Thanks for the kind words.

Speaking of paying, I'm in Top Foods doing groceries recently and in the seafood isle is a 2 lb. chunk of smoked king…….$40.00!!!

What a racket!

One more, for what its worth.

I have always had rapid pellicle formation at room temperature.

I use a dry pack method that removes a lot of moisture -
50%/50% rock salt and brown sugar + fair amount of lemon pepper

I roll damp filets in the mixture coating all exposed flesh, pack them - first row skin down, then flesh-to-flesh and skin-to-skin in a glass bowl. Depending on filet thickness (skin on), 4-6 hours on the counter, 6-10hr in the fridge for pack time, with a restack (top to bottom) at the 1/2 way mark. Liquid extraction is significant.

After "brine" , rinse, pat dry and rack. Pellicle forms in 30-60 min at room temp. I usually give it 1-2 hours.

I use a shake and bake little chief that is wrapped in 3/4" insulation and is pretty much set up for winter only smoking (40 degrees and lower) typically 12-18 hours, with three pans of apple mixed with alder for chips.

I brined with my usual recipe. I did let it air dry in the garage for 12+ hours. I also didn't smoke as long as usual so it is much softer. I think I prefer it a little drier. It certainly didn't stick to the racks. That alone is worth the time to air dry. I still have some white stuff. I guess that is from the temperature I smoke at.

Not nearly as beautiful as Eric's, but ...

I was originally just worried about bacteria formation doing such a prolonged room temp dry time. Guess I shouldn't worry about a 12 hour room temp dry?

Gutz - That looks good! The sliced fillet is a neat idea. Probably makes serving it a lot cleaner/appealing.

The yellow screen under the fish in the top photo. Is that silicone?

Thanks,

Mike

Thanks Fever.
I have cut to the skin for a long time. Seems to get brined better that way.

Drying screens

http://www.sportco.com/store/pc/Smokehouse-Big-Chief-Drying-Screens-914p43895.htm

I also put the cuts in the fillet and it works great! I also on occasion have skinned and cut into strips aprox 1 inch by 1 inch, this works real well, and you have no skin to dispose of while eating. One other thing, once you use the screens you will never go back....they work GREAT!!!

Very nice lookin' sammin Eric !


Look Ma, deep red and no curd !

Hey, all bacteria ain't bad.... ya know what I'm say'n?

Let's talk about 10 day poke, lol

batch that's smoking now was left in the garage on the smoker racks for 8 hours overnight, this morning I put a fan on it for 45 minutes then brought the rack in the house to "warm up" the product a bit before putting it in the smoker.

GENIUS....

YOU FOUND IT!

Like the video snippet says, without fermentation we'd all be living a life "un-cultured"

Right, fp?

I usually will lightly rinse the dry brine from the fish, pat dry then put fish on a rack and use a small oscillating fan to help move the air around. It usually takes about 2hrs to get a nice pellicle to form at room temp.
I dont think it matters which route you go, as long as you can get that pellicle to form.
I got some I am tending to right now, about another 30 min and ready to pop in the smoker.

Been using TJ Nelson's recipe for years and I am still alive. I even dry it in the middle of the summer in my garage for 24 hours. Maybe I have been cheating death, but the fish sure turns out good. Biggest concern, keeping flies and other bugs off of it, also don't trust the occasional mouse that gets in the garage, but if I don't see it, no worries.