Salt content help needed - Trout

[steveinhants]

Hello everyone, I'm after some help please! I've been using a dry cure on my rainbow trout fillets and cold smoking them with great results. I have a bunch of friends who want some so I started to read around guidlines and discovered that 'salt content in the aqueous phase should be 3.5%'.
How do I measure this though? I'm actually very curious to do this. I really would like to avoid a brine.
Hoping someone can help me out to understand this a bit more

 

[02ebz06]

So, what are trying to do different than what you've done in the past where you said you have had "great results" in the past?
Or am I missing something ?

Might help if you post the whole process with the "aqueous phase should be 3.5? salt" in it.

 

[steveinhants]

So, what are trying to do different than what you've done in the past where you said you have had "great results" in the past?
Or am I missing something ?

Might help if you post the whole process with the "aqueous phase should be 3.5? salt" in it.

My process:
Catch, gut and place on ice.
Fillet and wash
50/50 salt and sugar mix over the fillets on a rack
Fridge for 24 hours usually
Wash, return to fridge to dry
Cold Smoke for 12 - 18 hours depending on numbers and size

The bit that is confusing me is after reading a document from the Food Standards Agency - albeit for manufacturers - that states:
'in addition to chill temperatures (3-8°C) whichshould be maintained throughout the food chain, the following controlling factors should be used singly or in combination to prevent growth and toxin production bynon-proteolytic C. botulinum ..... a minimum salt level of 3% in the aqueous phase and equal to or greater than 3.5% in the aqueous phase if shelf life is beyond 10 days'.

It would seem very useful even for me as someone who only smokes for personal consumption to know if there's a way to measure this and ensure I'm hitting the mark

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I can't help with the salt content but I use thirdeye recipe with great success:

SEAFOOD - Dry Cure for Salmon, Trout or Steelhead

Revised 1-13-2022 Cured fish has been prepared for centuries as a means of food preservation. Because of refrigeration and our knowledge ...

playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com

 

[02ebz06]

I'm still at a loss what the "aqueous phase" is.
Are they talking about brining?
Also, it mentions a shelf life beyond 10 days. You aren't going to have it in the fridge that long, are you?

 

[SmokinEdge]

Hello everyone, I'm after some help please! I've been using a dry cure on my rainbow trout fillets and cold smoking them with great results. I have a bunch of friends who want some so I started to read around guidlines and discovered that 'salt content in the aqueous phase should be 3.5%'.
How do I measure this though? I'm actually very curious to do this. I really would like to avoid a brine.
Hoping someone can help me out to understand this a bit more

It sounds like what you are currently doing is a dry brine and what you read about “aqueous” is a wet brine phase which is more common with fish fillets. Applying 3% salt means to apply the salt at a rate of 3% to the weight.

Keep in mind that 3% salt applied to the meat dry is much stronger than a 3% salt wet brine.

If you have a fillet that weighs 200 grams

200 x .03= 6 grams salt.

If we make a brine with 1 gallon water (8.33 pounds) convert to grams 8.33 x 454= 3781.82 grams.

3781.82 x .03= 113.45 grams this makes a 3% salt brine in 1 gallon water.

 

[steveinhants]

It sounds like what you are currently doing is a dry brine and what you read about “aqueous” is a wet brine phase which is more common with fish fillets. Applying 3% salt means to apply the salt at a rate of 3% to the weight.

Keep in mind that 3% salt applied to the meat dry is much stronger than a 3% salt wet brine.

If you have a fillet that weighs 200 grams

200 x .03= 6 grams salt.

If we make a brine with 1 gallon water (8.33 pounds) convert to grams 8.33 x 454= 3781.82 grams.

3781.82 x .03= 113.45 grams this makes a 3% salt brine in 1 gallon water.

So that means that all providers of smoked trout do wet brining? Otherwise how are they conforming to these standards set?

 

[SmokinEdge]

So that means that all providers of smoked trout do wet brining? Otherwise how are they conforming to these standards set?

No, both are allowed. But there are two different ways to do it. Dry brine like Lox or wet brine like most do

 

[steveinhants]

No, both are allowed. But there are two different ways to do it. Dry brine like Lox or wet brine like most do

Which leads back to my original question though, of how do they measure if they dry brine?