It sure has been a while and really I am sorry for the significant lag time between posts.
But the subject of this post will be Brining...
I have really turned to brining for many of the leaner cuts of meat... Pork, Chicken and even Pheasant. Brines use osmosis to add moisture to super lean cuts of meat - and technically it is a salt solution that while sounding counter intuitive, it really does add moisture...
I am no Alton Brown here so trust me I am not going try and explain it - so with credit to the fine cooking website here is the basic premise behind brining..
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How a brine works
Moisture loss is inevitable when you cook any type of muscle fiber. Heat causes raw individual coiled proteins in the fibers to unwind—the technical term is denature—and then join together with one another, resulting in some shrinkage and moisture loss. (By the way, acids, salt, and even air can have the same denaturing effect on proteins as heat.) Normally, meat loses about 30 percent of its weight during cooking. But if you soak the meat in a brine first, you can reduce this moisture loss during cooking to as little as 15 percent, according to Dr. Estes Reynolds, a brining expert at the University of Georgia.
Brining enhances juiciness in several ways. First of all, muscle fibers simply absorb liquid during the brining period. Some of this liquid gets lost during cooking, but since the meat is in a sense more juicy at the start of cooking, it ends up juicier. We can verify that brined meat and fish absorb liquid by weighing them before and after brining. Brined meats typically weigh six to eight percent more than they did before brining—clear proof of the water uptake.
Another way that brining increases juiciness is by dissolving some proteins. A mild salt solution can actually dissolve some of the proteins in muscle fibers, turning them from solid to liquid.
Of all the processes at work during brining, the most significant is salt's ability to denature proteins. The dissolved salt causes some of the proteins in muscle fibers to unwind and swell. As they unwind, the bonds that had held the protein unit together as a bundle break. Water from the brine binds directly to these proteins, but even more important, water gets trapped between these proteins when the meat cooks and the proteins bind together. Some of this would happen anyway just during cooking, but the brine unwinds more proteins and exposes more bonding sites. As long as you don't overcook the meat, which would cause protein bonds to tighten and squeeze out a lot of the trapped liquid, these natural juices will be retained.
Don't brine "extra tender" pork - it has already been injected with fluids to make it more juicy...
Remember the proper proportion of salt (use KOSHER not Table Salt) is important so find a recipe you like and use it - you won't be disappointed - Experiment with other flavors to go along for the osmotic ride... Some of my additions to the brining liquid are;
Sugar, Bay Leaf, Corriander Seeds, All Spice Berries, Juniper Berries, Peppercorns, Citrus (oranges mostly) Mustard seeds. Hint - if you have a mortar and pestle crack the seeds, berries and peppercorns to release some of their oils...
Make sure the meat is completely covered and kept at approximately 40* (fridge works for smaller pieces) but for a lot or even a whole turkey I use a big water cooler (like the kind used by road crews to drink water out of) Just make sure you add ice, and bring the brine back to room temp before you add the meat - you want to brine it not boil it!! Add ice and the meat (keep meat fully submerged) and follow the standard brining times below... Don't over brine and make sure you rinse off and pat dry the meat after removing it from the brine...
Here is a pic of me cooking some America's Cut Pork Chops I had brined for about 4 hours
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| The Webber Ranch Kettle in action |
Maximum Brine Time
If meat is kept past the maximum brine time, it will taste salty and perhaps turn mushy. Start out at the low end of the range. The table below shows suggested brine times for the corresponding meat.| Meat | Brine Time |
|---|---|
| Whole chicken (4 pounds) | 4-8 hours |
| Chicken parts | 1 1/2 hours |
| Chicken breasts | 1 hour |
| Whole turkey | 12-24 hours |
| Pork chops | 2-8 hours |
| Whole pork loins | 1-3 days |
| Pork Tenderloin | 2-12 hours |
| Shrimp | 1/2 hour |
| Cornish game hens | 1-2 hours |
