Saltiness was about right but the outer skin was on the tough side. Might have to trim the outer layer of the abalone down before brining/smoking next time. Smoke flavor was pretty mild so might skip the drying step and go straight to smoke or increase the smoke time for v1.1
Brined overnight for 12 hrs
Dried at 125F for 2 hrs inside the smoker with no smoke
Smoked at 175F for 1hr using applewood
Dried at 175F for another 2 hrs with no smoke
The inside of the abalone seemed to contain a little too much moisture still so I threw it in the dehydrator and forgot about it. Doh! It ran overnight but miraculously, it was not ruined. The flavor was intensified and texture was good (still tough on the outside). This will be good with beer.