# Pellicle???



## fire in the hole (May 23, 2012)

I'm sure I spelled the word wrong. I have just put a couple of slabs of pork belly in the smoker after curing for 10 days. I sliced and fried a couple of pieces and it was to salty..........so I soaked for an hour and rinsed last nite and then refigerated, uncovered over nite. My question is... what is pellicle and can you see it????

Thanks,

gary


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## daveomak (May 23, 2012)

gary, morning....  A pellicle is the formation of a "skin" on the surface of meat, fish etc... It "seals" the meat and is dry and firm to the touch.... Dave

Pellicle (cooking), a skin or coating of proteins on the surface of meat, fish or poultry, which allow smoke to better adhere the surface of the meat during the smoking process. Useful in all smoking applications and with any kind of animal protein, it is best used with fish where the flesh of, say, Salmon, forms a pellicle, the surface that will attract more smoke to adhere to it than would be the case if you had not used it: Without a pellicle; the fish would be inedibly dry from enough smoking to produce a tasty finished product. It is the pellicle which permits the transformation creating delectable Smoked salmon.


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## fire in the hole (May 23, 2012)

Well.........I hope I done right. I did not feel for a dry touch. I guess I'll know after the smoke and few days of resting.

Thanks Dave.


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## daveomak (May 23, 2012)

Gary, Rinsing and drying the surface with a towel or something is all you can do to form the pellicle....  Sometimes I put my stuff in front of a fan for a few hours....  that helps....

Don't worry about the bacon... It will still be better than store bought...    Dave


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## diggingdogfarm (May 23, 2012)

I hang the slabs in the smoker with a fan underneath pointing up.
That works the best for me.

~Martin


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## shoneyboy (May 23, 2012)




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## sound1 (May 23, 2012)

DaveOmak said:


> Gary, Rinsing and drying the surface with a towel or something is all you can do to form the pellicle....  Sometimes I put my stuff in front of a fan for a few hours....  that helps....
> 
> Don't worry about the bacon... It will still be better than store bought...    Dave


Dave nailed it!!  It should be fine. My last batch was not "dry to the touch" but you could see that a shiny skin had formed. A fourteen hour, 70 degree cold smoke, it was awesome.


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## fire in the hole (May 23, 2012)

Shoneyboy.........This is my 1st. When I turn pro..........like 90% of you guys.........then I'll do the Q-view. I don't like to show failures.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





And by the way........I just opened the door and peeked. 4hrs and it is taking on a little smoke color using Tods super mix pellets. 6 more hours planned.


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## daveomak (May 23, 2012)

_*This is my 1st. When I turn pro..........like 90% of you guys.........then I'll do the Q-view. I don't like to show failures.*_

Fire in the hole..... morning..... 

Do not worry about showing failures..... It is just another learning process....  I show mine so others can learn from them...  Learning is what we are all about...

If the folks on this forum did not need to learn..... they wouldn't be here.....  

Show the winners and the losers so we all can learn.... explain what you thought went wrong.... what went right...  what you would do differently.....  

The Williston Herald is not taking names and posting failures.... (I hope)....  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





....   We were all in the learning stage and I for one am still learning....  every day I try to learn something....

Dave


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## shoneyboy (May 23, 2012)

DaveOmak said:


> _*This is my 1st. When I turn pro..........like 90% of you guys.........then I'll do the Q-view. I don't like to show failures.*_
> 
> Fire in the hole..... morning.....
> 
> ...









  One of my 1[sup]st[/sup] bosses told me that if we did not make a mistake ever now and then we were not working hard enough
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





, but if we made too many, then I’m going to have to fire you’re A$$
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





.... If we all knew what we were doing we would all be Chef's cooking at our own restaurants
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





…..Mistakes are going to happen, just be careful and have fun with anything that you do, it will all work out…….


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## smokinhusker (May 23, 2012)

I agree with both these guys....show us the q view. 


Shoneyboy said:


> One of my 1[sup]st[/sup] bosses told me that if we did not make a mistake ever now and then we were not working hard enough
> 
> 
> 
> ...





DaveOmak said:


> _*This is my 1st. When I turn pro..........like 90% of you guys.........then I'll do the Q-view. I don't like to show failures.*_
> 
> Fire in the hole..... morning.....
> 
> ...


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## fire in the hole (May 23, 2012)

This is them. I feel good about the color but am a little concerned about the saltiness on the initial fry test. But, needless to say.........I'll be make'n bacon again.

The outside temps were mid 60's and I had to turn off the heat to my MES 40 and use only the AMNS with a temp around 110 for a 10 hour smoke.

Now to let it rest a week or so to let the smoke flavor penetrate.


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## thoseguys26 (May 23, 2012)

Do you vacuum seal them for your 'rest' period?  Does anyone have any insight on letting a PB rest to achieve more smokiness flavor? Just curious. 

I don't like too much smoke on my bacon or I can't taste my egg! I go 9 hours, cherry smoke and cool over night and slice the next day.


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## diggingdogfarm (May 23, 2012)

Aging it melds and mellows the flavor.
I think that it's essential for great bacon.
I don't vacuum pack for aging. Vacuum packing isn't a sin, but I think that letting it breath produces a better flavor.



~Martin


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## thoseguys26 (May 24, 2012)

DiggingDogFarm said:


> Aging it melds and mellows the flavor.
> I think that it's essential for great bacon.
> I don't vacuum pack for aging. Vacuum packing isn't a sin, but I think that letting it breath produces a better flavor.
> ~Martin


I agree from the sounds of your description. DDF how do you 'age' your bacon and for how long? I've had great success in smoking it for 9 hours, cherry, and letting it sit uncovered for 24hrs in my fridge, before slicing.


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## oldschoolbbq (May 24, 2012)

Guys , I can see vacuming a batch of cheese , but Butt ,don't last taht long here, don't know (or care) 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





.

The Bacon looks good , the reason we are here is to help...


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## diggingdogfarm (May 24, 2012)

Just 3-4 days aged in a fridge makes a big difference, but a week or more is better.


~Martin


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## fire in the hole (May 24, 2012)

I bagged them in zip locks and in the fridge for at least a week of rest.

Just for curiousness......what do you guys use as a sweetner. The recipe I have/had called for plain old table sugar and it burned to the bottom of the fry pan when I pre-sampled. Is there something that don't burn????


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## daveomak (May 24, 2012)

For sweetener, I have dribbled maple syrup on the bacon after cooking.... It don't burn when you do that.. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





....  Dave


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