Pellicle = OWT?

[airedale]

I have never really understood this pellicle stuff. Yes, the pellicle is achieved basically by letting the meat or fish surface dry and get sticky before it is put on the smoke. I ran across the pellicle idea again this morning while reading the instructions for someone's bacon kit. Just curiosity, really, as I bagged up a belly with cure yesterday to spend a week or so in the fridge. We're out of bacon. :shocked:

But ... If I put the belly into cold smoke, how is that different than "forming the pellicle" in plain air before putting the meat into the smoke for a 24 hour ride? If it's going to get sticky in a half hour in plain air, it's going to get sticky in the smoker too.

Same-o question with hot smoking. "Pellicle" seems to come up more when talking about fish, so maybe having a sticky surface prior to going into a briefer smoke experience kind of makes sense. The fish might not get sticky until halfway through the ride, so maybe a non-pellicle fish would absorb less smoke. Maybe.

Thoughts?

 

[Marquez]

You know, I thought I understood the need for a pellicle in smoking
It is all of it is based on urban myth?

I would really appreciate input from somebody more informed.

In my experience, I definitely get a better smoke on salmon when I have a sticky surface in comparison to a fresh surface.

I base this on on color, and surface texture. It just looks better sooner.

I think this is a great question, does anybody have some insight?

 

[gcs]

I've read about the pellicle thing too, I'm not sure it's that important, I've put bacon directly into the smoker and after a short stay to get "sticky" didn't seem to make a difference, to me.
That said, maybe it's more of a fish thing, all the fish smoking "rules" mention it, though I've smoked fish and I'm not sure it matters that much.

 

[thirdeye]

I have never really understood this pellicle stuff. Yes, the pellicle is achieved basically by letting the meat or fish surface dry and get sticky before it is put on the smoke. I ran across the pellicle idea again this morning while reading the instructions for someone's bacon kit. Just curiosity, really, as I bagged up a belly with cure yesterday to spend a week or so in the fridge. We're out of bacon. :shocked:

But ... If I put the belly into cold smoke, how is that different than "forming the pellicle" in plain air before putting the meat into the smoke for a 24 hour ride? If it's going to get sticky in a half hour in plain air, it's going to get sticky in the smoker too.

Same-o question with hot smoking. "Pellicle" seems to come up more when talking about fish, so maybe having a sticky surface prior to going into a briefer smoke experience kind of makes sense. The fish might not get sticky until halfway through the ride, so maybe a non-pellicle fish would absorb less smoke. Maybe.

Thoughts?

Yes, a pellicle on fish, bacon, ham... allows for smoke to adhere to the surface. The fan method works okay, but I prefer 12 to 18 hours in the fridge (uncovered) because this not only creates a pellicle, but it makes the fat set-up on bacon or ham, and the time gives your cured meat time to equalize.... meaning it allows any water or salt to settle down. If you just rinsed and blot dried some cured salmon or bacon and started cold smoking it, the surface would dry out over time in the smoker, but you would missing out on that early smoke adhering to the surface. One of the reasons I'll cold smoke bacon in stages over two or three days is to keep building flavor. So, maybe I'll cold smoke it for 5 hours, then move to the fridge (uncovered) until the surface is fully dry, then wrap in plastic until the next morning and repeat. When I'm satisfied, it goes back to the fridge to bloom for 24 hours or so.

Think about smoking cured sausages (where the casing prevents an actual pellicle to form) one of the first instructions is to let them hang in the smoker for about an hour to thoroughly dry. Then you start adding smoke and building flavor.