Often the second cure will include spices or herbs, and sometimes a bit of rum or whisky. The actual smoking takes place inside a chamber filled with smoke from smoldering hardwood. The choice determines the texture, flavor, and potential uses of the fish. In this temperature range, the fish is not cooked, just dried a little further and infused with smoke flavor, so it remains especially moist and tender. Lightly cured, tender, and moist, it can be sliced thin without breaking apart.
Sturgeon also takes beautifully to the cold-smoke treatment.
This is the kind of smoked fish produced by most home-sized smokers. Many types of fish can be hot-smoked. The golden-colored whole smoked whitefish sold in delis also fall into this category, as do smoked mackerel and bluefish. Cut hot-smoked fish into cubes, chunks, or thick slices, or just flake it apart along the natural seams between the muscles. In this form, the fish is ready to use in salads and other cold dishes, or gently warmed in a pasta sauce.