Pellicle on my salmon??

[azbohunter]

I have a batch of salmon that I brined over night, took them out of the brine and put them on racks in the fridge about 6:30AM. It has been 5 hours and I have no pellicle forming at all.

I have them in the fridge in our RV, temp set at 50, two small CPU fans running to circulate air, this is my first attempt at salmon and not sure what to expect.

I would guess temp and humidity would have an effect on time to form pellicle? Being in Phoenix, AZ humidity is very low, single digits, temp is already in mid 80's and I am thinking it is too warm to not have it refrigerated. I have left the door a jar on the fridge a 1/2" or so, it will still stay cool but allow more air circulation.

Any suggestions, thoughts, advise????

Thanks..

Finished and added Qview of salmon.

finished.salmon.jpg

• azbohunter
• May 11, 2014

 

[sseriouss1]

Newbie here so don't know much... After you rinsed the salmon off did you pat it real dry with paper towels?

 

[azbohunter]

Sseriousss1,

Yes sir, I rinsed it and then dried it with paper towel, and then waited and waited. I probably was not patient enough, I think I was afraid to leave it at room temps too long.

So I smoked it, flavor is good but I got some, not a lot, of the white oils and it is on the dry side. My first attempt so I am not totally disappointed, it is still edible and the wife likes it!

finished.salmon.jpg

• azbohunter
• May 11, 2014

 

[sseriouss1]

Well I think I'd call that a win!

 

[mdboatbum]

Couple things I've learned in my VERY limited experience smoking salmon.

1. the pellicle is completely blown out of proportion here, and in most recipes you'll find on the web. Is it important? Yes. But, the important thing is having no water on the surface of the fish, and having proteins on the surface. The smoke doesn't care if the protein laden liquids on the surface are still wet or dried to a shellac like sheen. My go to method is to cure, pat dry, air dry, then wrap in plastic wrap for 2 more days. This lets the pellicle soften, and more importantly, lets the cure equalize throughout the flesh.  

2. Salmon doesn't like heat. From your description and the look of your finished product, you gave it too much heat for too long. The white beads on the surface are a sure sign, andt the leathery skin is another. Now I don't know whether you were going for jerky or what, but it looks like you landed somewhere in between smoked salmon and jerky. Even when making salmon jerky, you want to keep your heat below 170˚. In a perfect world, salmon is best at 140˚. If you want dried salmon jerky, that's a result of convection, not heat. If you want succulent smoked salmon, that's a result of a little heat for a short time. If you want smoked lox, that's very low heat (almost none) for a fairly long time. I say these things not to bash your efforts, I'm sure it was delicious, but to try to get you to figure out what you're going for before the next time. Have a plan, have a goal, and then figure out the details, and you're sure to make whatever you're cooking the best it can be!

 

[azbohunter]

Mdboatbum,

Thanks for your critique of my salmon, and don't worry about my taking it wrong! That is how we learn and I appreciate your input.

I totally agree with you on all aspects of the heat issue. I had a program set to 110* for 1 1/2 hours, 140 for 3 1/2 hours and 175 to finish to IT of 140.  Obviously something went astray! I am not afraid to learn from mistakes, I was in the custom cabinet business for 30 years as owner operator, I made more that a few mistakes in that time, ate the cost of them and learned from each one! In the end it made me a successful cabinet maker, hope that works on smoking too.

One thing I found is that my temp were running high on the low end of my smoke by as much as 12 -15 degrees, after getting to the 140 stage it was pretty much right on.

I will do more, I have more in the freezer and will be spending 3-4 months in Oregon and a good share of that time fishing for Chinooks. They are expecting modern day record runs this year and I am going to be there

.

This was a practice run in anticipation of what is to come!

Dick

 

[sseriouss1]

View media item 314940So I finally did a good salmon. One part canning salt and four parts brown sugar. Skin on, cure on, covered and in fridge for 14 hours. Rinsed and paper towel dry. Air dry for pellicle 3 hours. Smoked with hickory at 100 for 2 hours then up to 150 for 2 hours, final 2 1/2 hours at 175. Pushed it a bit (225) in the last 2 to get more smoke and got fire instead! Holy crap! Back to 175. Forgot I was using dry chips. Oh yeah, water in the pan. Came out great for my tastes. So a total of 6 1/2 hours in the mes30.

 

[noboundaries]

Dang, you guys are making my mouth water!  Good looking pics everyone.  Haven't done salmon in a while.  Must be time to do it again.

 

[azbohunter]

I started this thread a few months back and thought an update might be justified. I spent some time in Oregon this fall and boated several nice salmon so got to do a lot of smokin'! I live in Arizona but I pack my MES 30 and set it up in my camp, the smell brings lots of new visitors!

I wound up with some smoked Chinook that everyone loves. It is moist, full of flavor and looks beautiful when it comes out of the smoker! The recipe is not mine so credit goes to someone else for that http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?105-Excellent-BRADLEY-Smoked-Alaskan-Salmon&p=121#post121

I used my Maverick food probe and removed the fish @ 145 internal temp.

My only deviation from the above recipe was using Jeffs Maple Syrup Glaze

Maple Glaze

• 3/4 cup of pure maple syrup
• 2 Tablespoons of Jeff’s rub  (purchase recipe here) Mix well.

This makes a very nice maple flavored glaze which also adds my rub  to the salmon. The maple syrup and the rub go very well together and are a wonderful way to layer on amazing flavor while the salmon cooks. I brushed this glaze on every hour after the first 2 hours.

Using a PID to control my times and temps I smoked 2 hrs @ 120, 2 hrs @ 140, 2 hrs @ 150 then @ 170 till I reached internal temp of 145 on the larger pieces.

Darn, that one little piece fell off when I was taking it off the smoker

Thanks for looking and thanks for all the great threads on this "great site".

Glazed Maple Syrup Smoked Salmon.jpg

• azbohunter
• Oct 16, 2014

 

[Bearcarver]

Mighty tasty looking Salmon there, Dick!!!

Perfect Color!!

Bear

 

[azbohunter]

Thanks Bear,

I was "really" happy with this stuff. Several Oregon residents who had smoked salmon for years tried it and said it ranked right up with the best they had ever had. Now that made me feel like I have made a lot of progress and also says a lot for the recipes we can find on these forums!

 

[wolfman1955]

Thanks Bear,



I was "really" happy with this stuff. Several Oregon residents who had smoked salmon for years tried it and said it ranked right up with the best they had ever had. Now that made me feel like I have made a lot of progress and also says a lot for the recipes we can find on these forums!

Great looking salmon!!! It has to make you feel great to get those kind of complements from people who live in salmon country and have probably tasted the best!! I agee that it also says alot about this forum and the people involved with it! You will find no better place or people when it comes to sharing the art that is Smoke!!
Keep Smokin!!!

 

[one eyed jack]

 

Glazed Maple Syrup Smoked Salmon.jpg

• azbohunter
• Oct 16, 2014

That is a great looking pan of Salmon. 

  Looks like you've got it figured out.