Now that I have a decent handle on the 55 I was going to take a crack at lox. While the smoking part on the 55 seems straight forward I am confused with the brining.. so here goes a few questions...

1)The times for brining salmon filets in a wet brine run the range from 1-1.5 hours (UC Davis) to 12-24 hours (misc. online sources). This seems like a very wide range for the same fish filets?? Clearly safety is the first objective followed by texture/flavor.

2)I have read that as long as you do not exceed 2 hours in the "danger zone" (40-140f)that bacteria should not be a problem. Given the cold smoke for salmon lox in the CS is 1-1.5 hours, can you do a lighter brine... or no brine and still be "safe"?

3)Wet brine, dry brine and a combination of each are all recommended. What is the difference in regards to the end product?

4)thoughts on wood for lox? I seem to lean towards alder and apple, but would like to hear what you like.

TIA, Cigar

quote:

Originally posted by cigarnv:
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1)The times for brining salmon filets in a wet brine run the range from 1-1.5 hours (UC Davis) to 12-24 hours (misc. online sources). This seems like a very wide range for the same fish filets?? Clearly safety is the first objective followed by texture/flavor.
[/qb]

You'll find this level of variation in all sorts of curing recipes, so that's typical. Lox is a refrigerated product and if your smoking time is shorter than 2 hours then safety is not an issue. Just shoot for best flavor and texture. Lox keeps for up to a week refrigerated, it's not a preserved product.

I played around with many different recipes and settled on a 2 day dry cure, followed by a 1/2 hour soak in cool water. It comes down to curing enough to get the right texture and flavor, but not so much that it becomes too salty. That's a matter of taste so you should learn by experimenting.

What I do for this and many other preperations is to slice off a piece and taste it before I smoke it. If there's too much salt I soak it some more.

quote:

Originally posted by cigarnv:
[qb]
2)I have read that as long as you do not exceed 2 hours in the "danger zone" (40-140f)that bacteria should not be a problem. Given the cold smoke for salmon lox in the CS is 1-1.5 hours, can you do a lighter brine... or no brine and still be "safe"?
[/qb]

With that short of a smoking time safety isn't a factor.

quote:

Originally posted by cigarnv:
[qb]
3)Wet brine, dry brine and a combination of each are all recommended. What is the difference in regards to the end product?
[/qb]

I use a dry cure because it's simpler and it takes up less space in the fridge. I've done everything including the combination wet/dry cure and it didn't make a difference.

quote:

Originally posted by cigarnv:
[qb]
4)thoughts on wood for lox? I seem to lean towards alder and apple, but would like to hear what you like.
[/qb]

I haven't found a wood that doesn't work well except for mesquite. I normally use apple, cherry, or alder and I like to change them for variation.

J, thank you for your help on this. I am going to give the dry cure a try this week as it is less mess and less space.

Thanks again, C

You're welcome. Good luck with it.

Did you get the cold smoke baffle from Cookshack?
The instructions that come with it work very well.

Chef, yes I did. I did follow the instructions but used a wet brine instead for about 2 hours on a 1.25" salmon filet that was skinless (costco). It came out great!!