I have prepared lox and gravlax in the past. In both instances, I have brined and lightly smoked the salmon; in the case of gravlax, I have then put finely snipped fresh dill on the flesh side of the salmon, put a bit of olive oil on the dill and pressed it into the fish and left it to age for several days in the refrigerator.
These techniques never seem to give me a product similar to those I have tried in restaurants and at commercial outlets.
It seems that I am doing something wrong, especially with the gravlax, which never seems to achieve the fine texture and flavor of the gravlax I can purchase.
I use about 3 tablespoons/50 ml of salt and about half as much sugar per pound/450 grammes for a dry brine, which is then put in the refrigerator for a day, before smoking.
Has anyone made this? Why isn't it coming out correctly?
Best Answer
I'd say you probably brined the salmon for too long. Gravlax goes generally from 12 to 48 hours in a dry brine.
You have to know that
If the result is uneven, you should flip the fish each 12 or so hours. After the brining and removing all the salt under running water, let the fish rest (dry) for a few hours to let the flavors balance inside the fish.
For the smoking, you should take care of cold smoking it (fish temperature should be kept below 37°C [100°F]) as to maintain gravlax properties. However as it was mentioned in the comments, it should then be called smoked salmon instead of gravlax as the gravlax is generally not smoked. Inserting a thermometer in the fish is helpful to control temperature during the whole process.
A trick to maintain gravlax properties and confection, but to add some smoke flavor is to add some smoked tea to the brine.