Brining Question

onpoint456

I started to brine a pork tenderloin for dinner but plans changed and I won't be able to eat it tonight. How long should I let it sit in the brine and what should I do with after pull it? I will likely be cooking it tomorrow night. It has been in the brine for about 8 hours already.

lkapigian

If it’s a 2 % brine you are fine, higher than that I’d pull it, or desalinate before you cook it 

a lot of the pre marinated stuff in the stores is a high solution, I’m not a fan of those 

onpoint456

Thanks. Not sure if it's 2%, here is what went into the brine.

2 cups water

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup kosher salt
4 cloves garlic

Peppercorn
Thyme

lkapigian

onpoint456 said:

Thanks. Not sure if it's 2%, here is what went into the brine.

2 cups water

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup kosher salt
4 cloves garlic

Peppercorn
Thyme

Well over 2% but if you pull it now, probably fine , if you leave it, just give it a soak … the sweet will offset the salty 

onpoint456

Thanks for the help

lkapigian

onpoint456 said:

Thanks for the help

You are welcome, a good scale comes in very hand if you do much brining or curing 

EggObsessed

I might need to start a new post to ask this, but I'll try here first. After reading @onpoint456's recipe, I am realizing that my "go to" recipe is way too salty. I really like using apple juice and a little water as my main liquid. I typically use 2 cups apple juice, 1/4 c kosher salt, and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. When I leave ANY meat in this brine for more than a day, it is way too salty. Does anyone have a better apple juice based recipe that has the correct salinity? I'd greatly appreciate the input!

lkapigian

EggObsessed said:

I might need to start a new post to ask this, but I'll try here first. After reading @onpoint456's recipe, I am realizing that my "go to" recipe is way too salty. I really like using apple juice and a little water as my main liquid. I typically use 2 cups apple juice, 1/4 c kosher salt, and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. When I leave ANY meat in this brine for more than a day, it is way too salty. Does anyone have a better apple juice based recipe that has the correct salinity? I'd greatly appreciate the input!

That’s about a 12% brine, apple juice is roughly 240 grams per cup and kosher salt about the same per cup so 60/480is 12.5% ( I don’t consider the sugar in the % ) I would use a scale and and max out at 5% , 2-3 % is safe if you want to leave it for an extended period and not desalinating YMMV

lousubcap

Related-here's a link to a brine calculator using water and salt:

https://myfermentedfoods.com/tools/brine-calculator/