Once lox has been "cured" and smoked, how long is it safely edible with normal refrigeration? Can you freeze it for later use?
I would also like to know if you can freeze it. I am going to offer a thought on this. Left in the fridge I would say your good for about five days. Now if your freezing it I would say yes you can as it is cured pretty much like Kummoks smoked salmon and I freeze that all the time. Will it be just as good as fresh I can't say. Worst thing is it might get mushy (is that the right spelling?) Anytime I have made salt fish it never last's long enough to freeze.
I typically keep lox for up to a week to 10 days vacuum sealed at fridge temp, any longer and I freeze it. I have kept it longer without issue but I am not recommending it. :)
Seems to freeze fine, if it has been well cured I have not had a problem with it going mushy.
Thanks guys!
It freezes really well, does not affect it at all.
Your batches last long enough to freeze? Mine was gone in a couple days ;)
Quote from: muebe on December 14, 2012, 04:21:42 AM
Your batches last long enough to freeze? Mine was gone in a couple days ;)
Good point! Mine would be too but I am going to give this to some friends of mine for a Latke party they are hosting on the 22nd and I don't want to be responsible for making folks sick. :)
I froze most of the Alaskan batch I did. It was frozen when I first purchased, so I will know soon enough how it refreezes. Will keep you advised.
Just reading a FAQ on VacMaster Vacuum Sealers and saw a chart on shelf life of various products and they say smoked fish at 1-2 weeks under normal conditions and 3-6 weeks if vac packed. Chart located on www.homesteadharvest.com if anyone is interested.
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The instructions that came with my vacuum sealer said similar and I have kept it for up to 4- 5 weeks fridged without a problem although this is for well cured and quite heavily smoked fish.
As several people have said it normally gets eaten well before then! :)
The caution on vac-sealing smoked fish whether hot or cold smoked and keeping it in the fridge is botulism. It is very unlikely but possible. This would be true for cold cured unsmoked gravlax as well. Botulism grows in a low-acid low/no oxygen environment. The safeguard against this is if the package is heated to 185F after sealing and before freezing.
Gravlax freezes really well and personally I can't tell the difference.
The same caution is true for defrosting. You can quickly defrost under cold running water without concern, but if you defrost by leaving it overnight in the fridge, you should break the vac seal first and let some air in.
Here in Canada, it is actually illegal to sell unfrozen smoked fish that has air excluded from the package unless certain conditions are met (such as heating the package to 185F). This warning is found on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) website but is mostly unknown and hardly ever followed -- I can buy all sorts of smoked salmon and trout and mackerel at our local grocery store and they are in simple trays with shrink wrap (which CFIA specifically prohibits).
If anyone wants to see the document, which is somewhat interesting, you can find it here:
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/retail-food/information-bulletins/smoked-fish/eng/1331662809395/1331662880980
I just posted another thread about keeping hot smoked salmon. I work in a commercial kitchen and we do have a VacMaster. They do have an excessive strength way above a Food sealer for home use (I can make perfectly compressed watermelon at work, but not enough vacuum at home to replicate). I was wondering for those of us that cannot afford the expensive commercial sealers at home - does the shelf life at refrigeration lessen using a home machine?