Nova Lox

[David Hall]

Call it cold smoke, Norwegian style, gravlax, Nova Scotia Style or Nova Lox.  It's pretty much the same, a light brine 2-12 hrs, a full pelican and a couple hours to a couple days of low temp smoking.  My brine of choice is a dry brine made up of kosher salt and dark brown sugar I use 3:1 sugar to salt brine overnight in a sealed container, cold water rinse and another hour or so to develop the pelicle.  Then onto my smoker at 110 degrees for 90 minutes under moderate Alder smoke and finish at 150 degrees for 30 minutes minimum.  It starts becoming hard smoke if you go much longer and less like Lox. I don't have a good cold smoker so I shade tree engineer my gas grill, raise the racks up and support them on bricks, place my wood chip pan directly on one burner turned down low and prop the lid up so it just covers the rack but let's a lot of air through to keep the smoke moving.  Maybe next year I'll build or get a proper cold smoke house setup but to many other projects going to think about it now.  The hardest part is after it comes off the grill you need to wait and in my case that is impatiently waiting for it to cool down, then refrigerate for a couple hours before slicing into it.  I'm still waiting it's only been off the grill for 20 minutes!

[David Hall]

And where does that s fantastic looking salmon come from?  Well.....take a look.

[JoseCuervo]

Dang, some dolt sure made a mess of that deck!

[David Hall]

Yes we did. And what funwe had doing it.

[Crow]

Good looking fish !

[Bill B]

Love me some smoked salmon!  Good job!  Bill

[philaroman]

...The hardest part is after it comes off the grill you need to wait and in my case that is impatiently waiting for it to cool down, then refrigerate for a couple hours before slicing into it.  I'm still waiting it's only been off the grill for 20 minutes!

just cure/smoke the next one, while you're eating the last 1/4 of this one...  problem solved

[David Hall]

...The hardest part is after it comes off the grill you need to wait and in my case that is impatiently waiting for it to cool down, then refrigerate for a couple hours before slicing into it.  I'm still waiting it's only been off the grill for 20 minutes!

just cure/smoke the next one, while you're eating the last 1/4 of this one...  problem solved

Exactly!

[JoseCuervo]

...The hardest part is after it comes off the grill you need to wait and in my case that is impatiently waiting for it to cool down, then refrigerate for a couple hours before slicing into it.  I'm still waiting it's only been off the grill for 20 minutes!

just cure/smoke the next one, while you're eating the last 1/4 of this one...  problem solved

Can you help mark the calendar for the next photo update? Please show your work, rates on smoke time and consumption. Dave is WAY long on smoked salmon, maybe through the holidays!

A 20 pounder like that one at least gives you two of these. Catching them is cheaper than shopping for them, right?



Nice work on the cold(er) smoke Dave! I did a couple of pounds a few weeks ago. The pellicle is definitely a key step IMO. Did you use a fan, or just a rack in the refrigerator (easier, and less stinky)?  I used some low sodium soy sauce instead of salt with brown sugar and lots of garlic.

[Donnyboat]

Thanks Dave & Jose all very interesting, cheers Don.

[Cor]

lovely fish and very delicious looking end product.
Go and get another one!

[JoseCuervo]

lovely fish and very delicious looking end product.
Go and get another one!

Fishing is weird Cor. My brother said the same thing to me when I sent him a first fish pic early one morning. 10 minutes later he was a bit quieter.. Some days it is one, or none, some days, well..

I straight up love fishing with Dave.  

[jigmaster501]

Scientifically speaking its a hot smoke but it looks good none the less.

Cold smoke can't go above 90F for 20 hours unless you have sablefish which can go up to 110F for a maximum of 6 hours.

Hot smoking has to get the internal temp to 145F for a minimum of 30 minutes which you likely achieved.

If you get a cold smoker, get one that will measure internal temperature, ambient temperature, air flow rate and one that regulates the volume on smoke. It is worth it. You might be able to get a hot smoker with a heating unit that goes lower so you can do both. With this you can smoke meats and everything else.

Creating the pellicle in the smoker and getting smoke under the pellicle will achieve a safer product but it depending on the unit, might be hard to control.

The alderwood provides a rich color and clean taste. I like it whole wheat crackers. Eating it hot is great too on some good French bread.

Now I am hungry...lol

Eugene

[whalebreath]

Good to see a well-bled fish that's starting it all right!

[David Hall]

Good to see a well-bled fish that's starting it all right!

Bled live and iced quickly.