Just place the smoking tray on a brick or rock when it is lit to keep it away from cardboard if you go that route. Smoking box: You can use any sort of box that will not combust, from a charcoal or propane grill with the heat turned off, to a large cardboard box. I use a sawdust/pellet tray from which works great, you can also make a tray. Fill the can or tray with some pellets used in a pellet smoker and light it with a blow torch on one end (for best results, have the pellets in a circle or a line so it can burn down like a candle on its side. Mmm.Ĭold smoking is easy, you can order a small smoking tray or make one from a small can. On top of the lox goes thinly sliced red onion (so that you don't have to touch the lox directly with your fingers while you're eating the bagel (only a problem if you're a fan of the open face bagel), lemon juice, a touch of salt and pepper and more fresh dill.
Then, load the bagel up with lox, not too much, but not too little. Stick some capers into the cream cheese, which will hold them in place so that they don't roll off the bagel (common problem). My perfect bagel with lox construction goes something like this: Get a lightly toasted everything bagel (from NY if possible) and cover with cream cheese. The capers are really just for some salty briny flavor, and wouldn't get added to the lox ahead of time anyway. Many people pack dill in with the salmon, but I really prefer the flavor of the dill to be fresh and so I hold off on that until the last moment. The lemon will turn the salmon a whitish color after a while, and that's not the most appetizing thing for lox. I don't add in the dill, capers and lemon until I'm ready to serve the lox. I've heard fishmongers recommend Duart Salmon, and more often, King Salmon. If you fish counter is selling more than one type of salmon, tell them you're going to be making lox with it and that you'd like the freshest thing they've got with a decent amount of fat in it. and was able to feed 6-8 people with modest portions. In terms of quantity, the process takes just a little foresight, 24-48 hours worth, so I'd recommend buying about twice as much as you'd think you'll need and inviting over some friends if you find yourself having extra. still 1/2 the cost of the stuff at the bagel store.
Now that must have been on sale, but you should be able to find a very high quality salmon that's under $20.00 per lb. I picked up some locally farmed, sustainably raised Duart Salmon there for $9.99 per lb. I harp on California not having certain things that New York does, but one of the many distinctly beautiful things that California does have is The Berkeley Bowl - pretty much the best market I've ever come across. The savings comes in buying your own salmon.
GRAVLAX SLICER ELECTRIC FULL
As with many things DIY, there's an alternate, cheaper method that I'll share with you, which, in my humble New York Jew opinion tastes just as good, if not better than the full price cold smoked specialty store bought stuff. The only problem is, you rarely see it out here in Cali, and back home in Port Washington, NY, at Let There Be Bagels, the best appetizing (aka "spread") store around, nova costs $40.00 a pound! Even if you've managed to keep your job through these crazy economic times, that's still a lot of hooch for some uncooked fish.
I grew up with the kid who stands to inherit the 4th generation business and have eaten the stuff all of my life. In my opinion, ACME nova lox from Brooklyn, NY is the king of all things appetizing. It's super easy to do, takes only 24-48 hours to cure, requires only a few ingredients, is really impressive with the guests, and best of all, costs 1/4 of what you'd spend on the same thing at the store! I'm a California transplant from New York, and on the long list of delicious things that you can't get in California, including pizza, bagels, egg rolls and cold weather, is lox. I've been making homemade lox (technically gravlax, because I cure them only in salt and sugar, rather than curing them and cold smoking them like nova lox) for the last year or so and have really been enjoying the outcome.
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