Thursday, June 3, 2010

Gravlox


Started simple cure of some salmon gravlox today. gravlox or "lox" is a cured salmon (usually). again one of the oldest food preservation methods in existence. i had two about 3 pound each sides of local King salmon that i skinned, boned, and trimmed. i used 2 parts sugar, and 1 part salt, with the zest from three oranges, and some course cracked pepper. the salmon was set on a layer of the cure, then covered with the cure, then i sliced the oranges and placed them on the cure, and then covered that with more of the curing mixture. these will set for at least 24 hrs, but maybe closer to 48 hours, and then will be rinsed well and patted dry, then hung out to air dry in the walk-in. sometimes when you buy lox this process is done in a matter of hours with needles and injected brines and such, and then the product can also be cold smoked. this probably wont be smoked, but sliced thinly it is the classic New York accompaniment to bagels, but i think its great with some crostini and some horseradish. the whole process only takes a few days max and will extend the shelf life of fresh salmon indefinitely. just keep in mind that when you start with a crap product you will end up with crap, so buy, or even catch quality salmon before attempting this.

No comments:

Post a Comment