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How to smoke
salmon - recipe #1
Step 4 - Rinsing
the brine
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After the
fish has sat in the brine in the fridge for six hours, take the pieces out one
by one and rinse them gently in cold water.
You don't
want to scrub them or disturb the flesh, you just want to get the heavy
deposits of brine off.
Once the fish is
rinsed off, drain it the best you can and set it out on a rack to dry at room
temperature. I use the rack from my smoker because it's convenient, but you can
use cookie cooling racks as well... just realize you'll have some explaining to
do when the next batch of chocolate chip cookies tastes & smells like
coho.
You need to let the fish dry at least a couple of hours. I
usually dry them for four to six hours, depending upon the thickness of the
fillets. You don't want the room temperature to be too hot or too cold, what
you're trying to do here is dry the fish out and form the pellicle on the
surface of the flesh. Good airflow around the fish is helpful, you can even use
a small fan to help the process if you'd like. If you're using the racks from
your smoker, set it up so the thicker fillets are on the lower shelves, and the
thinner fillets are on the upper shelves... this will even out how they dry
once they're in the smoker.
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