Is time the only factor in regard to the thickness of the pellicle?

[JohnSpartan]

I smoke salmon for my wife, I’m not huge on fish but do enjoy this particular smoke kind so dabble every once in a while in the eating of it.

For whatever reason, the Pella call last night was pretty thick. I think I actually left it out to air dry for shorter than usual and maybe the temps got a little hotter than usual.

Everything else was the same, I think. Possibly more salt in the brine. Anyway, what’s the main cause of the pellicle and is it just time? Less time to have a less thick pellicle?

 

[chef jimmyj]

Time has the biggest impact on thickness. Dry, exposed meat, in a refer, will start to form a Pellicle in 20-30 minutes. Once uniformly tacky your done. The more air circulation the faster the pellicle forms. This is why some guys use a fan to form a quick pellicle at room temp. How long did you let it form the pellicle?...JJ

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Time has the biggest impact on thickness. Dry, exposed meat, in a refer, will start to form a Pellicle in 20-30 minutes. Once uniformly tacky your done. The more air circulation the faster the pellicle forms. This is why some guys use a fan to form a quick pellicle at room temp. How long did you let it form the pellicle?...JJ

Are you still a chef? If so, what restaurant are you at?

 

[JohnSpartan]

Time has the biggest impact on thickness. Dry, exposed meat, in a refer, will start to form a Pellicle in 20-30 minutes. Once uniformly tacky your done. The more air circulation the faster the pellicle forms. This is why some guys use a fan to form a quick pellicle at room temp. How long did you let it form the pellicle?...JJ

I’ve routinely let it go anywhere from 2-4 hours with a fan on it on my kitchen counter. Maybe this one was different despite being 2 hours. I’ll try and go on the lower end, an hour and then half an hour to see how it effects it. Thanks so much for the advice!

 

[chef jimmyj]

Are you still a chef? If so, what restaurant are you at?

I'm retired now. I'll do an occasional catering job for friends. But now I just feed my family. Even so, my last job was Senior Instructor at a Culinary School in York, PA. Better hours and more rewarding...JJ

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

I'm retired now. I'll do an occasional catering job for friends. But now I just feed my family. Even so, my last job was Senior Instructor at a Culinary School in York, PA. Better hours and more rewarding...JJ

That's awesome. I saw a post where you said you lived in Emporium. Didn't realize you lived in York in the past. Used to live in Harrisburg. How was the food scene in York?

 

[chef jimmyj]

I lived in Harrisburg a few years. Lancaster County and Franklin County too. York, has some good restaurants. I worked at the York Country Club, before teaching. I cooked high end so I ate more simply on a night out. Down town Lancaster has much better and more interesting restaurants than York. Second Street in Harrisburg was a more Trendy area than York as well. Of course I have been out of Harrisburg for over 5 years. My oldest lives in Mechanicsburg and there are some great ethnic restaurant on the West Side of the River...JJ

 

[chef jimmyj]

Apologies to the OP for getting off subject...JJ

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Sorry OP. Thanks JJ for the information. Love Lancaster County. Would have loved to live there, but my wife wanted to be closer to her family. We both work in Harrisburg.