I am trying to make gravlax (lox).
Method
- Clean off salmon fillet (~200g tail portion)
- Mix 50/50 table salt and sugar
- Coat skin side in salt/sugar mixture, rub in
- Coat non-skin side in dill
- Coat non-skin side in salt/sugar mixture, rub in
- Place in covered container
- Place in fridge for 18-24 hours
Problem
After 24 hours, the thin parts are cured, but the skin side of the thick part is still red.
What I have tried
Cutting off the skin – completely effective, but makes it very tough, also all the videos I watched had it cured with the skin on, and those came out fine
Curing for longer – did not seem to have any effect
Rubbing salt/sugar mixture directly on end – this seemed to help a bit right on the end, but it was still red further in
Place weight on top – some videos I watched had the fillet wrapped in cling wrap and smooshed with a weight, but this did not seem to have any effect
Best Answer
So, first, I don't think that gravlax looks that bad. Gravlax is never going to be the uniform peach/orange color that cold smoked salmon is (lox). It just looks a little bit under-cured.
There are two things I do that are different from you, when I make Gravlax:
I cure it for a minimum of 72 hours, turning every 12 hours or so (and pressing the whole time, but that's a texture thing).
My cure includes a couple shots of aquavit. I find that the alcohol helps the cure penetrate into the center of the salmon.
Here's my recipe.