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I was thinking of giving Francos smoked salmon cure a go. Does anyone have any experience of this cure, and if so how did the final product turn out? - equally any tips would be most welcome.

Thank you - WW

if you like this cure for salmon i`m a chef and a really good cure for is salmon which i came up with which works really well is chinese char-sui marinade and seasoning available in most chinese supermarkets mix the marinade which comes in jars and the char sui seasoning which comes in a powder form in a packet together add 2 sliced limes and a good handful of fresh coriander and a good hand full of salt place this over salmon and leave for at least 24 hours

Thanks David when I get near to a chinese supermarket I will give this a go - is this mix enough for 1 or 2 sides of salmon?

just one side Remember to baste it as the salt draws the moisture and makes the mix run off also warm the marinade as its quite sticky and doing this will help to mix the ingredients when its cool place over the salmon

Brilliant and thanks once again.

WW- Do you intend smoking the salmon afterwards?

Hi Hobbitfeet

No I thought I would give just a cure a go instead of putting it in the smoker. I tried some a short while ago and it was very yum.

Smoking pork loins as I write. Difficult to keep them in the paper though

How about Gravad lax? Also works well on sea-trout of 3 pound or so!

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/4 cup Salt
3 tablespoon Sugar
2 tablespoon Pepper, white
4 teaspoon Allspice
3 tablespoon Gin
2 Dill bunches

Crush the peppers and seasonings in a mortar, add the salt and sugar. Mix well and press the mixture into the salmon filets.

In a glass or ceramic dish, put some dill on the bottom, then one of the filets, skin side down, then more dill, then the other filet, skin side up. Put the thick side of one filet against the other's thin side.

Cover with plastic wrap (NOT ALUMINUM FOIL) and put a cutting board or similar on top with some weight on it (e.g. a couple of beer cans � not empty!).

Put it in the refrigerator for a day or so. (Thin filets are ready in 1 day, thicker in 2 days.) Turn the filet over once or twice during this time. Pour
off the brine, otherwise the fish will be too salty. The fish will keep for a week in a refrigerator after pouring off the brine.


Serve with new potatoes and Maitre d' Sauce.

Salavating allready Hobitfeet - is this enough for two or one sides?

I only caught a couple of 3.5lb sea trout so I am thinking of just having them baked with a little butter rather than mask the flavour but at the moment I am being offered salmon (farmed) at �1.25 a lb so I thought I would give that a go.

Cheers WW

It will do both sides; flesh to flesh with a layer of the mix between and a layer top and bottom on the skin-sides.

try a cup and a half of lemon juice /half cup of orange juice/first grate 2 lemons .take the grated lemon into the spice grinder with a half cup of kosher salt and your favourite pepper blend/ rub this on your filet.Let it rest at room temp for about 40 min. then skin side up into the juice.after 24hrs. You should be good for a snack.

Hobbitfeet wrote:How about Gravad lax? ...
In a glass or ceramic dish...
Cover with plastic wrap (NOT ALUMINUM FOIL) ...

I've found it really convenient to do this sort of thing in a Ziploc plastic bag.
Sandwich the bag between two matching plates, and put a little bit of weight into the top one.
I don't think you can turn it too often. And the closed bag makes that easy, quick and mess-free.
I've used Gin, Juniper berries and Bay leaves. But maybe that's just my taste for a drop of Gin...
Salmon tailpieces are a convenient small size for me. And for that sized piece of fish, a pressing weight of less than a pound seems plenty.

The most difficult part is being absolutely rigorous about removing every last trace of the bones. (A clean pair of needle-nose pliers does help - I can't get enough grip with tweezers... )