JS,

I just completed a 2nd attempt--this time using 3/4 cup fine kosher salt; 1/2 cup sugar lemon, lime zests; 4 grinds of freshly ground pepper; 1 and 1/2 TBS of lemon flavored vodka and followed your instructions. I used a brick and flipped the "sandwich" every 12 hrs and allowed the salmon to cure for approximately 38 hrs.

The gravlax is super! Not hard or crusty but soft and "buttery". The filets were rinsed in cold water and the initial tasting found the gravlax to impart a mild saltiness.
I am very pleased and delighted with the outcome.
Am planning to serve it as an appetizer with garnishes (capers, chopped red onions, thinly sliced lemon) as part of the Passover seder.
Happy Passover and Happy Easter!

Ok, today is "D" Day. My 2 lb Salmon has been thawing in the fridge, and now I am ready to rock and roll.

I spent hours reviewing the internet. I was lucky to come across your site. In my experience, it seems the best ideas are simple.

I read all the information you provided, including the comments,
top to bottom several times.

I even have a Zester tool in my Camp Kitchen drawer, didn't even
know what the heck it was...till now.

I am going to follow your method to the "T"

May as well use my Vacuum Sealer, while I am at it.

Will let you know the outcome in about 36 hours.

Thanks for your intuitive information!

Danny

Howdy here from Texas.

Just to be on the safe side, I waited 3 days-about 72 hours.

Since I did 2Lbs 1oz of Salmon I used the 2.25 ingredient conversion table, and zested 3/4 lime...for weight of the Salmon.

Since you mentioned the fresh Dill amount did not have to be precise, I had 3/4 oz on hand, minced stems and all.

My wife bought 2 fillets, one I hot smoked with my special recipe. When I went to grab the second one later, it happen to be skinless Chile Farm raised. Darn It! Decided to proceed anyways.

In the final step, I vacuumed sealed the sandwich. Most likely I did not need to turn them every 12 hours, I did anyways, just in case gravity had an effect.

After all this work (actually it was fun) I was anxious on the
results.

I went head and drained off the juices, scraped off the most of the Dill, went ahead and rinsed, patted dry with paper towels (it was easier to remove some more of the dill, still leaving some flakes for presence).

Results....Man was I surprised! The texture, flavor (had a nice
Dill flavor presence also) awesome.

Along with the cutting samples...(Sushi), we ate it traditionally with my home made Bagels, Red onion (purple color), and cream cheese. My friend who dislikes Sushi,(so he tells me)helped himself to a second sandwich.

Next time I will make sure the skin is on the fillet, and hope to get Wild Salmon. If you have any other suggestions, I am open, other than that we are very pleased. Thank you for all your experiments. Been there with many recipes.

Chow.

Thank you for sharing this detailed set of instructions for making gravlax. I made it last week, and it was awesome! I was pleasantly surprised because I fall into the kitchen klutz category.

Hi,

Gravlax is my all time favourite starter, by Dad is a chef and used to do it for me all the time! The bit that made his incredible was he used to do a mackeral pate/paste with it. Blitzed mackeral, with a bit of horseradish, lemon, salt pepper and splash or worcester sauce. Try it, it completes the dish for me! Doing this for a dinner party next week, doing a "come dine with me" with friends! Wish me luck!

Hi,

I am a keen fly fisherman from the UK, I tend to go to places with larger rainbow trout (6-30 lbs). My biggest problem has always been what to do with the fish I catch, now I have the perfect answer.

I made 2kg (4 sides) using your recipe and it came out fantastically well. I am now fighting off the friends and family for the next batch!

Also freezing the fish and then fully thawing them prior to starting the curing process seems to work better than starting the curing process on fresh "just caught" fish.

Many thanks

AnthonyC