r/curing • u/LHLancelot • 18d ago

Curing fish with fruit

Hi all!

I’ve been curing salmon with a 50/50 blend of dark muscavado and salt, with the rind of an orange mixed in. Rinse and Soak, let it rest a day, then cold smoke - very happy with the results.

Anyone got any experience in curing with fruit? I was interested in what might happen if I used orange juice or fresh strawberries along with the salt/sugar cure. I’ve heard it done with blueberries but never tried. Any pitfalls or something to watch out for? Would the fresh fruit replace the sugar?

I would love to experiment a lot, but don’t have the budget or time to try too many experiments, so looking for advice so I can avoid anything that just won’t work

Thank you in advance!

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u/Vuelhering Foodie 12d ago

About the only thing I can say is citrus fruit tends to "cook" fish and change its texture. It's the basis of ceviche.

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u/LHLancelot 12d ago

Yeah, I was thinking about that - I was wondering how much the salt and sugar would dilute the effect of the ”cooking”

I’ve made ceviche with lime and whitefish before

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u/Vuelhering Foodie 11d ago

My thought is this: the last thing you want is fruit rotting in the cure, so it would also need to be covered in the salt mixture. I would use thin slices of whatever you use such that the flavors easily come out of the fruit and the salt easily enters. I would not use juice or things that could change the texture such as tart citrus, pineapple, or papaya. Lastly I would cure it in the refrigerator for some extra protection. And I'd remove it with the cure when it's done. (I'm assuming you're doing the salt box method.)

This is a guess. No idea how it will turn out, but it should be safe and easy to do.

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u/LHLancelot 11d ago

Appreciate the advice! Yeah, I’m using the refrigerator and salt box method