Our History
We believe that creating something beautiful can never be rushed
Our passion for seafood is matched only by our proud Scottish heritage. In Scotland, preserving and flavouring fish with wood smoke can be traced back to the 11th century. With today’s predominance of mass-manufacturing, we feel privileged to help maintain and honour the old artisanal curing and smoking techniques so our customers can enjoy premium, smoked fish just the way our ancestors enjoyed it. That way our customers can continue to enjoy beautifully smoked fish, the way it should be.
Our History & Principles
Belhaven Smokehouse was a family business for over 46 years, until in 2021 it was entrusted by the family to new owners after their retirement. Now owned and managed by two close, long standing friends who share a passion for quality food and beautiful produce; we are committed to upholding the same values, principles, and quality products on which the business was founded.
We believe in putting people before profits. Our moral principles and strict ethics underpin our business and govern everything we do. Above all else, we respect, nurture and value our staff. We believe in the fair treatment of the people who make up our business, our suppliers and the customers we serve.
Our Smokehouse
Belhaven Smokehouse products have a distinctly rich and unique flavour and texture, highly prized by chefs and our retail customers.
Our cold smoked salmon & trout is dry cured for 24-48 hours using a varying mix of salt, sugar, spices and botanicals. This draws out moisture and infuses flavour. The sides are then gently smoked over oak chips for up to 24 hours, under the watchful eye of our skilled smokers. As much as 20% of the fish’s weight is lost during our process, far more than with some of the mass production techniques. We believe this financial sacrifice for us is more than justified by the firm and exquisite texture of our product.
Unlike cold smoking, during hot smoking the fish is cooked as it is smoked. Prior to smoking, our fish can be marinated to add a range of flavours. The art to hot smoking is to perfectly cook the fish to ensure it remains succulent and full of rich smoky flavour.
Our Belhaven Smokehouse recipes have been developed and refined over many years and we love experimenting with new and interesting flavours and curing techniques. The specially selected oak chips we use come from sustainably managed forests and can be traced back to the exact plantation they came from.
We welcome any hotels and restaurants looking for bespoke cures and we are always delighted to work with chefs to create individual, signature recipes.
Our Smokehouse shop
Our Smokehouse shop is open during the following hours:
Monday & Tuesday - CLOSED
Wednesday to Saturday, 10am - 4pm
Sunday - CLOSED
Find us just off the A1 on the A199:
Belhaven Smokehouse Shop
Beltonford
Dunbar EH42 1ST
Google Map | What 3 Words
Visit our shop to find a range of food products which reflect the best of wholesome Scottish produce. It is the perfect place to stock your kitchen with exciting, artisan food products and buy a foodie gift for someone special.
Customer Testimonials
"Belhaven smoked salmon is a staple on our menus. A product that is of a quality and consistency fitting of a 5 star environment. Excellent customer service. Rob and his team’s passion for their produce shines through."
"First time here and will definitely be back again as we love everything we’ve bought, smoked salmon absolutely delicious my daughters really enjoyed it. My husband love his trout with sweet chill Amazing. Thank you"
"Lovely friendly, helpful young lady serving. I bought hot smoked trout fillet and smoked salmon last Friday on our way home to Lancashire, I have just had some of the trout for my tea, it was superb. Thank you, am looking forward to the rest of my purchases."
"Probably the best hand-cut Smoked Salmon I have ever tried. I've always been reliant on their online ordering service as I live in London now.
The smoked cheddar is also to die for...
Cannot recommend highly enough!"