The ~thirdeye~ Nova Lox Adventure Is Underway...

[Gore]

Haven't checked in for a while. Having lived in Nova Scotia for a couple years (and with a wife who grew up there), I was a bit curious about the connection. I had always been lead to believe that it was just a less salty version of lox. I am not an expert, but there are still salmon fished and smoked in Nova Scotia, but I don't think they provide a significant percentage of the Nova Salmon on the market. It is all done rurally to my knowledge. I have been hoping to do some salmon fishing on one of my yearly excursions there. Our family did eat lox when growing up and I was always told it was Yiddish. The Germans I know (in Germany) always refer to smoked salmon as "smoked salmon" and not lox. This could be a regional thing though or they could be polite. The Scandinavians I know have called it gravlox. I do have a friend up the street who I visited last week. His father is over from Norway and they are preparing gravlox in the refrigerator "the old fashioned way." It is four days curing then ready to eat -- no dill in theirs and definitely no smoke (although he does have a smoker). Just some more information to muddy the waters. There are going to be lots of variations to this story when it is all told. This is just some more oral history.

 

[buccaneer]

Just applying cold flannels to TFO's face as she recuperates on the floor.
Poor thing, that money shot was just too much for her at this early hour.

I know darned well who will be sent to the fish market soon.
Thanks thirdeye.:wink:

 

[thirdeye]

Hi Thirdeye. Happy New Year.
Are you cold smoking on the UDS? If so, (and if not even), how are you or how would you do this with the UDS? I know I would start with the small coal basket. But beyond that I dont know how I would achieve the cold smoke. I did get one of those pellet gizmos which might do it if I cant use the UDS basket.

Thanks!
Dovid
Chicago

No I use my Big Chief for cold smoking and hot smoking fish. I'm sure you could use your drum, but that's a lot of volume to fill with smoke, and the mini basket or the pellet generator would be the way to go. You could add a tray of ice cubes in there too to help cool the smoke if it's too hot.

Here is my cold smoke set-up for the Big Chief. I like it because the frame can hold a lot of racks and quite a nice load of fish.

 

[Phrasty]

Very nice thirdeye! I make lox quite a bit as well (although maybe not as traditional as yours) but it always comes out great and I ALWAYS find that I never make enough either!

I'm very curious how the salmon candy came out! Been meaning to try that for sure!

Cheers

 

[thirdeye]

Very nice thirdeye! I make lox quite a bit as well (although maybe not as traditional as yours) but it always comes out great and I ALWAYS find that I never make enough either!

I'm very curious how the salmon candy came out! Been meaning to try that for sure!

Cheers

Those belly strips are the highest fat content meat on a fish. On trout they are so thin I have to toss them, but on this steel head and most salmon sides you can cut them 2" to 2-1/2" wide. Even when pan frying you have to really cook them a long time. I took them to 185° internal (the other pieces only went to 150° internal) and they were still very moist and tender. I thought they would be drier, but not really the case. If I recall, they were only in the cure about 4 hours (verses 8 hours for the other pieces). They were really good. Next time I will still cure them 4 hours, but I will re-season them a little heavier following the resting time and probably take them to a higher temp. They still had a high enough amount of fish oil that you could feel it on your fingers.

All-in-all I was very satisified with everything. I gave two of the hot smoked pieces away today, and plan on taking a couple of bagels and lox to a guy tomorrow morning. He is a big sushi fan and the only lox he remembers having was at a wedding brunch.

 

[Gore]

The belly-bits are the best part. I coat them with real maple syrup and ground black pepper. I warm smoke them to 150+. Just like pig candy. :hungry:

 

[Phrasty]

The belly-bits are the best part. I coat them with real maple syrup and ground black pepper. I warm smoke them to 150+. Just like pig candy. :hungry:

Aren't they... :becky: I usually glaze them over with whiskey/honey mixture! Awesome.

But for some reason I thought that you were going to air dry those same belly slices and make what I know as the indian salmon candy... It is air dried right?

On another note... what was the reason for taking the temp up so high to 185? I usually finish my smoked salmon at 130-140ish. I'm just curious. Want to know if there's a benefit to doing so and if I should as well. Or was it just the extra high fat content?

Cheers

 

[martyleach]

That looks so good! You are way beyond my experience here....

I smoked a nice big fresh salmon filet in my MAK Pellet grill for Christmas at 170 degrees for about 4-1/2 hours after a 14 hour brine. Possibly the best salmon we have ever had. Almost too rich to just slice up and eat. Crackers, cream cheese and capers....
Salmon is just wonderful......

 

[Gore]

Aren't they... :becky: I usually glaze them over with whiskey/honey mixture! Awesome.

But for some reason I thought that you were going to air dry those same belly slices and make what I know as the indian salmon candy... It is air dried right?

On another note... what was the reason for taking the temp up so high to 185? I usually finish my smoked salmon at 130-140ish. I'm just curious. Want to know if there's a benefit to doing so and if I should as well. Or was it just the extra high fat content?

Cheers

Thirdeye says he goes to 185, and I'm curious why also (I actually assumed it was a typo, but since you brought it up....). I usually do all my salmon at once and shoot for 145. I actually like it in the 135-140 range, but my wife prefers it drier. The thinner bits are at higher temps, 150ish. This makes for very nice candy. :hungry: For me, there is no right or wrong, it is just personal preference. I have not tried the whiskey-honey mixture, but I'll give that a whirl next.

 

[thirdeye]

Aren't they... :becky: I usually glaze them over with whiskey/honey mixture! Awesome.

But for some reason I thought that you were going to air dry those same belly slices and make what I know as the indian salmon candy... It is air dried right?

On another note... what was the reason for taking the temp up so high to 185? I usually finish my smoked salmon at 130-140ish. I'm just curious. Want to know if there's a benefit to doing so and if I should as well. Or was it just the extra high fat content?

Cheers

I had intended the belly strips to be more like jerky.... meaning drier than my usual hot smoked fish and maybe a little heavier seasoned. And I was going to make this in the smoker. I think you are correct in your description of Indian salmon candy, because every fish product that has the name "Indian" in the name that I have seen, has has been dried to some degree, some were dried and smoked at the same time. I don't think only belly strips are used, but that the entire fish is cut into strips. The additional surface area makes drying easier, and it makes for a nice sized portion, or as a snack. I believe that the original dried fish was hard cured so it would keep without refrigeration, and I also believe that when used it could be re-hydraded by soaking in water. Plains Indians did the same thing with wild game.

As far as the higher temp of 185°...., I went to 185° on ONLY the belly strips. (The rest of my hot smoked fish goes to an internal of 150°). My thinking on the high temp was to sweat out more of that fat, resulting in a drier jerky-like product. The fat content was so high, that did not work that well as I thought and the strips were still fairly moist. On a few occasions I've gone above my preferred 150° on fillets and they were too dry for me. This is especially true with trout and wild caught salmon so I monitor the internals very often once a fillet gets above 120°. One of my fishing buddy likes his better around 160° internal.

 

[Phrasty]

I had intended the belly strips to be more like jerky.... meaning drier than my usual hot smoked fish and maybe a little heavier seasoned. And I was going to make this in the smoker. I think you are correct in your description of Indian salmon candy, because every fish product that has the name "Indian" in the name that I have seen, has has been dried to some degree, some were dried and smoked at the same time. I don't think only belly strips are used, but that the entire fish is cut into strips. The additional surface area makes drying easier, and it makes for a nice sized portion, or as a snack. I believe that the original dried fish was hard cured so it would keep without refrigeration, and I also believe that when used it could be re-hydraded by soaking in water. Plains Indians did the same thing with wild game.

As far as the higher temp of 185°...., I went to 185° on ONLY the belly strips. (The rest of my hot smoked fish goes to an internal of 150°). My thinking on the high temp was to sweat out more of that fat, resulting in a drier jerky-like product. The fat content was so high, that did not work that well as I thought and the strips were still fairly moist. On a few occasions I've gone above my preferred 150° on fillets and they were too dry for me. This is especially true with trout and wild caught salmon so I monitor the internals very often once a fillet gets above 120°. One of my fishing buddy likes his better around 160° internal.

Yeah I was thinking along those lines as well! I've never had steel head but I've seen it on here and it looks amazing! With a fat content like that I can see the cooking process changing a bit! Thanks for the pr0n again Thirdeye! making me wanna go out and get a side of salmon now... :heh:

Cheers Brother!

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Very Nice Wayne Great Thread

 

[thirdeye]

Very Nice Wayne Great Thread

Thanks, I'll get my comments up in a day or two after I sample the Nova a little more. I'll also post the complete procedure I used and what I think might need changed.

One thing that surprised me was just how mild the salt taste was even though I did two curing sessions. I know the Nova is supposed to me mild, but I'm thinking more salt might be in order, especially once I try it with cream cheese and a bagel, or on a cracker...... so far all my samples have been of fish only.

 

[tish]

Thanks, I'll get my comments up in a day or two after I sample the Nova a little more. I'll also post the complete procedure I used and what I think might need changed.

One thing that surprised me was just how mild the salt taste was even though I did two curing sessions. I know the Nova is supposed to me mild, but I'm thinking more salt might be in order, especially once I try it with cream cheese and a bagel, or on a cracker...... so far all my samples have been of fish only.

You remember when you asked me what the Nova Scotia lox I remember from NY tasted like? I told you it was slightly salty. Not a heavy taste of salt, at all. And it had a mild fish taste, but not "fishy", like you say. The texture was not like regular fish, really. I find it interesting you said it reminded you of gelatin. Yeah, I can see that sort of. The slices were fairly thin, like you have in your money shot. I used to take a few slices and sort of pile them and drape them over each other on top of my cream cheese on my pumpernickel bagel, lay some raw onion rings or chives on top. Delicious! Makin' me hungry just thinking about it. The pron looks amazing, Wayne. So glad you did this! :thumb:

 

[thirdeye]

You remember when you asked me what the Nova Scotia lox I remember from NY tasted like? I told you it was slightly salty. Not a heavy taste of salt, at all. And it had a mild fish taste, but not "fishy", like you say. The texture was not like regular fish, really. I find it interesting you said it reminded you of gelatin. Yeah, I can see that sort of. The slices were fairly thin, like you have in your money shot. I used to take a few slices and sort of pile them and drape them over each other on top of my cream cheese on my pumpernickel bagel, lay some raw onion rings or chives on top. Delicious! Makin' me hungry just thinking about it. The pron looks amazing, Wayne. So glad you did this! :thumb:

I'm glad I did it too. I have decided that when doing additional taste testing I might add just a tick of sea salt to a couple of slices, let them sit for a few minutes and see what that does. I also have a Himalayan salt block, that the instructions say can be chilled and used as a serving platter for chilled seafood, the moisture in the food draws salt from the surface of the slab.

 

[tish]

I'm glad I did it too. I have decided that when doing additional taste testing I might add just a tick of sea salt to a couple of slices, let them sit for a few minutes and see what that does. I also have a Himalayan salt block, that the instructions say can be chilled and used as a serving platter for chilled seafood, the moisture in the food draws salt from the surface of the slab.

That sounds way cool. Where'd you find that?

 

[thirdeye]

That sounds way cool. Where'd you find that?

I got it for Christmas last year. You can heat them up and cook on them, or chill them and serve cold foods on them. It's a slab of solid salt... like 5,000 years old or something. You wash it after using and let it dry. Then when it's all worn out you can actually grind and use the salt for seasoning.

I've used mine 5 or 6 times for cooking, mostly seafood and thin strips of steak. You just put it on the grill or on the stovetop and heat it up.

 

[MTHank]

This is a very intresting post for "Nova Lox", I just started following and would be intrested in you final report. Could you post the complete procedure as one post with your results? I am intrested in trying this but at this time it is a bit difficult for me to really comprehind... I am on drugs for back pain and things just don't sink in like normal for me.

Thanks for the GREAT POST!!!

 

[thirdeye]

This is a very intresting post for "Nova Lox", I just started following and would be intrested in you final report. Could you post the complete procedure as one post with your results? I am intrested in trying this but at this time it is a bit difficult for me to really comprehind... I am on drugs for back pain and things just don't sink in like normal for me.

Thanks for the GREAT POST!!!

I plan on that for sure.

This morning was the first true taste test since I did the cold smoking yesterday and the fish needed to chill overnight to let everything meld. You can see the color changed slightly, the flesh was still firm but the bite was not "gelatin like" anymore, it was more a "candied" texture. I'm hooked on this, and it was worth all the time needed for the long process. I didn't have any bagels and cream cheese on hand, so in true barbeque fashion, I had some soda crackers and onion on the side for breakfast.

 

[Big George's BBQ]

I have been thinking about doing this Now I have got to try it