Seems like most of the hot-smoked salmon recipes involve completely immersing the fish in brine (wet or dry) for a while, then rinsing. E.g. 1.5 cups of salt/sugar for 1.5lb of fish.
I usually do this with dry, and still always love seeing how the dry brine has become liquid within a few hours, dissolving into the moisture pulled out of the salmon.
Anyone know what happens if you just dry brine like a steak, i.e. sprinkle a moderate amount of salt/seasoning and let it sit a while on a rack?
It'll be fine but the taste is different and you don't want to go longer than 24 hours. The reason to use more than salt like sugar and herbs is thath the flavor penetrates in a way it doesn't in meat due to the flake structure.
If you wet brine, remove it and set it on a rack for a few hours (or at least one).
When I was cold smoking salmon in a little chief i always put my cut pieces in a wet brine and then would set on a rack in front of a box fan so the pellicle could develop. I just recently was pondering if a dry brine could achieve similar results. I never added a bunch of stuff to my brine and instead brushed my pieces with maple
syrup and spices at intervals after they had absorbed the first round of smoke. I would then vacuum seal and store in my freezer. 🔥🔥🔥ðŸ¿
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