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what does brining actually do?

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edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
What is the pourpose of brining? what does it do to the meat?
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  • Tom Harmon
    Tom Harmon Posts: 50
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    skip toomaloo,[p]Brining is a method to get spices, H2O and sugars into the cellular structure of the meat via osmosis. As the salt liquid crosses the cell membrane the other flavoring agents cross too.[p]Need to be careful w/salt and any acidic flavoring agents (vinegars & citrus) as you can chemically cook the meat if too much of either. Likewise - small pieces of meat or cut up poultry cannot stand as much brining as bigger pieces. Salt s/b no more than 1 cup / gallon of water.[p]I have found that that meat cooks more quickly that has been brined. Only guess I have seen on forum is that the additonal moisture in the cells produces more steam. [p]tlhrtp
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  • Unknown
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    tlhrtp,
    is 1 cup salt, 1 cup sugar, 1 gallon h2o the way to go as a basic brine?

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  • Tom Harmon
    Tom Harmon Posts: 50
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    skip toomaloo,[p]Works, 1 cup brown sugar would be better (IMO). Pepper, garlic, fresh squeezed orange/lemon/lime with rinds work too. Emeril Lagasse does a "Funky Bird" for turkey that is really good. Recipe on FoodTV website and is searchable.
    All sorts of possibilities. Again, b careful w/citrus or other acidic agents but the flavoring possibilities are limitless.

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  • Unknown
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    skip toomaloo,
    cool, thanks a bunch. Gonna do it today!
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  • Tom Harmon
    Tom Harmon Posts: 50
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    skip toomaloo,[p]Just keep in mind, bigger pieces need 24 hours, cut up pieces can be done shorter....

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  • Zeke
    Zeke Posts: 90
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    skip toomaloo, I'm no expert on brining. But until I started reading this forum to complement my BGE, my pork chops were always dry. I brine all my chops these days and the difference is wonderful. [p]I use about 1 cup of Kosher salt
    1 gallon spring water
    ½ cup brown sugar
    1 Bay leaf
    Ground Pepper corns[p]I let the chops sit in the brining solution for at least 5 hours for 1" to 1½ chops. Perhaps others can tell you the maximum time that different cuts of meat require to get the full benefit of a brining solution. I sprinkle them with the Dizzy Pig rub and let them sit in the refrig up to 24-hours. [p]

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  • Bordello
    Bordello Posts: 5,926
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    skip toomaloo,
    Hope this msight help you.[p]New Bob
    [ul][li]Brining 101[/ul]
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