Making Gravlox aka 'lox

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ShadowsDad
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Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by ShadowsDad »

Is there an interest in a how to make gravlox ('lox) thread? A pictorial how to is the form it would take. It just takes one push to get me to post it as it happens so don't think it requires a consensus.
Brian

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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

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Consider thyself pushed.
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by brothers »

Yes Brian, I would read it.
Gary

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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by pausted »

I would like to see it, Brian.
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Basil
ShadowsDad
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by ShadowsDad »

As stated above this will be a pictorial "how to" make gravlox thread. You can absolutely do this if you can sprinkle salt and do minor mixing. Even the ratios of ingredients aren't terribly important, except for the salt to fish ratio. That must be somewhat correct. Want it sweeter? Add more sugar. Want different spices? Go for it. The recipe will be at the bottom of this post.

Farmed salmon from the Maine coast ( < 100 miles away probably) was sale priced this week so I bought part of a filet; 2 3/4# worth. I should have bought another one. We'll get another on Friday when we go back into town. Then I'll smoke both after the 2nd has had time to cure.

Here it is with the cure in place and vac packed ready to go back into the refrigerator to cure. One doesn't require a vacuum sealer to make this. It can be done in a pan and a weight put on top of it. It can also be done in a ziplok bag. The vacuum sealer makes it easy since air pressure does the pressing for me.

The cure is seen here as light and dark areas. The dark areas is where the cure has already begun to suck out the water from the filet. FWIW, it's only been a few minutes. The light area is where the cure hasn't had enough time to moisten from salmon juice. The cure works by sucking out the water and adding additional salt and sugar to the filet. That's important because the salt and sugar acts as a preservative. Doubly so for me because I'll smoke mine for 6 hours in apple/cherry wood. The cure also substantially changes the texture of the fish. It doesn't require smoking, it can be eaten after curing alone.

Image

In the supplied recipe dill is called for but I don't care for dill, so I omit it. It also calls for pepper and I double that. I also fresh grind it. Because I vacuum sealed it I didn't add the vodka; it isn't really required anyway. Why couldn't one use bourbon or another high proof liquor instead? I see no reason why not.

In 2 days the fish will be cured, but that filet will sit in the cure for over a week before I start the smoker. Sitting in cure for that long won't hurt it. When both filets are removed from the plastic they will have shrunk and the amount of liquid will be surprising.

I'll keep the pictures coming in this thread through the entire process.

OK, why go to this trouble?

#1, salmon is grown locally so I can get it relatively inexpensively . Gravlox bought pre made costs substantially more. ($6 per 3-4 ounces? That would be $24/lb. I didn't pay $24 for that 2 3/4# filet.)

#2, It's not hard to make my own and I can make it the way I like it.

#3, I love the stuff, and making my own means I can pile it on and really enjoy it.

Gravlox
SUBMITTED BY: Suzanne
Modified and notes by Brian (BBQiM aka ShadowsDad)
"Gravlox is a popular item in Scandinavian Cuisine. Some, like this one, are made with vodka."

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds salmon fillet, bones removed
4 tablespoons coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon pepper (or more... definitely more)
1 bunch fresh dill, chopped (omit)
3 tablespoons vodka

No smoker? Or weather doesn’t permit smoking it? See note below.

DIRECTIONS

1. Drape plastic wrap over a glass baking dish. Cut salmon in half lengthwise, and place one half in dish, skin side down. Mix together salt, brown sugar and pepper. Sprinkle half of mixture over salmon in the dish, cover with the chopped dill, and pour the vodka over the whole mixture.
2. Sprinkle the remaining salt mixture over the remaining half of salmon. Place over the salmon in the dish, skin side up. Fold the plastic wrap snuggly over the entire salmon. Place a board over the fish and weigh it down with a heavy object.
3. Refrigerate fish for 24 to 36 hours (I’ve gone up to 6 days), turning every 12 hours. To serve, separate the filets, and carefully brush off the salt, sugar and dill. This where Suzanne and I disagree. All of the salt and sugar has pulled water out of the salmon and cured it, and there is nothing to brush off. If there are still salt granules on the filet give it more time to cure.
4.Cut into very thin slices with a sharp knife. Cut on a diagonal through the thickness of the filet to give a larger slice.
5. Of course the ‘lox can be served on bagels, but they’re just as good on toasted English Muffins with whipped cream cheese. Enjoy!

Notes: It has been brought to my attention that the fish should be washed and soaked for 45 minutes, and then smoked. The recipes I have don't do either of these, and when I've seen it done on TV (at least 3 times) that wasn't done either, but I want to make sure folks know that it's an option. Next time, if I like the product, I plan on smoking it since that's what I buy locally. BBQiM

I mentioned in the "weeks cooking" thread where I mention this recipe that I might smoke it next time. Definitely. Smoke it. The Gravlox isn't salty enough IMHO to require soaking before smoking though. My plan is going to be to rinse off the undissolved salt then cold smoke for maybe an hour or 2 at most. Use a sweet smoke, cherry or apple or another sweet smoke.

I'll never buy lox again. The taste of this is much better than out of the plastic package and it really can't be easier to make. Looking at the pile of lox I wound up with- it would have been maybe 6-7 packages @ $5-$6 per package. The actual cost was $9 for the salmon and pennies for the other ingredients. It's nice to be able to pile it on.


Note: Don’t have a smoker or the weather doesn’t allow for real smoke? I recently had a filet that had been curing for 5 days and while the weather forecast told me that I’d have a window in which to smoke the ‘lox, reality didn’t match the forecast. What to do? I added 1½ tsp of Wrights liquid smoke to the bag the filet was in. Next time I’d use 2 tsps, but add to your taste. Liquid smoke can get out of hand very rapidly. After adding the smoke to the bag of salmon and (natural brine as pulled out of the salmon) I waited 24 hours and sliced it. It wasn’t cherry smoke, but it’s quite good.
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

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Very useful Brian, thanks.
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pausted
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by pausted »

Thanks a lot, Brian.
Best regards,

Basil
ShadowsDad
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by ShadowsDad »

24 hours in the cure. Compare to the photo above.

Image

There is quite a bit of liquid drawn out of the salmon already.

One of the reasons 'lox is so expensive is because one isn't buying "salmon" but salmon minus a large amount of the water; concentrated salmon.
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by brothers »

Fascinating information. I had no idea. The vacuum seal feature seems to be working great and making this process even more simple.
Gary

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ShadowsDad
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by ShadowsDad »

Thanks Gary.

Over the years I've found that most of what we think of as difficult just isn't so. It's just because we've forgotten how to do it that it appears difficult. Thanks to the 'net the info' is readily accessible. The rest consists of basic procedures. Once one has those, a great many things become very easy. Using liquid smoke makes "smoked" gravlax extremely easy. But one has no control over what's in the smoke, only the brand of liquid smoke.

FWIW, It would look quite similar done in a pan with a weight on it, or in a ziplok bag with a weight on it. What I did was just easier for me and takes up far less room. In the past I have used the other methods. Anyone can make gravlox. It's no big deal.
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by Squire »

Sourcing the salmon is the tricky part for me, you're fortunate in that regard.
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ShadowsDad
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by ShadowsDad »

Some day I need to take a drive to see the salmon farms. Of course they're all below water level, but who knows what one would be able to see just by chance.

I'd also like to visit one of the oyster farms and get some really fresh, just out of the water oysters. Eat them cold and fresh right there on the spot.

Squire, salmon can be mail ordered, but I think you'd be wanting to sit down when you see the price.

Here's one that I knew of but they don't stoop to Maine farmed salmon. http://shop.brownetrading.com/

This outfit wants to sell smoked salmon: http://www.mainelysmokedsalmon.com/catalog.htm

I can't figure out how this site works. One is supposed to contact them ? http://www.harborfish.com/

Pretty much what I found are sites that want to sell finished product . I can't blame them, value added and all that. FWIW, Browne Trading has really good stuff and a fantastic reputation; good prices too, just not for the ordinary man.
Brian

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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by Squire »

Yes, I can get salmon at the local grocery store . . . for a price. Farm direct sounds more appealing.
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by ShadowsDad »

Did you check out the price of the Scottish atlantic salmon from Brownes? It think it was $65/side and that was w/o shipping.

Maybe the left coast would have better prices. I found a bunch of those suppliers. I was extremely surprised that no Maine farmer ships direct around the country. There must be a reason.
Brian

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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by Squire »

Shipping hassles I expect, hard to get fresh product to customers at a reasonable cost.
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ShadowsDad
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by ShadowsDad »

Probably. The farms are remote and for FedEx next day I would think they'd need to be closer to a hub or put on a shuttle.

I wrote that I wouldn't mind visiting one? Well, I can visit a hatchery not 30 miles away, but the farm itself, well you can't there from here. It's at least 2 day trip, and I explore if I've a mind to, so that could lengthen the trip. They're in Eastport and there is no more eastern point in Maine or the US. It's far north. The sunlight of the new day hits , at sea level, Eastport before any other place in the US. Now the oyster beds, those we can do in day trip.

I have to chuckle as I hang my head in shame regarding our local supermarket. They have the farmed salmon on sale price. The first piece I bought had scale on the skin. I have no idea how that will affect my gravlax. So I called them and asked who the heck, doesn't scale the fish before gutting and filleting!?? When cooking a salmon steak the skin needs to be crisp, and not from scales left on. One of the managers checked and stated that he just checked and there are no scales on the fillets he checked. The wife was out today so I told her to swing by and get me another filet and have the fish monger check to make sure it has no scales. He checked. Sure enough it has not been descaled. Who doesn't know how to check for and remove scales? So now I have 6# of salmon in the cure and in the refrigerator. As soon as Sunday I could be smoking them. I'll keep this updated.

FWIW, there is a bit more juice in the bag (and out of the salmon) in the first bag. I may not even have time to check the 2nd vac packed filet tomorrow. But 6# of salmon will yield a lot of 'lox. It won't be enough to get me through the winter, but they'll be another special price on salmon long before then. :-) Hopefully w/o scales.

Who doesn't know how to remove scales!!?? Especially in Maine for goodness sake! Never seen fish scales? In Maine, Really !? Friday I intend to go there and educate them. No doubt some buyer doesn't know how to cook salmon steak (skin should be crisp and not from scales) and doesn't know that the scales need to be removed while the fish is still whole.

Are Americans getting more incompetent as time goes by and new generations come to the fore? If so we're doomed.
Last edited by ShadowsDad on Thu Aug 14, 2014 10:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Brian

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Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by Squire »

Apparently salmon isn't served at the manager's home.
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ShadowsDad
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by ShadowsDad »

Squire and Gary, I wish I could send you some, but I simply can't. The description of my drool as I eat it will need to suffice. For homemade 'lox I'd like to make homemade English muffins. But Thomas' are a close 2nd and far and away from the rest of the pack of pretenders. Maybe I'll leave the whipped cream cheese alone this time and just use the fat in the salmon for richness. Time will tell. I'll have a lot for the freezer.
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
ShadowsDad
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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by ShadowsDad »

Today is salmon smoking day!

The salmon is out of the shop refrigerator, but still in the cure. I won't open the bags until immediately upon going over the smoke. We're looking at about 7# of salmon. The extracted salmon juice is clearly seen.
Image

I washed the grates as best I could. They're really too big for the sink. The only part of the salmon that will touch the grates are the scales and skin which is wasted, but I prefer to have things as clean as possible for cold smoking.

The a-maze-n smoker has been lit. It's as full as I can get it with applewood pellets. I don't fully empty the Primo of charcoal and it would be a disaster for the charcoal to light, so I have the smoke generator on a piece of 1/4" aluminum plate to spread out any heat that wants to sneak below. The generator is elevated above the plate somewhat.
Image

The generator blown out and making smoke.
Image

Assembling the Primo into a smoker. Above the a-maze'n smoke generator goes a layer of firebricks as a heat shield; I do want cold smoke and the smoldering fire does produce heat. Then the cooking grates above the firebricks. Smoke can be seen to be coming up to the cooking grate level.
Image

This is what all of the above is about. The salmon is out of the cure and on the grates to smoke. I lit the smoke generator at both ends, so that will reduce the duration of smoke, but make the smoke in the Primo more intense. It should smoke for about 5-6 hours. When the smoke stops I'll wrap the filets and refrigerate them again. Thenm tomorrow I'll slice it, vac pack the 'lox and enjoy it during the winter. The cook will probably get some in the next few days as a treat. The pepper can clearly be seen remaining on the fillets, the salt is gone, it's in the salmon juice and in the fillets. BTW, the apple smoke smells fantastic.
Image

I'll update this thread with the finished product. I need to put an electric anti-raccoon fence around the corn patch right now. 'Bye!
Brian

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Re: Making Gravlox aka 'lox

Post by Squire »

Thanks Brian, you've an inspiration. Did you remove the skin before placing the filets on the grill?
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