Question about fish brine mixture please

[jjdbike]

Hello all,
I have two question about fish brine mixture.
1st, I have read that the two critical ingredients are salt and water. I see that many people add other ingredients to add flavor. I also read that one must rinse the brine off the fish well so it won’t taste too salty. I know that only salt penetrates meat through osmosis and other ingredients stay on the surface. I would if that’s the same w/ fish? Meaning, would it be better to add other ingredients to fish after rinsing brine off?

2nd, I’ve read that there’s a different mixture/ concentration of salt and sugar if one wants to cure fish to extend the shelf life than if one simply wanted to add flavor for smoking it. I’m guessing that would result in a much saltier and dryer product. Is that true?

Thanks in advance!
JD

[texastweeter]

Salt and sugar penetrate due to diffusion, not osmosis. It's due to it being a polar...never mind, lol. Yes, the rest is just surface treatment. Save it and apply just before grilling. If you are curing it to make gravlox or cured salmon, it's usually a dry rub plus pressure that does the trick. Alton Brown has a basic recipe for it that works great.

[jjdbike]

Salt and sugar penetrate due to diffusion, not osmosis. It's due to it being a polar...never mind, lol. Yes, the rest is just surface treatment. Save it and apply just before grilling. If you are curing it to make gravlox or cured salmon, it's usually a dry rub plus pressure that does the trick. Alton Brown has a basic recipe for it that works great.

Thanks tx!
JD

[texastweeter]

My pleasure

[jjdbike]

I followed your advice. Came out great.
i don’t remember the ratios, unfortunately. I do remember hearing someone say that to brine & smoke to preserve shelf life, the concentration needs to make the fish float. Mine were definitely floating in the brine. I wet brined them overnight. Smoked the fully, beyond 145. I wrapped them in wax paper , vacuum sealed them and I to the deep freezer.
I’m guessing they’ll keep frozen for a year easily. Once thawed, probably a week or two. What do you all think?
I’ll post pics and what I did in other post.
Thanks!
JD