Recipe

Brine Recipe

	Ib4doc / All my dishes 1 year, 8 months ago For the moistest, most tender turkey or chicken (all meats actually) this technique is indispensible Prep:5m Servings:0	Ib4doc
	indispensible

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Fans

henrie

jenniferby

atariq123

Ingredients

One cup salt to one gallon of water. If a raw egg (in the shell) floats, then the water/salt ratio is correct.. I suggest kosher salt for this application.

A container large enough to hold the water and the bird. There must be room to turn the bird. I go to the home improvement store and buy the plastic 5-gallon buckets when doing a turkey.

1/4 cup sugar per gallon. Suger is optional, up to a cup per gallon. It adds sweetness that offests the salt. Experiment to find what you prefer.

Herbs, spices and flavorings can be added also. Be sure all the salt/sugar is dissolved prior to adding these enhancements and be careful if you add off-the shelf flavorings since they may contain salt..

Keep the brine solution in a refrigerator or in a cool place.

Temperature should not rise above 40 degrees. Add frozen water bottles if the temperature gets too warm.

Directions

The science behind the madness.

From Wikpedia........In cooking, brining is a process similar to marination in which meat is soaked in a salt solution (the brine) before cooking. Brining makes cooked meat moister by hydrating the cells of its muscle tissue before cooking, via the process of osmosis, and by allowing the cells to hold on to the water while they are cooked, via the process of denaturation. The brine surrounding the cells has a higher concentration of salt than the fluid within the cells, but the cell fluid has a higher concentration of other solutes. This leads salt ions to enter the cell via diffusion. The increased salinity of the cell fluid causes the cell to absorb water from the brine via osmosis. The salt introduced into the cell also denatures its proteins. The proteins coagulate, forming a matrix which traps water molecules and holds them during cooking. This prevents the meat from drying out, or dehydrating.

Regrdless of why it works, it just does and it is a secret professional chefs rarely disclose.

For a large turkey (18-22 lbs), your bird can easily soak for 24 hours. For smaller cuts of meat, less time is required. A whole chicken will only take about 8 hours, while a cornish hen would only need about 2 hours. Until you have done it a couple of times, err on the low side,

Once the brining is complete, remove the meat and rinse under cool running water.

Cook as usual.

You will be astonished. No more dry turkey breast.

Try this with beef brisket for the absolute best barbeque you can imagine.

It works for any cut of meat, including fish.

Salmon is ridiculous, goofy good.

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Comments

jenniferbyrdez 1 year, 8 months ago said:
I am always surprised that more people don't do this, it makes such a world of difference. Thank you.

grandmommy 1 year, 8 months ago said:
Good post! We brine very often. People just don't realize how much better their food could taste.

henrie 1 year, 8 months ago said:
I have done Turkeys this way and they really are much much better. I'll have to try other cuts of meat now, didn't realize you could do beef etc. Great post, thank you for teaching me something new. You have my 5

conner909 1 year, 8 months ago said:
I brined a turkey breast last nov. but like to stuff the turkey and was hesitant to stuff a brined bird.nn
What do you think?

atariq123 1 year, 7 months ago said:
Have never used this method, but will do now. Thanks great post! Amna.

deedeec 11 months, 3 weeks ago said:
Great info! Just what I was looking for! Dee

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