# Salmon Lox While Trying Some New Things



## tallbm (Nov 17, 2019)

With the cold front that came through I got a jump on it and prepped a little over 12.5 pounds of Salmon for Lox!!!!
I live in Texas so I have to JUMP and move as quickly and efficiently as possible to take advantage of temps that get low enough for long enough allowing me a window to cold smoke Salmon Lox.  So if you are wondering "why would he do this" you now know that I don't get many cold smoking opportunities during our limited winter time.

This time around though I tried some things to get as streamlined as possible because Lox takes a number different steps and prep over a number of DAYS.  Remember I'm trying to get it as efficient as possible here  
One of the steps in the process is to desalinate the meat after dry curing it if too much salt and/or curing time is applied (which is the case with the approach I have used) so I was looking to eliminate that step all together and improve on some other stuff as well. 

*New Things Tried*
Here is my list of new things I tried:

Figure out precise salt measurement to avoid having to desalinate
Along with other seasoning measurements outside of the cure #1.  I'm always careful to properly measure cure #1.

Dry cure in bags rather than in a large container where the meat is laying on dry cure ingredients and covered with it as wel
I've never read of anyone doing this and it plays into getting proper ingredient measurements

Try out using "True Orange" and "True Lemon" crystallized orange and lemon products versus buying and zesting oranges and lemons
I can keep this stuff in the pantry and use for a lot of stuff and don't have to make a trip to the store and then create zest for 12.5 pounds of salmon 


*My Process:*

Salt amount = Used 1.85% of salmon weight (can probably go up to 2%)
Did 1% sugar
Did 1 packet (0.8gm) of True Orange and 1 packet of True Lemon
1 Tablespoon of White Pepper
Cure #1 at 150ppm so 1.134gm per pound of salmon


Put each salmon fillet in a 2 gallon bag with the the  measured seasoning for the filet an massaged all over without tearing up the fillets
Put the 3 bags of salmon fillets into a 2 gallon bag and sealed it up and put in the garage fridge













I let cure for 48 hours and flipped at the 24 hour mark.  The weight of the fish did a good job of applying pressure to help drive in the dry cure
Rinsed the fillets of all the seasoning really well and then patted dry with paper towels
Here is what they looked like after curing.  You can tell where I roughed them up a little bit but nothing that was an issue







I put them back in the fridge and let them dry for 48 hours.  I would have done 36 BUT I just couldn't get to them to smoke until this past Sat morning so 48 hours it was.
I smoked the dried salmon for 4 hours with 100% Alder wood and here is what it looked like after it came out












I sliced at an angle and had 17 packs of tasty salmon lox but no sliced pics as I was busy working with all that meat and vac sealing
When I was putting the vac sealed salmon lox in the freezer it dawned on me to take a pic so here is what you got as I was stuffing it all in the door hahaa






*Lessons Learned:*

It came out really well and was fully cured all the way through and these were all big fillets over 4.25lbs a piece!
Some of the thicker parts could have used a little more salt so I will probably up the salt to a full 2% next time
The citrus flavors are almost non-existent so next time I will double to 4 packets total (2 true orange, 2 true lemon) for my 4lbs+ fillets to see if I can get the hint of refreshing citrus flavor that I am going for.  I DO believe 100% that the crystallized citrus approach is  going to work out, I just gotta figure out the measurements and man is it way faster and easier than zesting hahaha
Using 2 gallon bags worked well and is soooooooo much more efficient than trying to find a tub or multiple tubs to cure 3 fillets or such a large amount of fish as 12lbs+.  You just have to not be heavy handed to while putting the fish in and massaging the seasoning all over to avoid tearing the fillets.  An easier approach would be to just cut the fillets into smaller rectangles and work it that way in the bag so I may do that next time.
I already knew it was good but man it is nice to be reminded of how AWESOME 100% Alder is on this fish and this smoke.  I don't think I will entertain deviating unless I'm going for something different like a color change in which I'll use some Cherry and probably some Alder as well
I was able to improve on efficiency and reduce steps with trying these new things:
No need for desalination step and time
Using the 2 gallon bags can totally take advantage of less fridge space and eliminates the need for cumbersome and big tubs/containers to cure the salmon
True Orange and True Lime saves a boat load of time not making a trip to the store and zesting and is readily available in my pantry for this smoke.  Time is really


*Conclusion:*
The smoke and the things I tried were quite successful!  The flavor was good while still having a little bit of room for improvement.
Once I get the citrus component dialed in and I up the salt a tiny bit I think I have a super repeatable, scalable, and much more efficient approach to take advantage of cold front that comes in at the right time and hangs around long enough for me to get this smoke done!

I hope this info helps anyone who are in my situation or anyone who simply wants to reduce time and get more precise when making Salmon Lox!


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## cmayna (Nov 17, 2019)

Looks wonderful, but next time how about a finished product pic, on a bagel with cream cheese and fresh dill. Oh and a glass of chardonnay on the side.    But seriously, big like!


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## Fueling Around (Nov 17, 2019)

Great detailed instructions!

Not a salmon fan.  Wife is ... , but luckily she is off the smoked fish due to sodium restricted diet.
I am not going to temp her with your recipe either.

I like the idea of using crystal citrus. 
I use lemon in my pork loin brine. Problem I have is gauging the amount of lemon when they vary in size from a golf ball to a boccie ball


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## jcam222 (Nov 17, 2019)

Looks fantastic. I haven’t had lox in quite some time. I’ll have to remedy that!! Big like on yours.


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## tropics (Nov 18, 2019)

Looks great I am going to make more soon.
Richie


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## gmc2003 (Nov 18, 2019)

Nice looking batch of Nova lox you made Tall. I think I missed my Lox window this year. Our temps have been ranging from single digits to the mid 20s for most of November. Usually it's around the mid 30s to mid 40s. Oh well. Enjoy the salmon - as it looks really good. 

Point for sure
Chris


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## tallbm (Nov 18, 2019)

cmayna said:


> Looks wonderful, but next time how about a finished product pic, on a bagel with cream cheese and fresh dill. Oh and a glass of chardonnay on the side.    But seriously, big like!


Thanks!  I'll get a pic posted.  I made some lettuce, tomato, and cream cheese wraps for dinner yesterday.  I will likely have more this week and will post a pic of it :)



Fueling Around said:


> Great detailed instructions!
> 
> Not a salmon fan.  Wife is ... , but luckily she is off the smoked fish due to sodium restricted diet.
> I am not going to temp her with your recipe either.
> ...



Thanks!  I would call this one a low/lower sodium version.  I'm definitely bumping up to 2% and I'm guessing that for my tastes I may end up around 2.25% salt.  The trick will be how salty the thinner vs thicker portions get without getting TOO salty in any single spot.  I like a challenge though and it gives me excuses to try more haha.
Yeah with the crystallized I bet I can get a precise measurement per pound for a few different things making it accurate and consistently repeatable.  More testing and different meats needed to be tried but I'm in on it :) 



jcam222 said:


> Looks fantastic. I haven’t had lox in quite some time. I’ll have to remedy that!! Big like on yours.



Thanks!  I look forward to a Lox post soon if you get the time :)




tropics said:


> Looks great I am going to make more soon.
> Richie



Thanks!  Yeah it's that time of the year for it.  I look forward to seeing what you make :)



gmc2003 said:


> Nice looking batch of Nova lox you made Tall. I think I missed my Lox window this year. Our temps have been ranging from single digits to the mid 20s for most of November. Usually it's around the mid 30s to mid 40s. Oh well. Enjoy the salmon - as it looks really good.
> 
> Point for sure
> Chris



Thanks! As long as you can keep things under 70F you can cold smoke.  Also adding a foil pan of ice in the smoker helps keep the temps down if you start getting too high AND you can always open the door a few times to release built up heat :)



Well everyone I think I would call this a low or lower sodium outcome and I will personally try and bump up the salt to 2% and I think I may end up on 2.25% in the end for my tastes, only experimenting will tell lol.

So far it's been good to go and I'm glad you are enjoying it almost as much as I am :D


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## mushroomboots (Feb 27, 2020)

Turned out beautifully, and I too appreciate the detailed information. The Citrus powder is a revelation to me which I'd love to try, and I'm so glad you shared it. Lox is one of our favorite things around our house, but I've never tried freezing it after making it.  How does that affect the texture, or does it?


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## tallbm (Mar 29, 2020)

mushroomboots said:


> Turned out beautifully, and I too appreciate the detailed information. The Citrus powder is a revelation to me which I'd love to try, and I'm so glad you shared it. Lox is one of our favorite things around our house, but I've never tried freezing it after making it.  How does that affect the texture, or does it?



I'm glad you found the post and the citrus powder as interesting as I do.
I vac seal and freeze so its never an issue.  I defrost by putting in the fridge and letting it defrost naturally.  Its just as good as when fresh.  Because it was vac sealed u can get a little more oil on your hands but no issue with texture or flavor, its great!

I would only freeze if vac sealing though to ensure it is nice and good tasting.
I hope this info helps :)


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## mushroomboots (Mar 29, 2020)

tallbm said:


> I'm glad you found the post and the citrus powder as interesting as I do.
> I vac seal and freeze so its never an issue.  I defrost by putting in the fridge and letting it defrost naturally.  Its just as good as when fresh.  Because it was vac sealed u can get a little more oil on your hands but no issue with texture or flavor, its great!
> 
> I would only freeze if vac sealing though to ensure it is nice and good tasting.
> I hope this info helps :)



tallbm, thanks so much!  I'm psyched to do this, especially now with salmon on hand, as well as time! Take care, and Enjoy!


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## tallbm (Mar 29, 2020)

use my notes and let me know what u try with the amounts and how well it works :)


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## tallbm (Jan 22, 2022)

Well I'm making my yearly run of cold smoked Salmon Lox!
I have 3.2lbs and 3lbs of fillet dry curing in the fridge as of 5 minutes ago. I'm doubling up the True Lemon and True Orange to see if that kicks up the hints of citrus flavor a bit more.

Also these fillets are skin on. Last time I did skin on it was no issue and cured all the way through. I just slice right off the skin when I'm slicing. I then put the skin in a skillet and cook to make salmon skin bacon which is sooooooo good!

We will have cold smoking weather Wed-Sat morning so I'll do it in the evening (8pm ish) or start it at like 6am'ish for 4 hours of 100% Alder smoke and I should have 6 pounds of the stuff to eat throughout the year.

I mostly eat during the Lenten season before Easter so it comes in handy to have that much ready to go :)

I'll post pics when done and repot back on how the doubled citrus turned out :)


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