Better brine recipe needed

vb4677

I made some of the juiciest pork chops ever tonight... but they were hard to eat since they were so dang salty!

I made a brine, and only let them sit for like 4 hours before I rinsed them well..

1/4 cup salt
(I was planning on using kosher, but we were out - so I was forced to use table salt and that could be the real issue here...)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 quart water

Obviously, I could up the water or reduce the salt, but man, this one hurt...  Anyone got something better? Or any other insights?

lkapigian

You could desalinate before cooking rather than change the brine ...2 chops 1/3 salt and sugar is more than enough 

CornfedMA

Using table salt is likely where you went wrong. It’s happened to me before, which is how I stumbled across this article. It basically talks about measuring salt ratios for a brine in weight, rather than volume. Give it a read, it should clear some things up. 

https://www.thespruceeats.com/salt-to-brine-ratio-336235

gdenby

Try looking up "equilibrium brining." It requires a scale, and is a little slower than standard brining, but the protein can't get too salty.

JethroVA

I only brine poultry and the ratio is 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup table salt per gallon of water. Not salty at all.  Don't forget to rinse.  Also, pork chops are thin and lots of exposed flesh (vs. skin on poultry).  I say reduce your salt and reduce the time in the bath. 

lousubcap

I believe you answered your own question with the table salt.  The ratio of water to salt you used is fairly standard  16:1.  FWIW-