Salmon questions / first try...

[STLstyle]

Pardon the ignorance, but I have a few questions.

Following Kummok's recipe: I started brining last night about 10pm.  I used Morton's non-iodine salt vs. pickling salt  Made a half batch of brine to use for about a 2.75lb slab of Costco salmon cut into pieces.  1x3''.

1. Can I leave in brine for 24 hours, or is the Morton's salt too strong?  I looked up on Morton's site and they said both salts have equal value.   Is this true?  Concerned it will be too salty...
2. How does everyone get all the salt too dissolve?  Common sense tells me heat it up, but other places I read say not to put in metal container.  I switched containers to brine into a ceramic crockpot after I heated up the brine on my cooktop to get all / most the salt to dissolve.  Then cooled outside.
3. Average guess to how long to sit out for pelicle in the cold?  I have to be gone today, so my best guess is 12 hour minimum without turning.  If I leave in my cold garage will sitting out for 24 hours be too long?

Don't have to worry about heat today!   Thanks in advance for the help!

[Salmonsmoker]

STL,
I haven't looked at kummoc's recipe in a while, but I seriously doubt that it'll be edible after a 24 hr. soak because of the high salt content. I use a dry brine for my salmon with a ratio of 1 part salt to 3 parts of the other ingredients(secret) :(  And 8 hrs. in the brine is ample. I think most commercial smoked fish has too high of a salt content, but that's required by the FDA. Most of the salt in the brine has not dissolved in the 8 hrs. Pellicle formation depends on relative humidity in the air. More humid, longer time. Over night in a fridge or a couple of hrs. @ 60-65F with a fan blowing air across the fish will get you there also.

[STLstyle]

Thanks salmonsmoker.  I pulled with a 12 hour brine, rinsed and am air drying in the garage now.  I won't be back til 10pm-12am so about 12 hour dry.  Hope that works...  Hope I didn't ruin them already!

Still curious about Morton's non-iodized table salt vs pickling salt.  Hope the proper ratio is 1 to 1.

Thanks!

[Habanero Smoker]

Both salts have the same grain size and can be substitute on a 1:1 ratio. The difference in the two is that pickling salt is pure salt with no additives, and is clear when you dissolve it in water. The non-iodized salt will have an anti-caking agent and will be a little cloudy when mixed in water. Other then that they measure the same.

I have to note; when I speak of pickling salt I'm referring to the type that is made in the U.S. which has the same grain size as table salt. Our Canadian members have reported that their pickling salt is more like Morton Kosher salt.

[KyNola]

STL, as for not heating the brine, don't heat it in a reactive (aluminum) metal pan.  Otherwise you can certainly heat it up to help the salt dissolve.

I have come to learn over the years that getting all caught up in alchemist and chemistry gets in the way of having fun with cooking.  In my house, I crack a beer open, fix what I want to fix and if it doesn't come up to my expectations, so be it.  Lesson learned, I'll change the <fill in the blank> next time.

[STLstyle]

Oh my.  These are delicious...  Great recipe.  Didn't realize I how good smoked salmon is.  Everyone should give this a try!

[Salmonsmoker]

Very nice STL!

[pikeman_95]

STL
If you have any salmon left try making a Cesar salad and crumble some of that salmon on top. It is our favorite salad.

[STLstyle]

Thanks Kirby I'll have to try that.  I managed to vac seal about 4 servings.  Can't wait to try after a few weeks as most seem to think it gets better.  Next time I'll be doubling the batch size for selfish purposes!

[pondee]

Are you applying smoke during the entire cook, or just for the first (blank) period of time?  How long is that (blank) period?

Thanks

[STLstyle]

Went 2 hours of smoke. I used apple.
Cook went:
1 hour 120
2 hours 140
1 hour 160
< hour 170 to finish

I had small pieces so cook time was shorter than expected.  I started checking for fork tender at 130 IT.  Pulled all by 135.

Hope that helps.

[pondee]

thank you