lox at home

Making lox is much easier then ever imagined and yields amazing results at home. This recipe requires very little time to set up and a weeks worth of patience for the curing. Sliced thin and served on bagels for holiday brunch or with champagne and caviar for New Years.


Basic Gravlax

1 skin on fillet of salmon (2-3 pounds)
½ lemon juiced
1 oz gin
1 cup kosher salt
3/4 cup white sugar
2 Tb fresh ground black pepper

Remove pin bones from salmon and place it skin side down on cheese cloth on a perforated pan or screen with a drip pan under. Combine the gin and lemon juice and brush the mixture onto the salmon fillet. In a bowl mix salt, sugar and black pepper. Pack the dry mixture on to the fleshy side of the salmon. Wrap the cheese cloth around the top and place a sheet pan with a 1 lb weight onto. Place in the fridge for three days. (If your fish is extremely thick it will take a day or so longer). When you remove it on the third day most of the dry cure will have melted into the fish. If any dry bits are left brush them off and you are ready to slice the fish. Slice at an angle as thin as possible and avoid cutting into the skin. After the cure is removed the lox will last a week plus in the fridge.