Does anyone know after the brine on smoked salmon if you can dry the salmon in the fridge overnight to get the pellicle on it ?? Any help is very much appreciated.,. WHB
It does work, just takes longer. You can also place a small fan in the fridge to speed things along.
A refrigerator is a fairly good dehydrator because air is circulated thru the freezer compartment. That's why you get freezer burnt food. That's why a freezer needs to be defrosted regularly. A freezer is used to dehydrate air in a high-vacuum system, for instance.A fan in the frig???
Nothing good happens to fish while it is waiting...
A frig with a reasonable seal exchanges very little air with the outside. There are already as many molecules in the air as it can contain (Avagadro had more than a little to say about that) until it gets colder. And that does not amount to much. There is simply no where for water vapor to go, aside from condensing on stuff that is there that is already colder. It does nothing positive for the frig or the fish.
A reasonable quantity of fish could never be surface dried in any frig, fan or not. Either pellicle means something different, or there is something going on in your frig that is way different...
A refrigerator is a fairly good dehydrator because air is circulated thru the freezer compartment. That's why you get freezer burnt food. That's why a freezer needs to be defrosted regularly. A freezer is used to dehydrate air in a high-vacuum system, for instance.
For some refrigerators, you can screw in a socket extender into the refrigerator light socket to plug in a small fan.
dcarch
Well, no, most of what you say is incorrect.
I have heard tell the light goes off in the frig when you close the door... Never stayed inside one to check it though. I pulled wire for many years to get through college and am more than passing familiar with electricity and can make most anything work... Just wonder "Why?"
Yes, water does boil in a vacuum at room temperature... But it starts boiling at 62 degrees F below zero in a vacuum. You are confusing latent heat effects.
Please take a look at the linked chart... you will see that water does indeed boil in a vacuum at temperatures FAR below zero. Picking out the exact number from the chart is tough to interpolate, but minus 62F is the number generally used. And yes ice subjected to a sudden complete vacuum will boil away, stepping over solid and liquid phase like they were almost never there.
I can agree with that "if".
If the fish is brined at the proper % of salinity @ 60° for the proper amount of time , it is cured and can sustain a substantial amount of time at room temperature.
Tom
Air drying was always a concern of mine therefore, I brine mine much longer than actually needed partly for convenience, but mostly to insure 100% brine saturation. I presently have one in the brine that has been there for 18 hours. Will air dry with fan and smoke later today.
I can agree with that "if".
dcarch