas, a self-proclaimed “food town” in southwestern Scotland, James and Karen Beard, are the homemade smokers and their own lambs in dry Scottish hardwoods. I'll suck. Roasted or pulled meat is sucked “low and slow” in small batches and sold out very quickly online.
Based on traditional smoking techniques learned in Germany in the 1980s, the master smoker of this Somerset Moore business is open oaks to hot smoked mackerel, trout and local meat, including tasty chicken and water creamy sausages. Burn the fire. Cold smoking takes up to 20 hours on brick ki, providing a flavor like orange, fennel and salmon. Visit our shops and restaurants or check out the opening days dates throughout the year.
For 30 years, Terry and Chris have caught eels in the faint tributaries of Wash and River Humber, then gently smoke on beach chipping. Smith, the only company in the UK to catch and smoke its own eel, is a fixture for the local farmers market, including Lincoln and Grantham. Check out our online store too. See the smoked salmon pate, cream cheese and butter, and silky fillets of smoked trout.
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