Smoked Gravlox (Cured Salmon)

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headbanger

headbanger

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So, picked up a couple of really nice fresh salmon filets Friday and have been salt curing them since. Packed them in kosher salt and sugar then sandwiched between two sheet pans with some weight on top.

photo1_zps3f0fd2e6.jpg


I'll rinse tonight and let them go one more day uncovered so they get nice and tacky and then cold smoke tomorrow afternoon for a few hours. Then the rest is history, yum yum.
 
I hate to be a jerk about semantics, but by smoking it post-cure, you are making nova lox, not gravlax.

There really isn't any difference between lox and the modern gravlax preparation. Historically gravlax was prepared by Scandinavian fishermen and buried in sand Oceanside to cure. Obviously nobody does that now and the terms gravlax/lox are more Scandinavian/Jewish cultural terms but the recipes are the same, which is to be expected since people have been curing fish for over 3000 years. Some American Jews claim than true lox can only be made with Pacific Salmon, implying that lox is an American dish and all previous cured Atlantic salmon is a form of gravlax.

Once smoked, however, it leaves the realm of salt-cured and becomes smoked fish, regardless of the original curing method.

I make gravlax and it would always drive me nuts when people would call it lox or smoked salmon, so I decided to learn about where the terms come from to see if my irritation was justified.

Sorry again.
 
mojo_wire said:
I hate to be a jerk about semantics, but by smoking it post-cure, you are making nova lox, not gravlax.

There really isn't any difference between lox and the modern gravlax preparation. Historically gravlax was prepared by Scandinavian fishermen and buried in sand Oceanside to cure. Obviously nobody does that now and the terms gravlax/lox are more Scandinavian/Jewish cultural terms but the recipes are the same, which is to be expected since people have been curing fish for over 3000 years. Some American Jews claim than true lox can only be made with Pacific Salmon, implying that lox is an American dish and all previous cured Atlantic salmon is a form of gravlax.

Once smoked, however, it leaves the realm of salt-cured and becomes smoked fish, regardless of the original curing method.

I make gravlax and it would always drive me nuts when people would call it lox or smoked salmon, so I decided to learn about where the terms come from to see if my irritation was justified.

Sorry again.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, very interesting. I have heard it referred to as both lox and gravlox.. I usually just call it lox and then eat it.

:mug:
 
You Sir, have some delicious looking fillets awaiting you.

I struggle to type this as I slobber all over the keyboard.

While on a trip to Alaska several years ago, we caught many lbs of Coho salmon.

I cut my chops learning to smoke lox on those fish.
 
Freshly cured and rinsed...

photo2_zps73ecbf79.jpg


Freshly smoked for about six hours with the tube smoker and cherry pellets inside the PG500...

photo3_zps94ea7329.jpg


Packaged and ready for many breakfasts to come...

photo4_zpsd8f7115d.jpg


This turned out absolutely delicious, much better than I was expecting and way better than any lox I've ever had in the past. The smoke is subtle and sweet and the cure tastes amazing. Overall, this is fairly easy to make and one 3-4lb filet yields quite a bit of product. I can see this becoming regular fare at our house for sure.

:mug:
 
Nothing like a year long bump...

I love making gravlax, and I used to love making smoked salmon via gravlax (now I live in the middle of DC and my uppity neighbors do not take kindly to smoking foods on the back porch). Anyway, I love gravlax but I always make it with dill which my wife hates. So we were talking about making it with other ingredients and came up with the following conditions; 1) salt/sugar cure, no herbs, 2) salt/sugar cure with cilantro and 3) salt/sugar cure with HOPS... That's right, I want to use hops as part of my cure. I was thinking either super citrusy, I.e. cascade, or herby/spicy, I.e. Hallertauer. Thoughts?
 
orford said:
Nothing like a year long bump...

I love making gravlax, and I used to love making smoked salmon via gravlax (now I live in the middle of DC and my uppity neighbors do not take kindly to smoking foods on the back porch). Anyway, I love gravlax but I always make it with dill which my wife hates. So we were talking about making it with other ingredients and came up with the following conditions; 1) salt/sugar cure, no herbs, 2) salt/sugar cure with cilantro and 3) salt/sugar cure with HOPS... That's right, I want to use hops as part of my cure. I was thinking either super citrusy, I.e. cascade, or herby/spicy, I.e. Hallertauer. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Sounds interesting, let us know how it works out if you try it please.
 
Of the three conditions tested the Cilantro is by far the best. Nice clean, fresh flavor. The hops one is okay, nothing special and probably a waste of hops. I ended up using Hallertauer. I guess there is a certain novelty to it. A more citrusy hop would be worth a shot.
 

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