In it’s simplest form, a brine is salt and water. It’s a very old technique, and somehow was lost to every day cooks for a while. Thankfully, it back in style – which is a good thing, as bringing can be used on most meats to improve flavor and texture.
In a medium bowl, combine the salt, sugar and water. Whisk vigorously until all the salt and sugar is dissolved. Then pour this mixture over the meat, poultry, or fish that you are preparing. Soak for several hours, or overnight – 45 minutes per pound on average is a good rule of thumb. One hour minimum, 12 hour maximum. (Note: Make certain the meat is fully submerged in the brine, and making more brine as needed to fully cover the meat.)
Here are three quick, easy, flavorful brines, using the Basic Brine recipe to start.
Simple – mix the brine ingredients, add to a Ziploc plastic bag (or a tight container), place the meat into the brine, and wait. When you remove the meat, it’s best to give a quick rinse to remove surface salt, then pat dry before cooking. Discard the brine – NEVER use it twice.
How a Brine Works
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. Brining meat adds moisture through osmosis. Osmosis happens when water flows from a lower concentration of a solution to a higher concentration through a semipermeable membrane. Water first gets pulled out of the meat (in the first hour or so), but the salt also redistributes into the meat. Once equilibrium (a balance of salt and water) is reached between the brine solution and the meat , then there will be more moisture in the meat.
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 can weigh up to 10 percent more than they did before brining—clear proof of the water uptake.
