First...or should I say Second 6 Rack

[G-Guy]

New to site and smoking.  Friend turned me onto a 6 rack.  Bought a six rack last week and could only get the heat to about 180 after three and a half hours.  Was doing 4 chickens and the meat temp only got to 120.   Needless to say, the smoker side worked great but there was an issue with the element.  Finished the chicken on the grill and it was delicious.  Returned the faulty smoker and grabbed another cuz I am hooked.  Smoked some ribs tonight and they turned out great.  One area of concern is my wife can't have "nightshades" which are peppers(cayenne, paprika, etc.) and it makes it challenging to come up with a rub that does not have these in it.  Thoughts?  Also have salmon in the garage glazing from Kummok's recipe.  Can't wait till tomorrow.  I dumped out the brine which cost about $20.  Is that something that can be frozen and reused for salmon in the future?  Wife thinks it could be a bacteria pool..??  Great site with tons of info.  Glad my friend turned me into a smokaholic!

[classicrockgriller]

Bummer on the first, but way to think under pressure and end up with a great meal.

Can't help you with the re-use of the Brine.

Welcome and Nice to have you here.

[KevinG]

I wouldn't re-use the brine. You're wife is right. I've heard that's always the case with wives. ;D

[RossP]

Do not reuse the brine. It does loose it's effectiveness after a batch of salmon but more than that is the bacteria and other nasties. That is one of the reasons I do large batches of smoked salmon, it helps bring the cost down. I use one recipe that uses 10 lbs of honey and 4 liters of pure maple syrup. For that recipe I do up enough salmon for two loads. Hope this helps.

Ross

[Habanero Smoker]

As for your rub, if you like the heat you can go with more black pepper. I find the Special Extra Bold Black Peppercorns from Penzy's the hottest black pepper. Just thinking out loud, but horseradish powder or wasabi powder my give you the heat you are looking for.

As for color, instead of paprika you may want to go with ground Annatto seeds, often called Achitote powder. The whole seed is hard to at home unless you have a burr grinder that is dedicated to grinding spices, and even that may be difficult. It is the color of paprika, doesn't have much flavor and have a slight flavor.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Some additional thoughts on your rubs, which you will probably be making rather than buying ...

For heat, you can also use white pepper.  It's comes from the same fruit as black pepper but has had the seed coat removed.  Much of the heat, maybe most, is in the core (white part), the seed coat (black part) is where most of the aromatic oils are.

Ground mustard is another good source for pungency, especially the hot stuff as used in Chinese hot mustard.

Tumeric is another one for color, but it has a distinct flavor.

Sichuan peppercorns are also interesting for a spicy quality, but it's not really heat.  It's more of a tingling, maybe numbing, sensation.

The "sweet spices" can also give you some incredible flavor along with a spicy quality - allspice, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, fennel seed, mace, nutmeg.  Just start with a gentle hand and go from there.

If you're going to be making rubs you'll probably want something to grind spices.  As HabS noted a burr grinder is preferable, but the good ones can be pricey.  I'm still using a retired blade-type coffee grinder.  The grind tends to be mixed, but with a little practice on combining pulses with whirring (much like a food processor) it does a good job and is easy to clean.

The great part of making your own rubs is you get to build the flavor profile as you want it.

[G-Guy]

Thanks all for the great comments.  I hate to say it but I guess the wife was right on the brine and I will pitch it when I am done.  I will just have to do a large batch of salmon to make it more economical.  What a shame!  Since my wife is allergic to the pepper family which does cut out the good stuff for rubs(cayenne, paprika) but not white and black pepper since they are not in the pepper family.  I will have to do two rubs.  One for the rest of us and one for her.  I do own a burr grinder that gets used daily for my cappuccino in the morning.  That should work when I get ready to fabricate a rub for her.  Will have to clean it real well.  Hate to screw up my Pete's coffee for the morning.  Coffee is an addiction just like Bacon, isn't that right Tenpoint?  Hope I don't respond back here someday saying my burr grinder works great to grind bacon for my cappuccino.  Don't be afraid of the cold and wind.  44 degrees here in Colorado and a bit breezy.  I just put up a couple pieces of plywood to block the wind and my salmon smokes on!

[Chili Head]

Welcome to the forum G-Guy!  ;D