Unlike its cousins smoked salmon, lox, and nova, which are all usually brined and then smoked, gravlax relies on a one-step process.
Get our recipe:
Learn more:
ABOUT US: The mission of America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) is to empower and inspire confidence, community, and creativity in the kitchen. Founded in 1992, the company is the leading multimedia cooking resource serving millions of fans with TV shows (America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Country, and America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation), magazines (Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country), cookbooks, a podcast (Proof), FAST channels, short-form video series, and the ATK All-Access subscription for digital content. Based in a state-of-the-art 15,000-square-foot test kitchen in Boston’s Seaport District, ATK has earned the trust of home cooks and culinary experts alike thanks to its one-of-a-kind processes and best-in-class techniques. Fifty full-time (admittedly very meticulous) test cooks, editors, and product testers spend their days tweaking every variable to find the very best recipes, equipment, ingredients, and techniques. Learn more at
If you like us, follow us:
Related posts
43 Comments
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
How do you source the salmon? Would any grocery store salmon do or do you need sushi grade to ensure its safe to eat raw. Is that what the brandy is for? Is there a non alcoholic liquid to use instead?
Can I skip the alcohol or is there an alternative to alcohol?
Ok Julia, I see your eyelashes 💯👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Center cut farm salmon, 1/3 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup kosher salt, dill and brandy. 3 days in the fridge with weights on the fish with daily bastings.
Been making gravlax my whole life and i use maybe like a tablespoon of sugar. Seems kinda weird to me to add this much sugar, since its supposed to be salt cured. I just use coarse sea salt, a bit of sugar (I'd 1 teaspoon for that amount), dill and some pepper. Put the mix straight on the fish and gently rub it, just so it attaches. Make sure the fish is dry before add the mix. Leave it for a few days and its done. Also you definitely don't need that much of the salt mix, seems like a waste since 20% of that amount is plenty.
add horseradish to the crème fraîche
I am absolutely going to try this at home!
Thank you.
Great
I do the same thing but with cold-ish smoke (as cold as my green egg will go, but still above technical "cold smoke" temps) it at the end. I usually skip the weights, but it looks like a good idea. We also stopped using alcohol because the kids did not like the flavor it imparts. For smoke: Cherry, Alder or Maple are great flavors. Skip the oak, hickory or mesquite here; that is entirely too much for the fish.
Alternatively, go ahead and brine it with the salt cure for half a day, then warm smoke until rare in the middle. Creamy and moist. Kids love that. I'd suggest something acidic on the side to cut through the richness, but YMMV. We like cucumber salad in rice wine vinegar.
Can we make this without sugar?
Oh my gosh this looks so good. I really want to make this, but don’t want to have to go buy brandy. Can I use something else, or is it a must? If so, I’ll just go get some. Thanks ATK!
How on earth could farmed salmon be recommended over wild?!
"Here's what you're having. Here's how you'll eat it."
Yes, please tell me how it tastes best. You know better than I do.
After the slicing, a toasted onion bagel with with whipped cream cheese and some thin sliced red onion does it for me
Honestly, do you really think that you can cure the salmon when it’s been dead for so long and is so far disassembled? At the best, I don’t think it’ll ever swim again.
It also need gravlax sås.
Brandy options?
(I don’t drink)
Used to make this in a restaurant up in Harlem where I was the chef.
The owner was mad at me for "wasting" good salmon.
One day he came in with some bagels, I took a bagel, added some seasoned cream cheese…….he came back for seconds.🥯🥯
Why not put the E&J brandy in another plain bottle?
I watched a Martha Stewart video about gravedlax and her instructions are a little too vague for me. Now your video changes everything and i feel confident to try it! 😊
Do research on farmed vs wild caught salmon, please! So disappointed you push farmed salmon. Ready to unsubscribe.
Please develop a recipe for the wet brined salty belly lox that they sell at Russ & Daughters or Zabar's in New York.
Every recipe online for "belly lox" is dry cure like this one but the salty lox is silky and not at all sweet, nor is it a dry firm texture. it has a moist, silky texture like salmon sashimi but with a whole lot more flavor. Because it's so salty, you cut it paper thin and eat it with a lot of cream cheese on a bagel. You don't use a lot as you would with nova.
This is the original lox sold by Jewish immigrant vendors from pushcarts in the early 20th century. To my knowledge the only place that makes it is Acme Smoked Fish in Brooklyn, who supply R&D.
I am impressed with this vid… A diet of salmon at least once a week is my thing. However, it's nice to get something diff on a theme. Also, this is a crazy request…. my father was a jeweler watchmaker and he has shown me many things about that trade that are utterly fascinating. In that respect, Julia, your diamond ring is absolutely unique and gorgeous. The setting is so unusual. – Ralph Shaw.
I would eat this with bagels! Just put cream cheese and top it with the gravlox. Had it at a restaurant.
You really can’t beat two heavy cans pressing down on your meat (or on your fish in this case)! 🥇
this stuff is great even without the dill…have made it several times, and it's wonderful!
When I want to cure salmon at home, I give them a good juice cleanse and lots of kombucha.
I live in Alaska, catch my own salmon and eat it at least once a week. Two things stand out for me in this video. First, I never heard of Gravlax! I thought i knew every way to cook salmon. From salmon gravy on potatoes to raw with seal oil and soy sauce… Second, you PREFER farmed salmon?? Oh my Lord what is happening to humanity? Farmed salmon isnt really even fish in my world, it isnt even food! But I am going out now to go get a fillet of wild caught copper river sockeye, the best salmon in the world, to make some Gravlax.
Do you need the sugar? Im on keto diet.
I've been wanting some gravlox. Now I'll make it.
I just shove it all into a zip lock bag and put it in the fridge for a few days. It's a much smaller footprint in your fridge and is basically self basting
Remove jewelry and wear food gloves
Smörebröd.
My father made this once in our fridge i wasn't buying that you could eat it, i was a teen, i also am not a fish fan but i can't wait to see how you do it compared to my dad
4:45 her face 💀
Bit of a fish snob here. I strongly disagree about farm raised salmon. If you buy the right species, it will have plenty of fat, a better texture & a nice natural color. Farm raised salmon can't compare to wild caught salmon. Plus, when farm raised salmon escape, they cause diseases in wild populatins. It's just not great for the wild stock.
Yummy
Can you substitute Splenda and Splenda Brown Sugar Blend instead?
My guess these guys are not from the West Coast. Most pacific salmon is far more flavourful than farmed and the ecological price of farmed salmon is significant.
I'm so glad I saw this. Gravlox has become so prohibitively expensive and now I can make my own
Which brand of kosher salt is used in this recipe?
What about the traditional honey mustard dill sauce?
pushing farm raised crap salmon?