Does anyone know if you can make cold smoked salmon at home. What equipment do you need. Its very pricey to buy so wondering if its worth buying some equipment upfront.

It's quite demanding to make, as you need equipment that will keep a fire smoking and will also funnel the smoke through a cooling process so that the fish doesn't get cooked while it is being smoked. I've seen instructions for building a cold smoker and it doesn't look simple.

If anyone knows of a simple process I'd be very keen, we love cold-smoked salmon.

Bradley Smokers do hot and cold smoke. They aren't cheap but readily available in NZ.

[www.marine-deals.co.nz]

This could be a pleasure or a pain, but whichever, it's quite fascinating and very plausible (and not too expensive) -

[youtu.be]

Regards,
Dawn.

I found this gravlax recipe. Has anyone tried this or something like similar?

[www.recipetineats.com]

I love it and I often make gravlax near Christmas time. It's very easy to make, once you've got the pin bones out of the fish - that's the part I hate doing. After it's cured, I usually cut a side of gravlax into 3 pieces and freeze a couple for use whenever. It's hard not to take a slice every time I open the fridge door! There are lots of curing recipes on the internet and I often make it with the addition of a splash of gin and juniper berries. Have seen recipes using beetroot in the cure which gives it the red colouring on the outside.
Regards,
Dawn.

Thanks Dawn, would you mind sharing your recipe including what type of salt you use. I would like to do a basic one so I could test the process before spending too much money on a larger cut.

I make Gravlax often, it is easy and keeps well. I also hot-smoke the cured Gravlax (in a whole piece, not sliced) which is also delicious. That recipe you linked to is, like so many blog posts, making far too much of a fuss about the process in order to boost the word count.

There's no need to be too fussy about quantities. Here's the basic recipe I started with, but I often omit the garlic or use gin instead of vodka.

Gravlax

approx 1 kg salmon or tuna fillet de-boned

2 cloves garlic
100g sugar
150g plain salt with no additives
1 c dill leaves, finely chopped
100 ml vodka or other spirit

Crush garlic with some of the salt (in mortar), combine with all ingredients. Rub into fish and place in a non-reactive dish. Cover with cling film and place a weight on top.

refrigerate 12 hours, turn, refrigerate 12 hours.

Brush off excess salt and herbs and pat fish dry.

The gravlax will keep in the fridge for about a week if handled cleanly.

Slice thinly.

To smoke the fish, briefly rinse off the salt in cold water and pat dry.

Happy to share the recipe Plates…….it's a Jo Elwin recipe (Gravadlax) first published in the Bite mag. of the Herald. I just use ordinary salt in this recipe. [www.eatwell.co.nz] Sometimes I leave it for 3 days. The salmon firms up beautifully and is easy to slice in thin slices but don't cut through the skin - leave that intact. This is my favourite recipe.

The first recipe I ever used follows and is similar to the recipe in your link but for a lesser weight of salmon:

450 g salmon - skin on, pin bones removed.

Mix together -
2 tablespoons Maldon or rock salt (I'm sure ordinary salt would be quite OK to use instead of rock salt)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
20 sprigs of fresh dill weed

Cover salmon flesh with the mixture and double wrap in plastic wrap and place in a flat dish with sides as liquid forms. Refrigerate at least 48 hours, turning it over a couple of times. Rinse and pat dry. Slice thin slices on the bias.
Good luck.
Regards,
Dawn.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2020 08:13AM by Dawn.

Thanks Dawn. Just so its clear, you don't need to put the mixture on the skin side. Is dill weed easily accessible? Was thinking the first time, just to do with the sugar and salt to understand the process.

Yes fine to do it with sugar and salt (and pepper to add some flavour) to understand the process. Anything you add beyond that is flavouring. No, you don't need to put the mixture on the skin side because the skin is on the bottom and the mixture is spread on the top which is the flesh side. It forms a lot of juice which, eventually, the skin will sit in, so only need to put the mixture on the flesh side which begins the curing process.

Dill is a herb and it grows like a weed, you often see it growing on the side of the road. If you grow it in your vegetable or herb garden, once you plant it you have it forever as it self-seeds. It has an anise flavour which goes well with salmon or any fish. You can buy dill as a dried herb and can use that instead if you want to.
Regards,
Dawn.

My local Countdown frequently has fresh dill available in those little sealed (gulp) plastic trays and I occasionally see it amongst the potted herbs in supermarkets.
Lynne2

With respect to covering the fish with the salt/sugar mix. Does it have to be covered you cannot see any flesh, or is it more an even spread so you see an even amount of specks of flesh. What about the sides of the fish?

Sprinkle the mix over and lightly rub it in if you are unsure whether the cure has covered all surfaces, including the sides. Seeing an even amount of flesh is OK because it soon forms a dampness which gets into all the right places. Because you are turning the salmon over after several hours, you can be assured the brine is ultimately going to do it's job on every part of the fish.

Also if you feel you need some more cure mix together equal portions of salt and sugar i.e. another half or 1 teaspoon (or more) of each and sprinkle it over and rub some along the sides of the fish as well.

Hope this helps. - Once you have done it once you will realise how easy it is to do!
Regards,
Dawn.

As I said, there's no need to be fussy about the quantities. As Dawn said, once you've done it once you will realise how simple and foolproof the process is.

The salt and sugar cures the fish by osmosis (drawing out the water in the fish by creating a saturated solution) and it doesn't matter if it is evenly spread or too thickly covered, the process will still happen. The longer you leave it the more the fish will cure - I often leave it 5 days as I like the firmness this gives. It won't go off as the salt and sugar retard bacterial action.

Thanks both of you. Thought perhaps it would be too salt to eat if it was covered too much.

I just unwrapped it, rinsed off the salt and sugar mix, dried it and tried it. It was just a sugar/salt mix to try and it was delicious. Honestly was expecting it to be too sweet or too salty, but its neither. Thank you all.