an article from 1998 when I first heard about it. Lots of good information.
* Exported from MasterCook *
Ready For Brine Time
Article By :Janet Fletcher
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
Have you had it with tasteless, juiceless pork chops and sawdust chicken breasts? Many professional cooks have,
too, which is why they're turning to an age-old technique to restore the flavor and moistness that many meats used
to have naturally.
In a growing number of restaurant and home kitchens, brining is putting the juice back into pork chops and at least
some taste back into factory-raised chickens. By soaking the meat for hours or days in a seasoned salt-water
solution, cooks find that they can transform lean pork and poultry with minimal cost and effort.
``This brining, it's become an urban legend,'' says Pam Anderson, Cook's Illustrated executive editor who has
written about brining for the magazine and jokingly calls herself ``the brine queen.'' Anderson once roasted more
than 30 turkeys to find the best cooking method, settling on an overnight brine as an essential first step. ``Every
time we do a poultry story now,'' says Anderson, ``we find that salt is the answer.''
With brines, cooks like Anderson are trying to compensate for the shortcomings of modern animal husbandry.
Chickens raised to market weight quickly on carefully formulated feed don't have the flavor of those old-time
barnyard hunt- and-peckers. Nor does pork have the taste appeal it used to. Bred for leanness to accommodate
contemporary concerns about fat, American pigs are 50 to 70 percent leaner than they were 20 years ago, says
East Bay sausage maker Bruce Aidells. Fat, whatever its other failings, contributes moisture and flavor.
``When they decided to market pork as the new lean white meat, they completely ruined the product,'' complains
Nancy Oakes, chef at Boulevard in San Francisco (and Aidells' wife). ``If you cook pork loin at home, you end
up with this hard, dry, very lean white meat.''
In response, Oakes began brining pork several years ago at L'Avenue, her former San Francisco restaurant. At
Boulevard, a spit-roasted pork loin, brined for four days, is a menu fixture, and brined turkey breast with
applesauce is a favorite staff meal.
Aidells, too, is a brining convert. His forthcoming book on meat, due this fall from Chapters Publishing, will include
a small treatise on the practice. ``To be honest with you,'' says the meat maven, ``unless you're really careful, it's
damn near impossible to produce a decent pork chop without brine.''
The succulent cider-cured pork chop at San Francisco's 42 Degrees testifies to brining's merits. Chef Jim Moffatt
swears by the technique, not only because it infuses the meat with flavor but because it gives the kitchen a larger
margin of error. A brined chop will stay moist even if it's cooked a little too long.
By what mechanism does a little salt water work such magic? ``It's our old friend osmosis,'' says Harold McGee,
the Palo Alto specialist in the science of cooking. ``If there's more of a diffusable chemical in one place than
another, it tries to even itself out.''
Because there's more salt in the brine than in the meat, the muscle absorbs the salt water. There, the salt denatures
the meat proteins, causing them to unwind and form a matrix that traps the water. And if the brine includes herbs,
garlic, juniper berries or peppercorns, those flavors are trapped in the meat, too. Instead of seasoning on the
surface only, as most cooks do, brining carries the seasonings throughout.
Aidells calls this technique ``flavor brining'' -- done not for preservation (which would require a saltier solution and
longer immersion) but for enhancing texture and taste. Even a couple of hours in a brine will improve bland Cornish
game hens, says Anderson, or give chicken parts a flavor boost before deep-frying or grilling.
Brines vary considerably from chef to chef, as do recommended brining times. But generally speaking, the saltier
the brine, the shorter the required stay. And, logically, the brine will penetrate a Cornish game hen or duck breast
much faster than it will penetrate a thick muscle like a whole pork loin or turkey breast. Meat left too long in a
brine tastes overseasoned and the texture is compromised, producing a soggy or mushy quality.
Most cooks start their brine with hot water, which dissolves the salt and draws out the flavor in the herbs and
spices. But they caution that the brine should be completely cold before adding the meat or it will absorb too much
salt.
By playing around with the liquid base and the seasonings, chefs give their brine personality. Some use apple juice
or beer for some or all of the water. The smoked turkey that Jeff Starr of Stags' Leap Winery produced for a food
editors' conference in Napa Valley last year was brined in orange juice, rice wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar;
some who tasted it swore they would never cook a turkey any other way again.
Seasonings can run the gamut from thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and garlic to cinnamon stick, star anise or vanilla.
Many cooks put some sugar in their brine to sweeten the meat and make it brown better when cooked. Others
avoid sugar, arguing that it makes everything taste like ham.
Whatever their recipe, brining advocates keep looking for other uses for their favorite technique. Anderson says
some people brine shrimp for half an hour; she herself has begun soaking chicken parts in salted buttermilk before
frying to get the benefits of brine with the tenderizing effect of the buttermilk. If cooks like Anderson and Aidells
continue to preach the gospel of brining, diners can kiss sawdust chicken goodbye.
WHAT THE PROS KNOW
Here are some tips to start you in the brining business:
--A heavy-duty plastic tub, earthenware crock, stainless-steel bowl or even a re-sealable plastic bag can work as
a brining container as long as the meat is fully submerged. Weight with a plate if necessary to keep the meat fully
covered by brine.
--To determine how much brine you'll need, place the meat to be brined in your chosen container. Add water to
cover. Remove the meat and measure the water.
--Start your brine with hot water to dissolve the salt (and sugar if using) and to draw the flavor out of any herbs
and spices. Chill brine completely in the refrigerator before adding meat.
--Although some cooks prefer lighter or heavier brines, 1 cup of salt per gallon of water is a happy medium. Use
kosher salt that has no additives.
--Experiment with seasonings. Salt is essential, but everything else is optional. Consider garlic, ginger, fresh herbs,
juniper berries, clove, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, mustard seed, coriander seed, star anise, hot pepper flakes or
Sichuan peppercorns. To give pork a sweet edge and encourage browning, add 1/2 cup sugar to each 2 quarts of
water.
--You don't need to rinse meat after you remove it from the brine unless the brine is highly salted (more than 1 cup
salt per gallon).
--Don't salt brined meat before cooking; it is already salted throughout.
--Don't reuse brine.
HOW LONG TO BRINE
The thickness of the muscle, the strength of the brine and your own taste determine how long to brine an item.
For a moderately strong brine (1 cup salt to 1 gallon water), the following brining times are rough guidelines.
If you aren't ready to cook at the end of the brining time, remove the meat from the brine, but keep the meat
refrigerated.
--Shrimp: 30 minutes
-- Whole chicken (4 pounds): 8 to 12 hours
-- Chicken parts: 1 1/2 hours
-- Cornish game hens: 2 hours
-- Turkey (12 to 14 pounds): 24 hours
-- Pork chops (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch thick): 1 to 2 days
-- Whole pork tenderloin: 12 hours
-- Whole pork loin: 2 to 4 days
42 DEGREES' CIDER-CURED PORK CHOPS
INGREDIENTS:
-- 4 center-cut pork loin chops, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick
-- Olive oil
Brine
-- 4 cups water
-- 2 cups hard cider
-- 1/2 cup salt
-- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
-- 10 whole peppercorns
-- 4 bay leaves
-- 1/2 bunch fresh thyme
-- 1 onion, chopped
-- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
-- 1 celery rib, chopped
-- 1 apple, peeled and chopped
INSTRUCTIONS: To make the brine: Combine all brine ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat,
then remove from heat and let cool. When cool, refrigerate until cold.
Add the pork chops to the cold brine. Weight with a plate if necessary to keep the chops completely submerged.
Refrigerate for at least 1 day or up to 2 days.
To cook: Remove the chops from the brine and pat them dry. Heat 2 skillets over moderately high heat. Add just
enough oil to coat the bottom of each skillet. When the skillets are hot, add the chops and reduce heat to
moderately low. Cook for 10 minutes, then turn and cook until the chops are no longer pink at the bone, about 10
minutes longer.
Serves 4.
The calories and other nutrients absorbed from brines vary and are difficult to estimate. Variables include the type
of food, brining time and amount of surface area. Therefore, these recipes contain no analysis.
Description:
"Salt and spice put old-fashioned flavor back into modern meats"
Source:
"San Francisco Chronicle"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 0 Calories; 0g Fat (0.0% calories from fat); 0g Protein; 0g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 0mg Sodium. Exchanges: .
NOTES : NANCY OAKES' VANILLA BRINE
This recipe makes enough brine for a 4- to 6-pound boneless pork loin, or six 1 3/8- to 1 1/2-inch-thick
center-cut pork loin chops, or 4 pork tenderloins, 1 to 1 1/4 pounds each. The recipe is from a forthcoming
cookbook on meat by Bruce Aidells.
INGREDIENTS:
-- 9 cups boiling water
-- 1/2 cup sugar
-- 1/2 cup kosher salt
-- 2 tablespoons coarsely cracked black pepper
-- 2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla
INSTRUCTIONS: Combine all brine ingredients in a bowl, small crock or heavy-duty plastic container; stir to
dissolve the salt and sugar. Let cool, then chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.
Add pork of choice (see headnote). Weight with a plate if necessary to keep the meat completely submerged.
Refrigerate 3 days for pork loin, 1 to 2 days for chops and 12 hours for tenderloin. Stir the brine each day and
turn the pork occasionally.
Roast or grill pork loin or tenderloins. Grill chops or pan-fry according to directions in Cider-Cured Pork Chops.
BOULEVARD'S STAFF TURKEY
If you're feeling flush, says Boulevard chef Nancy Oakes, substitute apple juice or cider for the water, and reduce
the honey to 1/2 cup.
INGREDIENTS:
-- 1 bone-in turkey breast half, 3 to 3 1/2 pounds
-- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Honey Brine
-- 2 quarts water
-- 3/4 cup honey
-- 1/2 cup kosher salt
-- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
-- 1 1/2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
-- 1 rosemary sprig, about 4 inches long
INSTRUCTIONS: To make the brine: Bring water to a boil, then pour into a container just large enough to hold
the turkey breast; cool for 5 minutes. Add honey, salt, mustard and pepper; whisk until honey dissolves. Add
rosemary. Refrigerate until well chilled.
Add turkey breast to the chilled brine. Weight with a plate if necessary to keep it completely submerged.
Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days.
Remove the turkey breast from the brine, place in a roasting pan and bring to room temperature. Preheat the oven
to 350 degrees.
Roast the turkey for 30 minutes, then brush with the olive oil. Continue roasting until the internal temperature
reaches 150 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 30 minutes longer, basting occasionally with the
drippings. Remove from the oven and let rest for 30 minutes before carving.
Serves 6.
©2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page 1
Nutr. Assoc. :
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/READY-FOR-BRINE-TIME-Salt-and-spices-put-3011094.php
* Exported from MasterCook *
Ready For Brine Time
Article By :Janet Fletcher
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
Have you had it with tasteless, juiceless pork chops and sawdust chicken breasts? Many professional cooks have,
too, which is why they're turning to an age-old technique to restore the flavor and moistness that many meats used
to have naturally.
In a growing number of restaurant and home kitchens, brining is putting the juice back into pork chops and at least
some taste back into factory-raised chickens. By soaking the meat for hours or days in a seasoned salt-water
solution, cooks find that they can transform lean pork and poultry with minimal cost and effort.
``This brining, it's become an urban legend,'' says Pam Anderson, Cook's Illustrated executive editor who has
written about brining for the magazine and jokingly calls herself ``the brine queen.'' Anderson once roasted more
than 30 turkeys to find the best cooking method, settling on an overnight brine as an essential first step. ``Every
time we do a poultry story now,'' says Anderson, ``we find that salt is the answer.''
With brines, cooks like Anderson are trying to compensate for the shortcomings of modern animal husbandry.
Chickens raised to market weight quickly on carefully formulated feed don't have the flavor of those old-time
barnyard hunt- and-peckers. Nor does pork have the taste appeal it used to. Bred for leanness to accommodate
contemporary concerns about fat, American pigs are 50 to 70 percent leaner than they were 20 years ago, says
East Bay sausage maker Bruce Aidells. Fat, whatever its other failings, contributes moisture and flavor.
``When they decided to market pork as the new lean white meat, they completely ruined the product,'' complains
Nancy Oakes, chef at Boulevard in San Francisco (and Aidells' wife). ``If you cook pork loin at home, you end
up with this hard, dry, very lean white meat.''
In response, Oakes began brining pork several years ago at L'Avenue, her former San Francisco restaurant. At
Boulevard, a spit-roasted pork loin, brined for four days, is a menu fixture, and brined turkey breast with
applesauce is a favorite staff meal.
Aidells, too, is a brining convert. His forthcoming book on meat, due this fall from Chapters Publishing, will include
a small treatise on the practice. ``To be honest with you,'' says the meat maven, ``unless you're really careful, it's
damn near impossible to produce a decent pork chop without brine.''
The succulent cider-cured pork chop at San Francisco's 42 Degrees testifies to brining's merits. Chef Jim Moffatt
swears by the technique, not only because it infuses the meat with flavor but because it gives the kitchen a larger
margin of error. A brined chop will stay moist even if it's cooked a little too long.
By what mechanism does a little salt water work such magic? ``It's our old friend osmosis,'' says Harold McGee,
the Palo Alto specialist in the science of cooking. ``If there's more of a diffusable chemical in one place than
another, it tries to even itself out.''
Because there's more salt in the brine than in the meat, the muscle absorbs the salt water. There, the salt denatures
the meat proteins, causing them to unwind and form a matrix that traps the water. And if the brine includes herbs,
garlic, juniper berries or peppercorns, those flavors are trapped in the meat, too. Instead of seasoning on the
surface only, as most cooks do, brining carries the seasonings throughout.
Aidells calls this technique ``flavor brining'' -- done not for preservation (which would require a saltier solution and
longer immersion) but for enhancing texture and taste. Even a couple of hours in a brine will improve bland Cornish
game hens, says Anderson, or give chicken parts a flavor boost before deep-frying or grilling.
Brines vary considerably from chef to chef, as do recommended brining times. But generally speaking, the saltier
the brine, the shorter the required stay. And, logically, the brine will penetrate a Cornish game hen or duck breast
much faster than it will penetrate a thick muscle like a whole pork loin or turkey breast. Meat left too long in a
brine tastes overseasoned and the texture is compromised, producing a soggy or mushy quality.
Most cooks start their brine with hot water, which dissolves the salt and draws out the flavor in the herbs and
spices. But they caution that the brine should be completely cold before adding the meat or it will absorb too much
salt.
By playing around with the liquid base and the seasonings, chefs give their brine personality. Some use apple juice
or beer for some or all of the water. The smoked turkey that Jeff Starr of Stags' Leap Winery produced for a food
editors' conference in Napa Valley last year was brined in orange juice, rice wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar;
some who tasted it swore they would never cook a turkey any other way again.
Seasonings can run the gamut from thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and garlic to cinnamon stick, star anise or vanilla.
Many cooks put some sugar in their brine to sweeten the meat and make it brown better when cooked. Others
avoid sugar, arguing that it makes everything taste like ham.
Whatever their recipe, brining advocates keep looking for other uses for their favorite technique. Anderson says
some people brine shrimp for half an hour; she herself has begun soaking chicken parts in salted buttermilk before
frying to get the benefits of brine with the tenderizing effect of the buttermilk. If cooks like Anderson and Aidells
continue to preach the gospel of brining, diners can kiss sawdust chicken goodbye.
WHAT THE PROS KNOW
Here are some tips to start you in the brining business:
--A heavy-duty plastic tub, earthenware crock, stainless-steel bowl or even a re-sealable plastic bag can work as
a brining container as long as the meat is fully submerged. Weight with a plate if necessary to keep the meat fully
covered by brine.
--To determine how much brine you'll need, place the meat to be brined in your chosen container. Add water to
cover. Remove the meat and measure the water.
--Start your brine with hot water to dissolve the salt (and sugar if using) and to draw the flavor out of any herbs
and spices. Chill brine completely in the refrigerator before adding meat.
--Although some cooks prefer lighter or heavier brines, 1 cup of salt per gallon of water is a happy medium. Use
kosher salt that has no additives.
--Experiment with seasonings. Salt is essential, but everything else is optional. Consider garlic, ginger, fresh herbs,
juniper berries, clove, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, mustard seed, coriander seed, star anise, hot pepper flakes or
Sichuan peppercorns. To give pork a sweet edge and encourage browning, add 1/2 cup sugar to each 2 quarts of
water.
--You don't need to rinse meat after you remove it from the brine unless the brine is highly salted (more than 1 cup
salt per gallon).
--Don't salt brined meat before cooking; it is already salted throughout.
--Don't reuse brine.
HOW LONG TO BRINE
The thickness of the muscle, the strength of the brine and your own taste determine how long to brine an item.
For a moderately strong brine (1 cup salt to 1 gallon water), the following brining times are rough guidelines.
If you aren't ready to cook at the end of the brining time, remove the meat from the brine, but keep the meat
refrigerated.
--Shrimp: 30 minutes
-- Whole chicken (4 pounds): 8 to 12 hours
-- Chicken parts: 1 1/2 hours
-- Cornish game hens: 2 hours
-- Turkey (12 to 14 pounds): 24 hours
-- Pork chops (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch thick): 1 to 2 days
-- Whole pork tenderloin: 12 hours
-- Whole pork loin: 2 to 4 days
42 DEGREES' CIDER-CURED PORK CHOPS
INGREDIENTS:
-- 4 center-cut pork loin chops, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick
-- Olive oil
Brine
-- 4 cups water
-- 2 cups hard cider
-- 1/2 cup salt
-- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
-- 10 whole peppercorns
-- 4 bay leaves
-- 1/2 bunch fresh thyme
-- 1 onion, chopped
-- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
-- 1 celery rib, chopped
-- 1 apple, peeled and chopped
INSTRUCTIONS: To make the brine: Combine all brine ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat,
then remove from heat and let cool. When cool, refrigerate until cold.
Add the pork chops to the cold brine. Weight with a plate if necessary to keep the chops completely submerged.
Refrigerate for at least 1 day or up to 2 days.
To cook: Remove the chops from the brine and pat them dry. Heat 2 skillets over moderately high heat. Add just
enough oil to coat the bottom of each skillet. When the skillets are hot, add the chops and reduce heat to
moderately low. Cook for 10 minutes, then turn and cook until the chops are no longer pink at the bone, about 10
minutes longer.
Serves 4.
The calories and other nutrients absorbed from brines vary and are difficult to estimate. Variables include the type
of food, brining time and amount of surface area. Therefore, these recipes contain no analysis.
Description:
"Salt and spice put old-fashioned flavor back into modern meats"
Source:
"San Francisco Chronicle"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 0 Calories; 0g Fat (0.0% calories from fat); 0g Protein; 0g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 0mg Sodium. Exchanges: .
NOTES : NANCY OAKES' VANILLA BRINE
This recipe makes enough brine for a 4- to 6-pound boneless pork loin, or six 1 3/8- to 1 1/2-inch-thick
center-cut pork loin chops, or 4 pork tenderloins, 1 to 1 1/4 pounds each. The recipe is from a forthcoming
cookbook on meat by Bruce Aidells.
INGREDIENTS:
-- 9 cups boiling water
-- 1/2 cup sugar
-- 1/2 cup kosher salt
-- 2 tablespoons coarsely cracked black pepper
-- 2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla
INSTRUCTIONS: Combine all brine ingredients in a bowl, small crock or heavy-duty plastic container; stir to
dissolve the salt and sugar. Let cool, then chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.
Add pork of choice (see headnote). Weight with a plate if necessary to keep the meat completely submerged.
Refrigerate 3 days for pork loin, 1 to 2 days for chops and 12 hours for tenderloin. Stir the brine each day and
turn the pork occasionally.
Roast or grill pork loin or tenderloins. Grill chops or pan-fry according to directions in Cider-Cured Pork Chops.
BOULEVARD'S STAFF TURKEY
If you're feeling flush, says Boulevard chef Nancy Oakes, substitute apple juice or cider for the water, and reduce
the honey to 1/2 cup.
INGREDIENTS:
-- 1 bone-in turkey breast half, 3 to 3 1/2 pounds
-- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Honey Brine
-- 2 quarts water
-- 3/4 cup honey
-- 1/2 cup kosher salt
-- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
-- 1 1/2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
-- 1 rosemary sprig, about 4 inches long
INSTRUCTIONS: To make the brine: Bring water to a boil, then pour into a container just large enough to hold
the turkey breast; cool for 5 minutes. Add honey, salt, mustard and pepper; whisk until honey dissolves. Add
rosemary. Refrigerate until well chilled.
Add turkey breast to the chilled brine. Weight with a plate if necessary to keep it completely submerged.
Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days.
Remove the turkey breast from the brine, place in a roasting pan and bring to room temperature. Preheat the oven
to 350 degrees.
Roast the turkey for 30 minutes, then brush with the olive oil. Continue roasting until the internal temperature
reaches 150 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 30 minutes longer, basting occasionally with the
drippings. Remove from the oven and let rest for 30 minutes before carving.
Serves 6.
©2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page 1
Nutr. Assoc. :
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/READY-FOR-BRINE-TIME-Salt-and-spices-put-3011094.php