Originally Posted by Peter Bernstein
"To anyone who's tried this recipe, I could use some clarification. he makes a saline solution that is maximum concentration, then cools it down with ice to 32 deg F, but that would change the salt concentration. But then either way, all he does is "dredge" the salmon in the solution. I gather that in this case "dredge" means a quick dip?
Some clarification on this step would be useful.
-Thanks!"
From the original Recipe...
Pro Tip: Porosity; all meats have porosity, for consistant products we like to know that the porosity is the same everytime. So I always brine my salmon fillets in ice cold salt water for 30 minutes to insure I start with the same porosity every time. Fail to do so at your own peril! (one gallon warm water, stir in all the salt it will take, (til salt lay on the bottom) and then ice it down to 32
In this step the muscle pores are evened out with the Cold Saline solution over a" 30 minute "soak...Icing Down, a Pro Chef term, refers to putting the" Pot "on Ice water to Cool the Solution...You are NOT adding Ice to the Solution!
Zest an orange and a lemon and reserve the zest.
Dredge the salmon through the mixture. Spread half of the remaining cured mixture on the area where the salmon fillets will lay. Then spread half the orange and lemon zest under the area you will place the salmon. Now lay the fillets flat in a plastic box on top of the zested cure area. After fillet placement spread the remaining mixture over the salmon evenly, then use the remaining zest to coat the top of the fillets.
In this step the Fillets are " Dredged " through the " Mixture "...This is the Salt, Wht Pepper, Sugar and Cure #1 Mixture...
A bed of half the remaining cure mixture is spread out with some Zest, the fillets placed on top, then the remaining half of the cure mixture and zest goes on top of the Fish...
I hope this helps, Peter...JJ