My smoked salmon has a tough outer layer

[tominseattle]

I dry brine (1/3 kosher salt, 1/3 dark brown sugar, 1/3 white sugar) for four hours, rinse well, air dry on racks for five hours, and smoke for 6 hours. The flavor, flesh texture, and appearance are all incredibly nice. However, the outermost layer of the (non-skin side) is often tough. Any suggestions as to how to avoid that tough outer layer?

[Up In Smoke]

A pro at smoking fish i am not, but i am curious about the temp and time the meat was smoked.

[Slamdunk]

I'm also thinking the air dry time of 5 hours may be contributing to the dryness. I usually find that the pellicle will form about 2-2 1/2 hours.

[Tenpoint5]

Tom it sounds to me like you smoked at the same temp the whole time. This probably created the crust on the outer layer of your Salmon. The salmon has the crust but I am guessing it was incredibly moist on the inside. I myself am not a fish smoking expert by any means but I would suggest following the guidelines posted by another member of the forum Kummok in his Salmon recipe. The ramping allows the fish to dry some while it is cooking before a crust/barrier is formed on the outside of the salmon. Here is the times and temps Kummok suggests:

Smoke using the following Bradley Smoking guideline:
100°-120°F for 1-2 hours, then increase to
140° for 2-4 hours, then increase to
175° for 1-2 hours to finish

[Quarlow]

Yeah I am thinking a comination of to long air drying and not ramping the temp also. I never use to air dry before I found the forum and we didn't have much trouble. But that was in our BUPS (Big Ugly Plywood Smoker) so we never got the boogers as it was 12' tall and took quite awhile to heat up. In the Bradley this was a problem although just wiping it off an hour before it was finished fixed that up. But forming a pellicle (air drying) is a good thing with these quicker heating smokers. But to long and I could see it locking in the miosture and giving it a tough outer crust. If you do it again maybe try to lay a damp paper towel over it to moisten the surface before you put it in the smoker.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

One other thing that's a possibility is the cure.  I notice your dry curing mix is 2/3'rds sugar.  That's higher than any I've seen before.  I have a suspicion that with that high a sugar content you may be creating a sugar crust on the outside, not yet caramelized because your temps don't get high enough, but headed that way.  Most dry cures I've seen use a ratio (by weight) of 2 parts salt to one part sugar.

[Quarlow]

I actually use more sugar than salt on mine. I keep using less salt as a couple of fusspots keep complaining about the saltiness. I never had complaints before so I may have to make an adjustment as to who receives my smoked salmon.  ;D