Gravlax (cold smoked)

Smokeville · March 22, 2010, 02:14:16 PM

Hi folks;

I've been making gravlax. I use trout instead of salmon as I'm allergic to salmon, and it has turned out wonderfully. But last time I thought I would cold smoke the trout first, then put it through the gravlax process.

The result was very different in taste but not in texture. I'm not sure I would try it again, simply because I really enjoy the regular stuff.

Has anyone else tried gravlax? I'm curious about adding different flavours other than dill...

Thanks, Rich

bears fan · March 22, 2010, 06:34:58 PM

What the heck is gravlax?

tsquared · March 22, 2010, 07:15:45 PM

Gravlax is fish (usually salmon but trout in this case) that has been dry salt/sugar cured with the addition of some fresh dill, and cracked white pepper. Thinly sliced on a little rye bread with unsalted butter, ice cold vodka chaser--oh yeah!!!
Smokeville--have you ever tried grilling a chunk of fish you cured this way? That's tasty too. To answer your question, I have never gone beyond salt/sugar and dill with cracked pepper for flavours.
T2

Slamdunk · March 22, 2010, 07:29:49 PM

I have been wanting to try to do some Gravlax for many years. My wife is Danish and she and her family turned me on to it. I love the stuff!

The reason I haven't tried it as yet is because my SIL has a source for it which I don't think I could beat! Tastes fantastic. Danish fine rye bread, a little Danish mayonnaise and some sprinkled peppercorn, sliced sweet raw onions and Nervana!! Goes great with a Danish schnapps! Mind you, don't try to have one gravlax sandwich and then one schnapps and continue on that ratio, because while 3 or 4 gravlax is great, 3 or 4 schnapps will have you waking up the next morning wondering what the hell happened!!

RAF128 · March 22, 2010, 08:02:32 PM

I've made gravlox and really liked it. Besides the salt and sugar cure, the dill, my recipe also called for vodka poured on the fish before it is wrapped. Gravlox is not intended to be smoked but I've done it and it's a nice touch and I like the added flavor.

Smokeville · March 23, 2010, 09:56:43 AM

Quote from: RAF128 on March 22, 2010, 08:02:32 PM
I've made gravlox and really liked it. Besides the salt and sugar cure, the dill, my recipe also called for vodka poured on the fish before it is wrapped. Gravlox is not intended to be smoked but I've done it and it's a nice touch and I like the added flavor.

I've read about the vodka, and also about gin, but I've never tried it.

What I thought was amazing was that I was able to turn $24 worth of trout into $110 of product, at the price a local store would charge for 4lb of similar quality.

3rensho · March 23, 2010, 10:41:45 AM

I make gravlox too and add a splash of gin. I find juniper goes well with it.

KyNola · March 23, 2010, 01:26:04 PM

I've made gravlax a number of times with a number of variations on the curing recipe. One of my favorites is substituting cognac for the vodka or gin!

Big fan of gravlax.

NewfieSmoker · March 23, 2010, 01:53:19 PM

I've hotsmoked trout, and makeral, and they both turned out well. Especially the makeral! I'm experimenting with Nova Lox now, which for all intents and purposes is cold smoked gravlox. I've discussed some of the problems I had first time through in another tread. I'm interested to hear about adding the alcohol. When does this get added?

And for the record, the hot smoked trout we did turned out almost exactly like Salmon. The problem is i cant catch trout big enough to get a nice fillet off!!!! I expect that if I could, the smoked fillet would be amazing.

Newfie Smoker

squirtthecat · March 23, 2010, 03:54:21 PM

Is this like ceviche?

RAF128 · March 23, 2010, 07:15:56 PM

Quote from: squirtthecat on March 23, 2010, 03:54:21 PM

Is this like ceviche?

No. Ceviche is raw fish that is cooked by the acids in lemon and lime juice.

Paddlinpaul · March 23, 2010, 07:28:35 PM

I have done 3 batches since Christmas, and love it. I use the recipe from the book that came with OBS. Its available on the Bradley main web site. Everyone who has tried says it is the best smoked salmon they have tried. My boss had me smoke 4 salmons for himself and a friend of his last weekend because he liked it so much. The only modification I do to the recipe is use filleted, skinless Atlantic salmon from Costco. I haven't tried grilling it yet but will try it. The gin sounds good in there, I love gin. I serve it with pumpernickel bread and a dill dip and also add it to a rosee pasta sauce http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=14463.0

Habanero Smoker · March 24, 2010, 02:04:50 AM

Quote from: squirtthecat on March 23, 2010, 03:54:21 PM

Is this like ceviche?

The best comparison is that gravlax is a style of lox that has more seasonings added during the curing process.

Smokeville · March 24, 2010, 06:14:52 AM

Hi Newfie Smoker!

I love smoked trout. I'm allergic to salmon, so that makes me happy. The Rainbow Trout and Salmon are basically the same fish, from what I can discover, except that Salmon live in both fresh and salt water.

Yes, I wish rainbow trout were bigger, but most of them are farmed and I guess the producers try to keep to a certain portion size and cost point.

My wife picked up a farmed Lake Trout, which I smoked. It's related to Char the same way trout and salmon are related. The smoked taste was not quite as "full bodied" as the rainbow, but I know you could get them in larger sizes. Maybe there are some mail order places in one of the territories that could ship to you (cheap)?" Or, what about closer to home for you?

Send me a private message about your Inn. (Or post it for all of us to see). I would love to know where you are.

tsquared · March 24, 2010, 06:41:45 AM

QuoteMaybe there are some mail order places in one of the territories that could ship to you (cheap)?"

My brother used to get frozen arctic char shipped to him in Calgary for cold smoking--it was excellent. I'll ask him tonight if he can remember the name of the outfit.
T2