Brine Solution Recipes

BASIC ALL PURPOSE BRINE FOR MEATS, CHICKEN, AND TURKEY

Steps:

• Makes 1 quart- make up additional amounts of brine if needed until meat is submerged.
• Stir ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Continue stirring until sugar is dissolved.
• Allow to cool.
• Place meat or poultry in a food safe plastic bag inside another container for support and leakage control (oven roasting bags are a fine choice- NOT garbage bags).
• Pour cooled brine into bag, and squeeze out as much air as possible and seal with a twistie tie.
• Refrigerate for 3-4 hours for 3 pounds meat (such as pork ribs), 5-6 hours for a nice roasting hen, or 12-24 hours for a turkey, 12 hours being for a small one and the longer time for those turkeys around 20+ pounds.
• Discard brine before using and pat meat dry.
• If using poultry, you may want to add citrus fruit such as oranges or lemons, additional fresh herbs, or cloves of garlic into the cavity.
• Prepare meat as desired- roast, bbq, etc.

SIMPLE CHICKEN BRINE

Steps:

• Pour the warm water into a container that is twice the volume of the water. Pour in the salt, sugar, soy sauce, and olive oil. Stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved, then allow the brine to cool to room temperature.
• To use, place chicken in the brine, cover, and refrigerate two hours for skinless breasts, 4 hours for bone-in pieces, and 4 hours to overnight for whole chickens. Drain and pat the chicken dry before cooking. One gallon of brine is enough for 6 pounds of whole chicken or bone-in chicken pieces, and up to 10 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

HOW TO MAKE A BASIC BRINE

Steps:

• Brining is a process similar to marinating in that both expose food to a flavored liquid, but they actually work in significantly different ways. Marinating is usually a relatively short process (3 - 5 hours) that primarily uses acid to break down meat fibers, resulting in greater tenderness. The flavors involved are often strong and leave a big impact on the food. Brining on the other hand, uses osmosis (via a combination of salt and water), to develop flavor and moisture. How does brining work? Salt draws moisture out of food; which doesn't sounds like a good thing. As an experiment, take two slices of eggplant, and liberally salt one but not the other. Let them sit on separate plates for 10 minutes. When you come back, you'll find that the salted slice has exuded a significant amount of water to the surface, while the other still looks relatively dry. That water is drawn out by the salt. So you may ask, if salt pulls water out of food, wouldn't brining a piece of meat pull all of the moisture out of it? Well, the answer is it does, but that ok because of....Osmosis. Osmosis, is a process where water moves and out of cells. And because salt draws water, we can use it to actually move water in and out of food. Without getting into the gory details, the salt in a brine, given enough time, will carry moisture (and potentially flavor) into whatever is being brined. Most brines also contain sugar, to balance out the salt, and bring some additional flavor the party. You can also add many other flavors, like peppercorn, or other spices, herbs, or other flavoring liquids. Unlike marinades, you need to brine for a long time (I never do less than 8 hours). Short periods will draw moisture out of food, without giving time for it to be pulled back in. Applications - what should I brine? I generally use brines for low fat cuts of meat. Brines are great for chicken, pork, and turkeys. In fact, I don't think I've cooked an unbrined pork chop in years. Depending on the meat, and what your mood is, you can vary up the brine's flavors but they should always have salt, sugar and water. Some Brine Recipes: Chicken or Turkey Brine Pork Brine Flavored Brines How to make a brine The basic brine consists of three elements - salt, sugar, and water (technically just water and salt, but I never make one without sugar). I use about ½ cup of both sugar and salt to one quart of water. To ensure that the salt and sugar dissolve in the water, I'll mix the salt/sugar in boiling water, using ½ the amount of total water, and then cool the mixture by added the other ½ quart's worth of water in ice cubes. While water is water, and salt, salt (actually there's many different types of salt, but for a brine I'd just use regular kosher salt), you can definitely have some fun with the sugar. White table sugar is just fine to use, but brown sugar carries a different flavor, as does honey, molasses, and maple syrup. By swapping any of these with white sugar you can modify the flavor of the finished product. You can also add other flavor components to the dish - peppercorns at a minimum, but any other spices or herbs you'd like, or aromatic vegetables like onion, carrot and celery. With each, the flavor will get carried into the meat as it brines. Preparation & Cooking I like to take the meat out of the brine for 15 - 20 minutes before I'm ready to cook it, so that it comes back up to room temperature (always keep your brining foods in the fridge) and to release some of the excess moisture. Then I season them as normal. One thing to note, is that the meat's taken on a lot more sugar than its natural state, and sugar burns more quickly than protein. So be a bit more diligent than normal and check the sear a little sooner than you might otherwise to prevent burning.

BRINE RECIPE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine water, salt, onion, garlic, thyme, bay, peppercorns and lemon. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring until the salt has dissolved. Take mixture off of the heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes.
• Add ice to a large bowl. Pour over hot brine and stir until the ice has melted.
• I've depicted the brine above in a baking dish, but I'll have to admit, this was just for aesthetics. Normally, I use a large freezer bag. Place pork chops (or chicken or turkey) into a large freezer bag. Add brine and seal tightly. Let sit for 3 hours at room temperature.
• Rinse pork chops under cold, running water, pat dry then set aside. Discard brine. Let pork chops rest for 1 hour before cooking or transfer to the refrigerator to use later.
• If I want to throw together a quick dinner, I like to sear these chops in a cast iron skillet over high heat. Once each side is nice and golden, I'll transfer to a 350 oven and cook until the internal temperature reaches 140 - 145 (10 to 15 minutes longer depending on thickness of chops). Keep in mind, no additional seasoning is needed. If you salt again, the chops will be too salty.
• If I have a little more time in the kitchen, I like to bread and fry the pork. Set out 3 plates - one with flour, one with an egg beaten with a little water, one with panko breadcrumbs. Coat each chop with flour, shaking off the excess. Dip in the egg then coat with panko breadcrumbs. Shallow fry in a skillet until outside is golden brown. Finish in the oven (same as above) if needed.

BRINE FOR A PORK LOIN RECIPE

Steps:

• Combine your water with the salt and brown sugar and bring to a boil.
• Once the salt and sugar are completely dissolved, add your bay leaves, thyme, peppercorns and rosemary.
• Simmer for approximately five minutes at low heat.
• Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
• Once your brine formula has cooled completely, place it in a bag with a ziplock.
• Place the bag into a large bowl or a pot containing your pork loin.
• Make certain your prok loin is covered completely by the brine solution.
• Put the bowl into your refrigerator for a minimum of twelve hours and a maximum of 24 hours.

SIMPLE BRINE RECIPE FOR PORK CHOPS

Steps:

• MAKE COLD BRINE SOLUTION: Add all brine solution ingredients to large food-grade bag (e.g. ziploc) or a glass or stainless steel large bowl. Stir or squish bag until salt and sugar are dissolved (30 seconds). Note 1.
• BRINE PORK CHOPS: Add pork chops to bag or bowl ensuring they are fully submerged in the brine solution. Place in fridge. For thinner pork chops (1/2 inch/0.27cm or less), brine for 30-60 minutes. For thicker chops, brine 1-2 hours.
• FINISH AND CONTINUE WITH PORK CHOP RECIPE: Remove from brining bag or bowl and discard brine. Rinse pork chops under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Continue with pork chop recipe.

BRINE SOLUTION

Steps:

• Place 2 cups water in a large pot along with salt, brown sugar, and chile powder. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring, until salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from heat; let cool completely before using.

BASIC PICKLE BRINE

Steps:

• Stir together 1 cup water and all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes. Pour over vegetables or fruits. Cover with a tight-fitting lid; chill 2 days. Store, covered, in refrigerator up to 2 months.