INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

caution that the brine should be completely cold before adding the
meat or it will absorb too much salt.
By playing around with the liquid base and the seasonings, chefs give
their brine personality. Some use apple juice or beer for some or all
of the water. The smoked turkey that Jeff Starr of Stags' Leap Winery
produced for a food editors' conference in Napa Valley last year was
brined in orange juice, rice wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar;
some who tasted it swore they would never cook a turkey any other way
again.
Seasonings can run the gamut from thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and
garlic to cinnamon stick, star anise or vanilla. Many cooks put some
sugar in their brine to sweeten the meat and make it brown better
when cooked. Others avoid sugar, arguing that it makes everything
taste like ham.
Whatever their recipe, brining advocates keep looking for other uses
for their favorite technique. Anderson says some people brine shrimp
for half an hour; she herself has begun soaking chicken parts in
salted buttermilk before frying to get the benefits of brine with the
tenderizing effect of the buttermilk. If cooks like Anderson and
Aidells continue to preach the gospel of brining, diners can kiss
sawdust chicken goodbye.
WHAT THE PROS KNOW
Here are some tips to start you in the brining business:
~-A heavy-duty plastic tub, earthenware crock, stainless-steel bowl
or even a re-sealable plastic bag can work as a brining container as
long as the meat is fully submerged. Weight with a plate if necessary
to keep the meat fully covered by brine.
~-To determine how much brine you'll need, place the meat to be
brined in your chosen container. Add water to cover. Remove the meat
and measure the water.
~-Start your brine with hot water to dissolve the salt (and sugar if
using) and to draw the flavor out of any herbs and spices. Chill
brine completely in the refrigerator before adding meat.
~-Although some cooks prefer lighter or heavier brines, 1 cup of salt
per gallon of water is a happy medium. Use kosher salt that has no
additives.
~-Experiment with seasonings. Salt is essential, but everything else
is optional. Consider garlic, ginger, fresh herbs, juniper berries,
clove, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, mustard seed, coriander seed,
star anise, hot pepper flakes or Sichuan peppercorns. To give pork a
sweet edge and encourage browning, add 1/2 cup sugar to each 2 quarts
of water.
~-You don't need to rinse meat after you remove it from the brine
unless the brine is highly salted (more than 1 cup salt per gallon).
~-Don't salt brined meat before cooking; it is already salted
throughout.
~-Don't reuse brine.
HOW LONG TO BRINE
The thickness of the muscle, the strength of the brine and your own
taste determine how long to brine an item. For a moderately strong
brine (1 cup salt to 1 gallon water), the following brining times are
rough guidelines. If you aren't ready to cook at the end of the
brining time, remove the meat from the brine, but keep the meat
refrigerated.
~-Shrimp: 30 minutes -- Whole chicken (4 pounds): 8 to 12 hours --
Chicken parts: 1 1/2 hours -- Cornish game hens: 2 hours -- Turkey
(12 to 14 pounds): 24 hours -- Pork chops (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch
thick): 1 to 2 days -- Whole pork tenderloin: 12 hours -- Whole pork
loin: 2 to 4 days
Posted to bbq-digest by "Dave Morrow" <<scarman@sirius.com> on May 6,
1999, converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

A Message from our Provider:

“Times change, God doesn’t.”