Pellicle Questions for Drying Times

[smokinbrad]

Good afternoon Fish smoking community. Just curious if it will harm your fish, if you let pellicle form for longer than overnight? I am thinking about doing a 6 hour brine and letting my salmon sit in the refer for about 24-36 hours. Any input as I am new to the smoking sport :)

 

[linguica]

I make a smoked gravlox and always dry the fish over night in the refer. The only down side drying 24-36 hrs is that the thinner parts of the fish might start to dehydrate and if you cover it you might loose your pellicle.

 

[daveomak]

Forming the necessary pellicle takes time... placing in front of a fan will reduce the time significantly..  Be sure to rinse the fish first to remove surface salt..  Dave

 

[smokinbrad]

Thanks for the input guys, reason why I ask is I have about 6lbs of salmon thawed and was going to be smoking it tomorrow after brine, however, Fedex screwed up my delivery and I thought if I ran my brine today (pulled it out of brine before bedtime) I could let it sit for about 24-36 hours so my salmon wouldn't get funky. Thankfully I have lots more meat in the freezer...just hate wasting good Lake Michigan king salmon!