Lox or cold smoked salmon
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I just read every post on the forum with the word Salmon in it, and every post with Lox. Several folks said they made cold smoked salmon without giving many details. And most were in a winter climate I think.
I’d like to make lox. Looked at a few recipes on google, seems super simple. The only recipe post that I found here was embedded in What Did Everyone Cook Today? thread, by Surg on Jun12, 2021:
“This is the recipe I use:
GRAVLOX
One 2-pound salmon filet (skin-on) I USED SKIN OFF
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch fresh dill (chopped) I USED 1Tbsp dried dill from jar.
Cake over fish
Seal in vac bag for three days turning each day
Then remove from bag, rinse and enjoy.”
https://meatgistics.waltons.com/assets/uploads/files/1623516891610-f0a9d419-3fff-436d-8d6e-0ebbc405698c-resized.jpeg
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This looks great, and may be what I’m after. I will definitely try it. But I am wondering is there a way for me to do this with a bit of smoke, a cold smoked salmon, in 80f plus Phoenix weather? Could I make this, dry in fridge, cool in freezer then throw in smoker with cold smoke? Liquid smoke in brine?I saw a few references to cold smoking in winter temps like Alaska, but I can’t do that in Phoenix. I might be able to get 60 f at 0300. How much difference is there between cold smoked and lox, is it worth trying for the smoked?
Right now my plan is to either pipe cold smoke from my Bellas CSG into smokin it smoker, with a bunch of ice inside it on trays. Or get an old cooler, fill with ice, salmon on rack above, and pipe cold smoke in there, and let that be my permanent cold smoker.
Any info from folks who have done similar ir other methods to make cold smoked salmon, or variations of this cured, uncooked salmon that can be done in Phoenix (never cold out I mean!) Would be much appreciated, Thanks!
Dave in AZ There was an episode of Iron Chef where a chef made a smoker from a block of ice to cold smoke fish. If you just happen to have some blocks of ice laying around…
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Lox recipe excerpt from Rytek Kutas book:
INGREDIENTS FOR 5 LBS. OF LOX
1/2 cup of kosher salt
1/2 cup of sugar (either white or brown)
1 tsp. ground white pepper
1 tsp. Instacure No.1 (a.k.a. Prague Powder No.1)Scale and fillet the salmon. Cut several slits through the skin on each fillet. Then dredge the fillets with the above mixture in a glass or plastic container. Then cover the fish with a board (preferably good hardwood), placing a weight of approximately 3 pounds on top. The fish is then left in the salt for 48 hours. The fillets should be about 3/4" thick. If for some reason they are thicker, fish should then be left in the salt longer. After two days, remove the fish from the salt and rinse with cold water. Fillets must then be dried very well, which will take from 4-6 hours. After this period the fish will become tacky. Drying is best done on racks in a cool, well-ventilated room but kept out of drafts. Place fillets in a cool smokehouse where the temperature will not exceed 85-90° F. It is important to maintain this temperature for at least 6 hours. Then remove the fillets from the smoker and brush them very lightly with vegetable oil while still warm.
Paul
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Lox recipe excerpt from Rytek Kutas book:
INGREDIENTS FOR 5 LBS. OF LOX
1/2 cup of kosher salt
1/2 cup of sugar (either white or brown)
1 tsp. ground white pepper
1 tsp. Instacure No.1 (a.k.a. Prague Powder No.1)Scale and fillet the salmon. Cut several slits through the skin on each fillet. Then dredge the fillets with the above mixture in a glass or plastic container. Then cover the fish with a board (preferably good hardwood), placing a weight of approximately 3 pounds on top. The fish is then left in the salt for 48 hours. The fillets should be about 3/4" thick. If for some reason they are thicker, fish should then be left in the salt longer. After two days, remove the fish from the salt and rinse with cold water. Fillets must then be dried very well, which will take from 4-6 hours. After this period the fish will become tacky. Drying is best done on racks in a cool, well-ventilated room but kept out of drafts. Place fillets in a cool smokehouse where the temperature will not exceed 85-90° F. It is important to maintain this temperature for at least 6 hours. Then remove the fillets from the smoker and brush them very lightly with vegetable oil while still warm.
processhead thx, interesting this brined lox uses cure1 because it is smoked 6hrs in danger zone, while purely brined versions kept in fridge do not.
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processhead thx, interesting this brined lox uses cure1 because it is smoked 6hrs in danger zone, while purely brined versions kept in fridge do not.
Dave in AZ I use a variation of the above recipes, equal salt and sugar (I use brown) white pepper, dill and a sprinkle of coriander. The weight on top is a must for me. I don’t slit the skin because it makes it easier to slice the salmon thin with the skin intact. Use a very sharp thin knife and slightly oil your blade repeatedly to help with sticking
In summer I rub with a little liquid smoke (I have never tried smoke powder but will in the future)
We have winter here and then I cold smoke when it is 40 - 50 F
The ice should work in an insulated smoker
I have never used curing salt but in your conditions probably a good safety measure
Good luck and let us know the results -
I have never made Lox but I am wondering if |Hickory-Smoke-Powder would work? processhead ever tried it?
Get more help with your processing questions and learn more about processing meat by subscribing to our waltonsinc.com youtube page at https://wltns.link/waltonstv I am a Gorilla, love yourself
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I have never made Lox but I am wondering if |Hickory-Smoke-Powder would work? processhead ever tried it?
Jonathon said in Lox or cold smoked salmon--need info:
I have never made Lox but I am wondering if |Hickory-Smoke-Powder would work? processhead ever tried it?
I haven’t used it before, but I don’t know why it wouldn’t work. Do these products penetrate the meat/fish like real smoke does?
Full confession time…Rightly or wrongly, I was indoctrinated at an early age that smoke flavorings were inferior to the the flavor obtained by traditional wood smoke regarding smoked sausages and processed meats.
Having said that, I am sure that some of the smoke flavored products today are much better than the earlier ones from a generation ago.
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processhead I don’t think you are alone in that, and there is still very much that stigma in the industry. I know labeling a product that has had liquid smoke applied is a challenge for some commercial customers, because of the perception (right or wrong) that applied smoke flavor is not equal to natural smoke.
Now, as far as it “penetrating” I don’t think it would to any significant amount, probably about the same as a normal seasoning, unless mixed with water and injected, tumbled or left to marinate for a while. Fish would probably pick it up better than denser meat like beef or deer.
Get more help with your processing questions and learn more about processing meat by subscribing to our waltonsinc.com youtube page at https://wltns.link/waltonstv I am a Gorilla, love yourself
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Dave in AZ I use a variation of the above recipes, equal salt and sugar (I use brown) white pepper, dill and a sprinkle of coriander. The weight on top is a must for me. I don’t slit the skin because it makes it easier to slice the salmon thin with the skin intact. Use a very sharp thin knife and slightly oil your blade repeatedly to help with sticking
In summer I rub with a little liquid smoke (I have never tried smoke powder but will in the future)
We have winter here and then I cold smoke when it is 40 - 50 F
The ice should work in an insulated smoker
I have never used curing salt but in your conditions probably a good safety measure
Good luck and let us know the resultsglen thx glen, good info to help me solidify my plan.
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Looks great. Almost the exact process I use except I also add a little fresh lemon zest on top of the spices then fresh dill.
mdseaside thx, I have my own lemon trees and love lemon on salmon, will do this!
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processhead I don’t think you are alone in that, and there is still very much that stigma in the industry. I know labeling a product that has had liquid smoke applied is a challenge for some commercial customers, because of the perception (right or wrong) that applied smoke flavor is not equal to natural smoke.
Now, as far as it “penetrating” I don’t think it would to any significant amount, probably about the same as a normal seasoning, unless mixed with water and injected, tumbled or left to marinate for a while. Fish would probably pick it up better than denser meat like beef or deer.
Jonathon thx much. I don’t have powdered smoke, but do have 3 types of liquid. I will say for sure, Wright’s mesquite won’t go on anything except maaaybe a steak, and even then I like the hickory a LOT better. I’ve almost always wished I used less of it afterwards, too!
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I have used both my own recipe as well as a store bought salmon brine mix from Hi Mountain. Both were excellent but also different enough that I have preferences for the usage of the fish after curing. I use maple sugar or turbonado sugar, curing salt #1, and a small amount of sea salt. I toast in a dry cast iron skillet some black peppercorns, fennel seeds, cinnamon stick, and (red or purple) juniper berries. Bring all spices to a boil in water and then add ice to quickly drop the temp to about 65F. I tend to make roughly 2 gallons of brine solution so that I can cover a few sides on Alaskan or preferably Faroe Island salmon. I cover it completely in either a brine bucket with a plate to keep it all submerged, or I use food safe brining bags. Urban Kitchen makes a good inexpensive brine bag. I also like to use skin ON salmon when I cold smoke because it keeps the flesh together much easier during brining and smoking. I don’t cut the skin when I am slicing the lox.
I am in NE Ohio so if I want to cold smoke in the summer, I use a smoke tube like the A-Maze-N tube or maze and I put a foil tray of ice under the salmon. It is super easy to cold smoke when it is cold and then vacuum seal the lox and freeze for summer as well. -
I have made lox with both white sugar and brown sugar, and the brown sugar is my preference. For cold smoking, my pellet smoke generator will put out the smoke without raising the temperature much when I leave the electric heating element turned off.
I think and A-maz-N tube or maze is a good solution for cold smoking.
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processhead I don’t think you are alone in that, and there is still very much that stigma in the industry. I know labeling a product that has had liquid smoke applied is a challenge for some commercial customers, because of the perception (right or wrong) that applied smoke flavor is not equal to natural smoke.
Now, as far as it “penetrating” I don’t think it would to any significant amount, probably about the same as a normal seasoning, unless mixed with water and injected, tumbled or left to marinate for a while. Fish would probably pick it up better than denser meat like beef or deer.
Jonathon said in Lox or cold smoked salmon--need info:
processhead I don’t think you are alone in that, and there is still very much that stigma in the industry. I know labeling a product that has had liquid smoke applied is a challenge for some commercial customers, because of the perception (right or wrong) that applied smoke flavor is not equal to natural smoke.
Now, as far as it “penetrating” I don’t think it would to any significant amount, probably about the same as a normal seasoning, unless mixed with water and injected, tumbled or left to marinate for a while. Fish would probably pick it up better than denser meat like beef or deer.
Oily fish like salmon definitely take natural wood smoke better than other dryer types of fish. Whether the powered smoke flavorings are as soluble in fish oils as natural wood smoke, I can not say.
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processhead thx for reminding me, Paul. I just ordered it, will get tomorrow. That is a book I intended to get but forgot
Dave in AZ you will not regret buying that book.
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Okay I have no idea about any of this except I bought some off the store shelf and loved it, so that made me want to try it myself. After reading online I bought alder wood since that seems to be the wood of choice and the cure seems to be up to the producers choice what advice do you folks give to a newbie?
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Okay I have no idea about any of this except I bought some off the store shelf and loved it, so that made me want to try it myself. After reading online I bought alder wood since that seems to be the wood of choice and the cure seems to be up to the producers choice what advice do you folks give to a newbie?
mrobisr and others, I read lox and cold smoke recipes today for a couple hours and converted them all to standard units for comparison. The results are…confusing.
- Marianski uses a brine of 80 degree, which is 21% salt, for his cold smoked and hot smoked recipes. In one table he recommends 1 hour brining for both cold and hot smoke for fish 1 in and thinner. However in his cold smoke recipe he actually says to marinate in the 80 degree brine, that is 21% salt by weight, for 6 to 8 hours and then rinse for 1 hour before smoking. This is obviously not a dry rub or equilibrium cure, and leaving it in that extremely strong brine too long will create a very salty recipe, so the disparity between his two recipes of one hour versus 6 to 8 hours is a big problem. But it probably ends up at 3 to 5% in that 1 to 8 hr frame, after a 1hr rinse.
All the other sources used a dry rub or dry brine equilibrium cure for 36 to 72hrs:
2. Kutas in his book recommend a dry rub or dry brine equilibrium cure, his salt to Salmon ratio comes to 5% and his sugar is 5%.
3. Surg in his recipe here on the forums uses 4.5% salt and a very small amount of sugar, about a quarter percent or less.
4. The two most popular recipe returns on Google are from Spruce eats and wholesome yum. Spruce eats uses 4.25% salt and 5% sugar.
5. Wholesome yum uses an incredible 26% salt dry rub. While Marianski uses 21% liquid brine for just 1 to 8 hrs, this one is for 36 hrs!These hugely different final salt content recipes leave me scratching my head. It appears anything from 3 to 5%, don’t know what to think on Wholesome recipe at 26% except bad amount of salmon… 1 lb probably should be 5 lbs.
I have 2 salmon planks in fridge now, and would have done them today if I could decide which of these saltiness amounts to trust! What I need is a report from a data minded user who actually weighed his salmon and salt used, so I can get a real salt % (cups vs grams vs kosher vs table salt can drive a result from 3 to 5%). Then whose report of “THIS was the right amount of salt, not too much or little” I can rely on. At $35 each for the salmon I don’t want to mess it up.
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I have only done a wet brine before which was just kosher salt and brown sugar. After reading this I want to make it all again!
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processhead thx for reminding me, Paul. I just ordered it, will get tomorrow. That is a book I intended to get but forgot
Dave in AZ said in Lox or cold smoked salmon--need info:
processhead thx for reminding me, Paul. I just ordered it, will get tomorrow. That is a book I intended to get but forgot
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I have used both my own recipe as well as a store bought salmon brine mix from Hi Mountain. Both were excellent but also different enough that I have preferences for the usage of the fish after curing. I use maple sugar or turbonado sugar, curing salt #1, and a small amount of sea salt. I toast in a dry cast iron skillet some black peppercorns, fennel seeds, cinnamon stick, and (red or purple) juniper berries. Bring all spices to a boil in water and then add ice to quickly drop the temp to about 65F. I tend to make roughly 2 gallons of brine solution so that I can cover a few sides on Alaskan or preferably Faroe Island salmon. I cover it completely in either a brine bucket with a plate to keep it all submerged, or I use food safe brining bags. Urban Kitchen makes a good inexpensive brine bag. I also like to use skin ON salmon when I cold smoke because it keeps the flesh together much easier during brining and smoking. I don’t cut the skin when I am slicing the lox.
I am in NE Ohio so if I want to cold smoke in the summer, I use a smoke tube like the A-Maze-N tube or maze and I put a foil tray of ice under the salmon. It is super easy to cold smoke when it is cold and then vacuum seal the lox and freeze for summer as well.fallis10 your recipe sounds good, and like you’ve done it enough times to talk about the final saltiness compared to store bought stuff. Can you give your recipe for the brine, amount of salt and sugar per water? Also, how long do you brine the salmon? Thx!
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