Ekone Oyster Co. Guide: Smoked Oysters from Willapa Bay

October 12, 2026

Ekone Oyster Co. has been smoking oysters on the shore of Willapa Bay, on the Pacific coast of Washington state, since 1980. The company grows shellfish in Washington's tidelands, smokes it gently and packs it by hand, and it describes the whole chain in four words: "from tide to tin." This guide follows that chain. It covers the people who started the cannery, the bay that feeds it, how a Pacific oyster is grown and smoked, what is in each tin, and how to serve smoked oysters, mussels and salmon so that each one shows what it is.

A few terms first. An estuary is a bay where a river's fresh water mixes with salt water from the ocean, which makes it rich in the tiny floating plants and particles shellfish eat. An oyster is a bivalve, a soft-bodied animal that lives between two hinged shells, and it is a filter feeder: it pumps seawater over its gills and strains food out of it. Spat are baby oysters that have just settled and fastened themselves to a hard surface. Brining means soaking food in salted, often seasoned, water before cooking or smoking it. Smoking means holding food in wood smoke so it takes on the smoke's flavor and color.

The cannery on the bay

Ekone was founded in 1980 by Nick and Joanne Jambor, whom the company describes as shellfish farmers keen on perfecting their smoking techniques and recipes. When the Jambors retired, the Taylor Shellfish family was asked to carry on the business, and Ekone is now part of that family. Ekone says it is operated by five generations of Pacific Northwest shellfish farmers and calls itself a family cannery on the shores of Willapa Bay. The cannery is in Bay Center, Washington.

The company says it owns "the entire process from tide to tin," from raising the shellfish in Washington's tidelands (the strip of shore that floods at high tide and drains at low tide) to smoking it gently and packing it by hand. It says its wild-caught fish comes from nearby tribes and local fishing families. Its stated house style is "Northwest style": little oil, and tins packed to the brim with large pieces.

Willapa Bay

Willapa Bay sits in Pacific County, on the Washington coast. Washington's marine spatial planning program, the state effort that maps how the coast is used, describes the bay as the center of shellfish farming on that stretch of coast and calls it a "Grade A Working Estuary." It has always been a working harbor, the state's analysis says, but the low number of people living around it has allowed its water quality to remain high. In 2010 Pacific County had 17,288 acres under commercial shellfish farming, and the county accounts for 23 percent of the state's farmed mollusk sales (mollusks are soft-bodied animals such as oysters, clams and mussels). Statewide, the analysis credits Washington-grown shellfish with 31 percent of the value of farmed shellfish production in the United States, based on federal agriculture figures.

The oyster grown there today is not the bay's first. The native oyster of the coast is the small Olympia oyster, and Washington Sea Grant, the University of Washington's marine research and outreach program, says it was harvested mainly from Willapa Bay and southern Puget Sound. The state's analysis records that heavy harvesting by early white settlers drove the Olympia oyster to commercial extinction (too scarce to harvest for sale) by the early 1900s. Its replacement came from across the Pacific. Washington Sea Grant dates the first shipment of Pacific oyster seed from Japan to 1922 and says the newcomers grew fast, ready to harvest in two years. The state's analysis says that from 1928 Pacific oysters were brought in as spat from Japan, and that these imports continued until the mid-1970s, when local hatcheries (facilities that breed oysters under controlled conditions) began reliably producing larvae (oysters at the swimming stage, before they settle). Today, the analysis says, farmers rely on a mix of natural set (wild spat that settles on its own) and hatchery larvae.

How the oysters are grown

Ekone's Pacific oysters are grown on its farms in Willapa Bay using the long-line method, which the product descriptions say keeps them free of sand and grit. Washington Sea Grant's guide to oyster farming explains how it works. Young oysters need something hard to cling to, and growers supply it as cultch, usually old oyster shell, on which the spat settle. In long-line culture, pieces of cultch are spaced at equal distances along a measured length of rope or wire, and the lines are raised in rows above the bottom of the bay. The oysters grow up off the mud instead of lying on it. The same guide lists the trade-off plainly: oysters grown off the bottom face significantly less trouble from siltation, the fine mud that settles out of the water, than oysters grown on it.

Growing off the bottom does not change what an oyster eats. As water passes over its gills, Washington Sea Grant explains, those feathery organs collect particles of food from the surrounding water. Everything an oyster eats comes from the water around it, which is why the state's description of the bay's water quality matters to the tin.

From tide to tin

The steps after harvest are short and done in small batches. The oysters are harvested fresh and brought to the cannery in Bay Center, where they are steamed and opened, then brined in small batches, according to the product descriptions. Ekone says the brine is seasoned, and that the whole process happens quickly to preserve the seafood's natural flavors and nutrients.

Next comes the smoke. Ekone says the brined oysters are arranged on stainless steel racks and gently smoked over a blend of hardwood chips; its Lemon Pepper page names the woods as maple, birch and beech. The ingredient lists also name "natural smoke." The oysters are then packed by hand in organic sunflower oil, with little oil and large pieces in the Northwest style. Ekone says its products are shelf stable (safe to keep unopened at room temperature) for up to three years, that its shellfish products contain no MSG (monosodium glutamate, a common flavor enhancer), and that all of its products are made in a gluten-free facility. The smoked fish in tins guide explains how smoking and canning work together.

The three smoked oysters

All three start with the same Pacific oysters and the same smoke. They differ in the brine and the seasoning that goes on before the racks.

Original Smoked Oysters, 3 ounces (shop Ekone Original Smoked Oysters). Ekone says this one lets the pure flavor of the oyster take center stage. The ingredients are Pacific oysters, organic sunflower oil, salt, organic sugar, organic garlic powder, organic onion powder, citric acid (a sour acid found naturally in citrus fruit, used, the maker notes, only to enhance flavor) and natural smoke. It is the tin to open first, since the Habanero and Lemon Pepper oysters start from the same base ingredients.

Habanero Smoked Oysters, 3 ounces (shop Ekone Habanero Smoked Oysters). The habanero is a small, fiery chili pepper. Ekone describes a brining process in which each oyster is immersed in two distinct habanero sauces before it goes onto stainless steel racks for smoking. The ingredient list adds tomatoes, habanero peppers, garlic and a hot sauce (water, chili peppers, habanero peppers, tomato paste, vinegar, salt, garlic, onion, spices and xanthan gum, a thickener) to the base recipe.

Lemon Pepper Smoked Oysters, 3 ounces (shop Ekone Lemon Pepper Smoked Oysters). Ekone calls this a twist on its classic oysters: brined, arranged on stainless steel racks and slowly smoked with maple, birch and beech wood chips. Its lemon pepper mix lists spices, salt, cane sugar, garlic, onion, lemon peel, citric acid, orange peel, turmeric extract, silicon dioxide (an anti-caking agent) and parsley. The maker describes the result as a balance of smokiness and citrusy tang.

Mussels and coho salmon

Ekone's range runs past oysters, and three tins show how far. The mussels in both mussel tins are Totten Inlet mussels, from an inlet in Washington where Taylor Shellfish has a mussel farm. Taylor describes its Totten Inlet mussels as Mediterranean mussels cultivated in deep water on floating rafts, with rich, buttery meat and a savory, mushroom-like sea flavor. A mussel, like an oyster, is a bivalve.

Mussels in Curry, 3.5 ounces (shop Ekone Mussels in Curry). Curry powder is a spice blend, not a single spice, and Ekone lists every part of its organic blend: coriander, turmeric, mustard, cumin, fenugreek, paprika, cayenne, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon and clove. The mussels sit in that sauce with organic sunflower oil and salt. Ekone suggests adding them to rice, tossing them into a stir-fry, or eating them straight from the tin.

Mussels in Marinara with Capers, 3.5 ounces (shop Ekone Mussels in Marinara). Marinara is a simple Italian-style tomato sauce, and capers are the small pickled flower buds of a Mediterranean shrub, salty and sharp. Ekone pairs the Totten Inlet mussels with organic crushed tomatoes (made with tomato puree, tomato paste, olive oil and sea salt), capers, organic garlic powder, salt and organic basil, and suggests serving them on crispy crostini (small toasts), in pasta dishes, or on a charcuterie board (a board of cured meats, cheeses and snacks).

Smoked Coho Salmon (shop Ekone Smoked Coho Salmon). Coho is a Pacific salmon, and Ekone sources its coho from the waters of the Pacific Northwest. Ekone describes its coho as carefully selected, delicately brined and cold smoked (smoked at a low temperature), simple and sweet with a note of molasses and a melt-in-your-mouth, buttery texture. The ingredients are coho salmon, salt, sugar and natural smoke.

How to serve them

Ekone's own suggestions are short: a dinner, a snack, or a party board. That brevity fits the food. A smoked oyster has been steamed, brined and smoked already, so it needs very little. Open the tin at room temperature and taste one oyster on its own before adding anything. Then try one on a plain cracker with a squeeze of lemon, which cuts the richness of the oil. The crackers guide covers which crackers stay quiet enough to let the smoke lead.

For a small tasting, go from quiet to loud: Original oysters, then Lemon Pepper, then the coho, then the two mussel tins, and the Habanero oysters last, so their heat does not carry into the milder tins. A sip of water between tins helps reset the palate. The tinned fish tasting guide lays out plates and portions for a larger group.

The sauces are part of the food. The curry and marinara are made to be eaten, spooned over rice or tossed with hot pasta, and the smoky sunflower oil from an oyster tin can dress warm potatoes or a plain green salad. The guide to leftover tin oil and sauce has more uses. Once a tin is open, move what is left into a covered container in the refrigerator; the opened tinned fish guide gives the timing. For the wider world of tins beyond the Northwest, start with the complete tinned fish guide.

A bay you can taste

An Ekone smoked oyster tells the story of a single bay. It was grown on a line above the floor of Willapa Bay, then steamed, brined and smoked at a cannery on the same bay, by a company run by a family of shellfish farmers. The species came from Japan about a century ago, but the water is Washington's, and the state credits that water's high quality to how few people live around it. An animal that feeds by straining the bay is, in the end, a record of the bay. Explore the Ekone Oyster Co. collection.

The shop is at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, and products ship nationwide from theambrosianpantry.com.