It is very lovely to eat lox, lox being salmon that is cured in salt and brine or sugar rub. Authentic lox has been regarded to be made from salmon’s belly portion. The most succulent, fattiest, and richest portion of a salmon is the belly portion. Lox is a delicacy that is being sought after and it is has a similarity with smoked salmon.
To enjoy lox, eating it fresh is usually the best, but the contemplating question is if we can freeze it or not? You can freeze lox, however, some steps have to be followed and some other precautionary measures so that your lox will remain in the best condition when you want to later eat it.
Freezing Lox
Lox can certainly be frozen and it could remain frozen like that for about six months. After the six months, the lox could possibly lose its texture and flavor and that makes it less enjoyable. If you can follow the simple steps, it is quite easy to freeze lox. An unopened lox packet can be placed directly into your freezer and could remain inside the original package protected while fully sealed. If, however, the lox packet has been opened, a freezer-safe bag or container will be needed to freeze such.
To use your freezer bag, ensure that the lox is placed inside carefully, and try to remove every excess air from the bag. Proceed to seal the bag tight to prevent excess air from coming in. After this is done, then you can proceed to place this freezer bag containing the lox inside your freezer. You can lay flat the freezer bag in your freezer or if you want to save space, you can place it upright. To store the lox with a freezer container, all you have to do is to put the lox in the freezer container and then place the cover or lid in it very tight. Ensure no excess moistures remaining in your container because it may lead to form ice crystals that may allow it to lose its texture and taste when getting defrosted.
Using a vacuum sealer is the best method to freeze your lox. You will be able to ensure you don’t have excess air inside the package this way and you can completely protect the lox from other external elements found in your freezer. It is better to separate your lox into thinner, smaller slices when you want to freeze your lox. This will allow an easier process of thawing and you do not need to defrost the entire lox when you want to eat it and that could even take a longer time. You can wrap the smaller slices in two plastic wrap layers and then wrap them in foil before you place them inside your freezer bag and remove all excess air from the bag.
You can also flash freeze your slices if you don’t want to use plastic wrap to wrap them up individually. All you have to do is to spread them out on the baking dish before you place them inside your freezer until they are frozen. You can then remove your baking dish from your freezer and put all the slices into the freezer bag, ensure to remove all excess air before you put them inside your freezer as you should normally do.
Freezing Lox Twice
You may get tempted to attempt to refreeze your lox after some have been frozen, thawed, and then there are leftovers. It is generally not too good to allow lox to be frozen twice or any other food. It is possible that through the process of delivery, the lox was frozen and then you might have frozen it when it got to you as well, you are not supposed to refreeze the lox. The more lox or other foods freeze and defrost, the higher you risk getting foodborne illnesses such as food poisoning. This is due to the possibility of bacteria to rapidly grow on the food that you have frozen and defrosted multiple times. The best thing to do is to freeze your food once and then eat it all after thawing or perhaps, dispose of any food leftovers. The meat will get degraded if you repeatedly freeze your lox. Inside your lox are small water molecules that could change into little small daggers that could end cutting the fish’s fibrous muscle strands. Just know that refreezing your lox is a very bad idea that will render your lox bad.
How Long Does Lox Last?
Just like any other fish, storing and eating salted or brined fish such as lox must be within the best before date. This is a general caution many people take. You will have to consider three (3) scenarios:
Unopened: If your purchased pack of lox is left unopened, you can keep them in your fridge for about two months. All you need to do is to ensure that the package is packed tightly and there is no tear or opening on it.
Opened: Your pack of lox that has been opened have to be eaten within three days after the package has been opened. It is also dependent on the type of refrigerator you are using to store the lox because it is very much safer when you thaw your lox inside a very cold fridge. You should, however, not eat the lox if you have left it in the refrigerator for more than three days.
Frozen: Freezing lox can extend its shelf life to six months. This applies to both lox that you have opened and stored in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag or a lox package that is yet to be opened. After six months, the texture and flavor of your lox will likely to degenerate. In fact, the best period to eat your lox is within the first three months that you froze it. Ensure you label the lox package with the frozen date and this is much more important in freezing a lot of smaller portions and it will help you to know when they should be eaten and you will also save you from waste.
Thawing Lox
To eat frozen lox, it must first be safely thawed because lox is a bit delicate and it is not advisable to thaw it in your microwave because it will render the lox inedible. If you want to thaw your lox without you ruining it, you can thaw it at room temperature inside warm water. If you allow the water to be too hot, you risk spoiling the lox and different types of germs and bacteria can also get multiplied and it will lead to foodborne illnesses. The best way to thaw your lox where the taste and texture will be kept is by leaving them in the fridge overnight and you will not risk excessive growth of germs and bacteria. You should endeavor to thaw them at a temperature of 40°F or less.
How To Tell If Lox Has Spoiled
You must be aware of the signals to take note of to see if your lox has gotten bad when freezing and defrosting your lox. The surest sign you should try to check out for is a dull color and bad smell. Once you notice either the smell or color is not normal as it should be, then it is better to discard the lox so that you will not risk foodborne illnesses.
Related Questions
Freezing Lox
In various countries, lox is considered a very popular delicacy and it tastes great if you eat alone or when you pair it with cream cheese on a bagel. It is quite safe to freeze your lox most especially when you have bought more packets than you can take at once or when you have too much in the fridge. Don’t forget that you should eat the frozen lox within six months and you are expected to allow it to safely thaw overnight inside your refrigerator. If you want the lox to have the best texture and taste, follow this process to freeze and thaw.
Can you eat lox from the packet?
You can eat lox directly from your package because brine or rub has been used to cure it and it makes it safer to be eaten than ordinary raw meat. You can eat lox alone as an appetizer or as toppings on your sushi or with cream cheese on a bagel. Remember to correctly handle and store your lox because you could risk foodborne illnesses. You cannot consider lox to be sushi because lox has been cured or brined with sugar rub or salt.
Is lox good for you?
Like smoked or fresh salmon, lox is considered to be a very good source to get magnesium, selenium, vitamin D, vitamin B, and protein. Contained in salmon are a very high amount of Omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, and some other nutrients that will not expose you to Alzheimer’s, heart diseases, and muscular degeneration. You have to, however, the portion of lox you take because contained on lox is salt that you will need to regulate.
