Brining

tstick

I have never brined before and would like to try it this week. My questions is: Is it necessary to boil the water before adding the spices and the meat? Thanks for your held. tstick

King-O-Coals

tstick, I have boiled half of the water to get the bay leaves, seasonings, and salt to disolve and to help release the flavor of the seasonings. But my last batch I used kosher salt and seasonings in half the water and it mixed and disolved pretty good. Then I added ice cubes to complete the gallon of water needed. My brine was then chilled and I could go ahead and add my meat. Don't add your meat to the brine until the brine is chilled, to prevent from spoiling your meat. I'm going to try to include a great link to read about brining,, but I have usually missed getting it right before. Good luck. (to us both):^)

[ul][li]http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/03/25/FD107260.DTL[/ul]

Teslamania

King-O-Coals,[p]Thanks for the article. I was considering brining a whole turkey breast for tomorrow night's dinner.

King-O-Coals

Teslamania, your welcome. Cat gave it to me during my darkest hours of brining. I got a lot of comfort from it.

Teslamania

King-O-Coals,[p]I remember you posted that she gave you an article about brining. I was wondering at the time which article it was.