Easily Scalable Basic Brine
Learn How to Make Sure Your Meats are Moist
Have you ever said after eating a slice of turkey or a pork chop “ooh, that was dry!”? Of course it might have been overcooked but there are cooking techniques that make sure your meats are always moist.
Cooking for the most part, especially barbecue, is all about creating really appealing flavours. A lesson learned as a competitive BBQ cook is that you can layer flavours at different points during the cooking process to build a total food experience. One popular technique that I like to use is brining, which is sometimes confused with marinating.
Brining is all about the science of pressure. Imagine that you’ve just jumped into a swimming pool and sunk to the bottom. With all the increased water pressure, your head might feel like it is going to implode. That is the same principle that explains how brining works. A brine is a basic solution, usually salt and water, that is often flavoured with herbs, spices and other seasonings. By immersing meats in this seasoned liquid, the increased pressure forces the seasonings and the liquid deep into the meat, thereby making it more moist, more flavourful and a bit more forgiving to being overcooked. A brine is all about adding flavour to the inside, whereas a marinade is all about flavouring the outside of the meat.
There are three key rules to keep in mind when working with brines:
- Add whatever seasonings you like, but dissolve them in water first. Steeping solid ingredients in warm or even hot water to extract their flavour is the best way to flavour your brine. Common additions beyond salt and sugar are garlic, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, peppercorns and other whole spices. Just remember to cool the steeped mixture before you
finish the rest of the brine. - Keep brines cold, really cold. By keeping the temperature below 40°F, you minimize the possibility of bacterial growth and you increase the pressure in the brine. Double-check the
temperature of your fridge with a thermometer if you are not sure whether it’s cold enough—and use plenty of ice in the brine. - Brine meats for one hour per pound of meat. So, if you are brining a four-pound roasting chicken, plan on four hours. Brine a 12-pound turkey for 12 or more hours. If you are brining a bunch of shrimp, an hour or two is fine (they’re tiny!).
It is common to hear that people will continue to use a brining technique once they have tried it. The Thanksgiving turkey is more moist, the Saturday-night chicken is juicier and the Tuesday night
pork chops simply taste fantastic!
This brine recipe contains a good ratio of salt and sugar to water, and time and again, I’ve found that this well-seasoned brine produces a perfectly flavoured meat. If you are brining something small, cut the recipe by half or more—but be sure to maintain the same ratio. Add the meat to the brine only once it’s cool. And once you’ve added the meat to the brine, plan on leaving it immersed for one hour per pound of meat before
you remove it.
Easily Scalable Base Brine
Ingredients
- 16 cups water 1 gallon
- 1 cup sea salt or kosher salt
- 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 6 to 8 cups ice or more
Instructions
- Place the water in a large stockpot, cooler or foodsafe plastic bucket. Add the salt and brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Add ice to cool it down.
Changing Up the Flavour
There is a world of flavour to discover when you want to brine. Instead of using brown sugar as the sweet part of the brine, consider:
- molasses
- honey
- fruit juices such as apple juice or cider
- maple syrup
- agave syrup
But there is even more aromatics to think about too… If you want to use herbs and spices though, make sure they are first made into a “tea” by steeping the herb into warm water. This will extract the flavour into the brine. Here are some ideas for extra flavour:
- garlic
- cinnamon
- lemon
- thyme, rosemary or tarragon
- tea such as bergamot or licorice spice
- onion
- fennel