Making gravlax

[prasantrin]

Is it possible that my fridge is too cold to make gravlax?

Last Monday, I packed two small salmon fillets with a some salt, sugar, and black pepper (no dill around here), splashed it with a bit of vodka, and put it into my fridge weighted down with about 1 kg of cheese. I took it out every 12 hours or so, but barely any liquid came out.

After the second or third day, I added more of the salt/sugar mixture, thinking perhaps I didn't use enough. The fish didn't smell spoiled, but it just wasn't turning into what it should have been.

Now, 7 days later, I'm not any closer.

I've decided to throw away this batch, and try again. Should I try to find a warmer place in my fridge?

use more salt? I only had about 2T salt with 2T sugar (for two small filets, not weighing more than 300g total, I think). The filet I have for my next round is only about 150-200g.

In the absence of fresh dill, can I just use some dried dill?

One more question...how important is the weighting down of the salmon? Peter the Eater just put his in a Ziplock plastic container, and it looked OK, I thought.

Edited September 23, 2007 by prasantrin (log)

[scubadoo97]

I don't think it's your fridge. Maybe you needed to use more sugar/salt mixture.

I tried my hand at gravlax last month. Since it was just for two of us I used a small fillet of wild sockeye salmon that was about a pound. I used equal parts of sugar and salt and made enough to coat both sides. I didn't measure but just made sure I had enough to cover it well. I don't think the dill does much so if you used dried it would be okay. I used one bunch of fresh dill and crushed corriander seeds. Wraped tight in plastic and weighted with a couple of cans I let it sit for 2 days. The fish had a very firm gummy texture but tasted good. I think I should have pulled it a day sooner and I don't think I needed to weight it down. I was able to make nice slices with a very sharp slicing knife but had to keep wiping down the blade after each slice.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I think that weighing it down is essential because it forces the cure into the flesh of the fish ... and I use vodka when I begin the cure ..on the fish, not in my mouth!

I wrapped a brick in tinfoil and that is my weight .. works fine ... but I cure several pounds of salmon at a time ...

[prasantrin]

This morning I packed my small filet in more salt/sugar mixture than I did my previous batch, as advised, and weighted it down again with my 1 kg block of cheese. I just checked on it (about 12 hours later), and it's looking good! It kind of looks like it might be ready, but I'll wait until tomorrow morning, just to be sure.

One more question--is it supposed to be hard? Mine is quite hard--like a piece of poor quality leather. I don't even think it would bend without breaking. But I thought gravlax should be a bit soft and pliable...no?

I used vodka again, too, just as Gifted Gourmet does. On the fish, of course!

[Gifted Gourmet]

If you use a thick piece of fish, and it cures for the three days, it will be soft and pliable ...

Yours is hard because of its size and thinness ...

If, after all is said and done, you find it to be delicious, do try it next time with the weight and make this with a thick salmon filet .. you'll see the difference ...

This is how I make my gravlax:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/96683394@N00/...157600229165920

Edited September 24, 2007 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[ulterior epicure]

If you use a thick piece of fish, and it cures for the three days, it will be soft and pliable ...

Yours is hard because of its size and thinness ...

If, after all is said and done, you find it to be delicious, do try it next time with the weight and make this with a thick salmon filet .. you'll see the difference ...

This is how I make my gravlax:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/96683394@N00/...157600229165920

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I echo Melissa's advice. Use a nice thick-cut filet and a heavy weight - I actually just use a skillet weighted with cans or rocks.

[Gifted Gourmet]

The weighting is essential ... or should I say "the waiting is essential"?

When my husband sees the foil-covered brick come out and the vodka, salt, pepper, and dill fronds, he begins his Pavlovian drooling ...and hovers around the refrigerator for the three days in rapt anticipation ...

The brick perched precariously atop the filet:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/96683394@N00/...57600229165920/

Edited September 24, 2007 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[dougal]

This morning I packed my small filet in more salt/sugar mixture than I did my previous batch, as advised, and weighted it down again with my 1 kg block of cheese.  I just checked on it (about 12 hours later), and it's looking good!  It kind of looks like it might be ready, but I'll wait until tomorrow morning, just to be sure.

One more question--is it supposed to be hard?  Mine is quite hard--like a piece of poor quality leather.  I don't even think it would bend without breaking.  But I thought gravlax should be a bit soft and pliable...no?

I used vodka again, too, just as Gifted Gourmet does.  On the fish, of course!

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Hi - have you noticed the thread discussing the book "Charcuterie" by Ruhlman and Polcyn?

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=79195&st=0

It ain't only about pork!

In fact the thread kicks off with some great Gravadlax photos. Searching within the thread you'll get more hits for Gravlax - and hey there are other spellings too... Using 'salmon' for the search will turn up some smoking stuff too, but there are pages of such discussion there.

IMHO it sounds as though you are over curing, to end up with something stiff rather than just slightly 'firmed up'.

The weight will help to squash moisture out of the fish flesh, but despite that the cure will still find its way in.

Pacific "salmon" and Atlantic Salmon are rather different fish - curing seems to me to emphasise the differences...

[Sam Salmon]

Beware using dried Herbs-especially Dill-go easy.

Of late I've been experimenting with using Tea as a flavouring agent-Tea flavoured with Cardamom.

I add about twice as much Salt/Sugar mix as shown too-more is better.

To prevent Tea is sticking to the fillets I wrap each one in cheesecloth first.

[Gifted Gourmet]

There are two new recipes for gravlax that I am anxious to try:

Asian gravlax

Thai gravlax

[prasantrin]

I opened up my gravlax, rinsed it off (I probably wasn't supposed to do that, but I did!), and sliced a bit. It's not as hard as I thought it was, just not quite as soft. It is quite salty, though. Nothing a good bit of cream cheese wouldn't off-set, but a bit salty to eat the whole thing on its own.

Nice pics Gifted Gourmet! One of my problems is that I can't get a nice thick cut of salmon in Japan--or at least it's more difficult to do so. I can get a thick slab at Costco, but it doesn't have any skin. I'm not entirely sure it's salmon, either, but it might be "salmon trout", while the little filets I can get at the supermarket are definitely salmon.

This piece was left in the fridge for about 31 hours (I forgot about it this morning). I think next time, if I use a similar sized piece, I would cure it for much less time. When I checked it yesterday at 12 hours, it seemed ready, so maybe I'll try 12 hours next time.

I will take a look at the charcuterie topic as dougal suggested. This is going to become addictive, isn't it?

[snowangel]

My neighbor just gave me some salmon that he caught, but the fillets are not very thick. Would it be a mistake to cure these thinner pieces?

[Sam Salmon]

Not a mistake just check after 12 hours as suggested-if it looks good enough to eat is probably is.

[snowangel]

So, after 48 hours, my gravlax isn't as firm as I think it would be. In fact, it's still very squishy. How much salt was I supposed to use? Perhaps I should add more salt and go into "no man's land" (our shed) and dig out some bricks for heavier weights? Just how firm should it really be?

[Peter the eater]

Farmed salmon is bad for you, bad for wild salmon and bad for the environment.

I know this is somewhat off topic, but I think it relevant to make informed decisions when selecting what we use and consume. 

After reading through this topic and seeing that some others mentioned that farmed salmon is bad, I thought it would be helpfull to post some links to info that substantiates these claims.

Here's some info on farmed salmon and it's impact:

Farmed salmon info

Farmed salmon and your health

Farmed salmon threatens the long-term genetic integrity of wild salmon

Here is a wild salmon supplier that ships overnight:

Pike Place Fish Market - Seattle

Don't get me wrong; I've used farmed salmon in the past.  I enjoyed the availability and low prices.  But after learning more about this product, I found it hard to justify its consumption by me and my family given all the issues that surround it.

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I realize BaconFat's comment is from 20 months ago but I am compelled to respond with a link from Canada's Fisheries & Oceans. Its true they have mismanaged resources in the past (especially cod) but I am convinced, after a long period of reading and vacillating, that farmed Atlantic salmon is a good thing.

And it makes excellent gravlax.

[Prawncrackers]

All this talk of Gravlax, i usually make a big batch for xmas but i just couldn't resist making a smaller one now! I'm surprised about the short curing times that some of you guys have. This one has been curing for 4 days but sometimes for whole sides of 2-2.5lb salmon i usually cure them for a week. This one turned out really nice, velvety and melt in the mouth:

Organic farmed salmon i'm afraid, would be a waste to use wild salmon even if it was readily available here.

[Peter the eater]

I have been seeing lots of fresh trout and arctic char for sale at prices similar if not less than the farmed Atlantic salmon. As these three species are closely related and similar in many ways I wondered about doing a gravlax type of treatment to them.

Do others have stories of such a substitution?

[Gifted Gourmet]

As these three species are closely related and similar in many ways I wondered about doing a gravlax type of treatment to them.

Do others have stories of such a substitution?

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scroll up a bit ...more variations

Cured Snapper

Maple Cured Trout

Tasso Cured Red Snapper

[Fugu]

Has anyone tried curing the salmon with red beets? I've been seeing a lot of gravlax cured with beets lately and although the colour is spectacular on a plate, I am concerned about the how earthy the fish flavour would turn out. If someone has a recipe, could I have a peek?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Has anyone tried curing the salmon with red beets? I've been seeing a lot of gravlax cured with beets lately and although the colour is spectacular on a plate, I am concerned about the how earthy the fish flavour would turn out. If someone has a recipe, could I have a peek?

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voila!

[Fugu]

Has anyone tried curing the salmon with red beets? I've been seeing a lot of gravlax cured with beets lately and although the colour is spectacular on a plate, I am concerned about the how earthy the fish flavour would turn out. If someone has a recipe, could I have a peek?

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voila!

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Muah!

[Gifted Gourmet]

but wait! not so fast! there's more!

beetroot cured gravlax

photos which look simply divine!

Edited November 9, 2007 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[Fugu]

but wait! not so fast! there's more!

beetroot cured gravlax

photos which look simply divine!

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Wow, second recipe calls for beets, horseradish and dill! I've been making gravlax for a long time, part of my job but I have never deviated from the usual dill, salt, white peppercorn cure. This is exciting! Thank you.

Edited November 9, 2007 by Fugu (log)

[Chris Amirault]

I was reading McGee today trying to get to the bottom of this lox/gravlax thing, and noticed something interesting. Turns out a Society member had noticed it too:

In Harold Mcgee's on food and cooking he mentions pine needles being the traditional flavouring not dill, does anybody have any experience with this, or what type of pine needles you could use?

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My books and the internet reveal no additional information. I'm thinking about making this as part of the appetizer tray for Thanksgiving. If no one has insights, I'll explore and document it here; if you do, please contribute them, and I'll see what happens in my kitchen.

First up: researching pine needles.

[Chris Amirault]

Though he's talking about bark and not needles, Euell Gibbons comes to the rescue:

It is not usually realized how much the American Indians formerly depended on tree barks for food. The eastern Indians favored the barks from the pine family, especially that from the white pine, although the inner barks of other trees, such as black birch and slippery elm, were relished.

The eastern white pine is one of the largest forest trees found from Canada south to Georgia and west to Iowa. The bark is greenish and smooth on young trees, becoming brown and furrowed on large, old ones. The needles are a grayish blue-green in color, soft and flexible with no prickles or points, three to five inches long, growing five in a cluster -- a valuable recognition feature.

White pine it is. A warning, however:

The fine powder was a weak yellowish-orange color with a slight odor of turpentine and a taste that was at first very sweet and mucilaginous, but was quickly followed by a disagreeable bitterness and astringency. ... I hoped the bitterness and astringency would disappear on cooking but, alas, these tastes are very persistent, and I can't say that the bread I made with it was an unqualified success.