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

[Shiz-Nit]

Perfect Just Perfect!!!

 

[thirdeye]

I wanted some feedback from unsuspecting victims, so I took a box of lox to the neighborhood tavern during the Gator Bowl this afternoon. Inside a styro clam shell, I used a plastic wrapped blue ice pack with some wax paper on top to keep the slices chilled. One 'ol boy thought it looked like "good bait" and shied away from it :shocked:, but everyone else gave it the :thumb:, including two self proclaimed gurus of sushi.​

 

[tish]

Good grief, Wayne. That looks fantastic! Don't think I can take too much more of drooling over your pron without having something on my plate. Gonna have to break down and buy some lox to put on my pumpernickel. :roll:

 

[SirPorkaLot]

Wow. Way to go Wayne. Mighty fine eats I'm sure.

 

[thirdeye]

I guess I drug my feet on posting the re-write of my Nova Lox notes. Today I got 3 emails and one PM pretty much all saying the same thing.... "HEY %$**!?*%&!!, Where's that recipe you promised?"....

Well they weren't really that harsh, they were all more like a gentle reminder. Hehehee. So without further adoooo, here it is.

One thing to keep in mind is that the fillet I used was thicker than I can usually get, so some of my comments may not be a factor when using a 3/4" thick fillet which is common for the markets where I shop.

~thirdeye’s~ Nova Lox Using Steelhead or Salmon​

Rev. 2 January 2012​

Fish: For this batch I used steelhead fillets, thicker than normal (1" ), skin-on. Salmon will be the obvious choice as it is readily available. I selected the steelhead because it was super fresh and it had a nice fat content.

Dry Cure
50:50 mixture salt and brown sugar. (For a 7” long piece of fish I used 1/3 cup of kosher salt and 1/3 cup of brown sugar) (pickling salt might absorb better but would have to adjust measurement due to size). Sprinkle some of the mixture onto a long piece of plastic wrap. Cover the surface of the flesh side of the fish with the remaining dry cure, then turn the meat side down onto the wrap, and fold up the sides and ends, place fillet on a tray in case it leaks. You can place a weight on the fillet to insure good contact of the mixture and the fish during the cure. A small plate or cutting board with a jar of pickles will work fine for a weight. Cure time is 8 to 10 hours depending on thickness. This ratio worked very well. At the end of the dry cure, the fish had great color and was firm. I used 8 hours, and my piece was thick enough I could have gone 10 hours without a problem.

Remove the fish from the wrap, rinse under cold running water, lightly
scrub the fish with your fingers. The fish now goes into a brine cure, so have that all mixed up and chilled.

Brine Cure
Brine the fish using 1 gallon of water, 8 ounces of salt and 1/4 cup of white sugar for 6 to 10 hours depending on thickness of fillets. Pickling salt will dissolve easier than kosher salt, which ever you choose... weight it. Mix the brine while the dry cure is working, place in the refrigerator so it will be nice and chilled when needed. The brine cure made the fish relax, but did not wash out the color. It was not mushy. Brine time was 7 hours, I could have gone the full 10 hours as the fish was not overly salty, and Nova Lox should have a mild salt taste.

Soak-out: Following the brine, soak the fish in cold fresh water for 1 hour. Dry fillet, Season lightly with white pepper, black pepper and dill weed and place the fish on a rack in the fridge and rest overnight. Again, my finished lox was not overly salty so I think the 1 hour should be the maximum soak-out time

Cold Smoking
Cold smoke the fish at < 85° for 4 hours, check firmness, color and quality. Determine additional smoker time as needed. I used the cold A-Maze-N smoking tray in the Big Chief, and plugged in the BC for 15 minutes to warm up the smoker to 85° (no chip pan, just element) then switched off the element. Once an hour, I switched the element on for 10 minutes to raise the smoker temp to 85°. I would guess the average smoker temp was in the 50°'s. The purpose of the heat was only to dry the surface, I'm not trying to cook the fillet at all. The steelhead went 5 hours in the smoker. Wood was apple and the row of dust was topped with a small amount of hickory.

Chill the smoked fish overnight before slicing or wrapping.

Comments
The color following the dry cure was good. The lox was not salty at all. I’m wondering if I need to increase the strength of the Brine Cure? Or should it be lightly salted following slicing? Texture was firm and not chewy. Similar to gelatin or it could be called “candied” after the final chill down.

Flavor - I liked the slight hint of dill and pepper – this is a keeper

Smoke flavor – Delicate flavor. I had selected the hickory dust atop the apple dust as the Honey Smoked Salmon from Colorado I like so much uses hickory. I also wanted a distinct enough smoky flavor to overcome any issues with eating un-cooked fish.

 

[Hoss]

Done WELL, SIR!!! :thumb: MYGOODNESS that looks tastee!

 

[thull]

I did a few sides of salmon over the holidays using a pretty similar method. I decided to "Southernize" my version up and used a little bit of rye or bourbon in the cure and then cold smoke with pecan and/or apple wood. The only spice I put on was black pepper.

I went off my recollection of making gravlax many years ago and cured for 48 hours. No ill effects in terms of saltiness. Weighting down the filet to cure makes it denser, I think. I watched a video online (http://foodcurated.com/2010/04/samaki-smokehouse-the-art-of-cold-smoked-salmon/) where they brined the filets. I suspect that preserves a softer texture in the finished product.

 

[Paulie G.]

Looks like a winner to me.

 

[MTHank]

I guess I drug my feet on posting the re-write of my Nova Lox notes. Today I got 3 emails and one PM pretty much all saying the same thing.... "HEY %$**!?*%&!!, Where's that recipe you promised?"....

Thanks for the final up date on your "Nova Lox" I will give this a try.

Oh and I hope my PM did not come across as harsh! :tape: This was just something that really got my intrest and wanted to give it a try and I will as soon as I get over a herinated disc :shock:

Thanks again :thumb:

 

[thirdeye]

I did a few sides of salmon over the holidays using a pretty similar method. I decided to "Southernize" my version up and used a little bit of rye or bourbon in the cure and then cold smoke with pecan and/or apple wood. The only spice I put on was black pepper.

I went off my recollection of making gravlax many years ago and cured for 48 hours. No ill effects in terms of saltiness. Weighting down the filet to cure makes it denser, I think. I watched a video online (http://foodcurated.com/2010/04/samaki-smokehouse-the-art-of-cold-smoked-salmon/) where they brined the filets. I suspect that preserves a softer texture in the finished product.

Mine was both dry cured, then wet cured.... I can see the reasoning behind each one, and you are correct about the flesh softening, I could tell a difference.

Thanks for the final up date on your "Nova Lox" I will give this a try.

Oh and I hope my PM did not come across as harsh! :tape: This was just something that really got my intrest and wanted to give it a try and I will as soon as I get over a herinated disc :shock:

Thanks again :thumb:

No harshness at all, I was making a wise crack because 4 or 5 people all contacted me the same day.