smoked salmon questions???

I have brined by salmon for 8-10 hours. I know I still need to rinse and let it dry in a cool dry place for 1-3 hours, but I am 5-6 hours away from wanting to put it in the smoker. What should I do to create a delay from the brine removal time to the smoker?

Also if I am planning on adding a rub to it after brining, should I wait until after the fish has dried for 1-3 hours before Appling? Is a rub after overnight brine over kill?

I don't brine salmon for much more than 90 min but, fine, if the recipe you are using calls for that.

Remove the salmon from the brine, rinse, pat dry, then place on cake cooling racks that you've put on a sheetpan and stick in the fridge, uncovered. They will dry just fine there.

Depending on the brine, no, a rub isn't necessarily overkill. Do wait until the fish is dried before applying. You can do so once the fish is dried (the flesh will feel quite tacky) or you can wait and apply just before smoking.

Here's a picture of one I did on the weekend.http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/ElsieD_photos/IMG_2026.jpg[/img] ]Cold-smoked salmon

If you need to speed the drying time up you can place a fan so that it blows over the fish.