Re: Brining Meats

[Guest guest]

Tom-

>, can you elaborate about your techniques for brining meats? I'm

>very interested in doing this myself. Do you have a unconventional

>technique or should I just do some web research? Nothing jumped out at

>me in a quick Onibasu search. Thanks.

No, I do it pretty conventionally. I guess the main difference is that I

use raw honey instead of sugar for my brines. For a gallon of water, I'll

mix in a cup of raw honey (or maybe a little less), 2-2.5 cups sea salt,

and then whatever herbs and spices are appropriate for the dish(es) I'm

planning to make. Garlic, bay leaves, lemon slices, juniper berries,

peppercorns, cloves... the possibilities are endless.

Brining is especially useful for any kind of modern fowl or pork, because

they're seriously low in fat, but even for a fatty bird like a goose, it

can improve the texture and flavor, and it's essential for tongue.

-

[Guest guest]

Thanks. Sounds delicious. How long do you let the meat sit in the brine?

I grew up on boiled tongue, never brined, and it was delicious to me,

but I'd love to try brining it.

Tom

Idol wrote:

> No, I do it pretty conventionally. I guess the main difference is

that I

> use raw honey instead of sugar for my brines. For a gallon of water, I'll

> mix in a cup of raw honey (or maybe a little less), 2-2.5 cups sea salt,

> and then whatever herbs and spices are appropriate for the dish(es) I'm

> planning to make. Garlic, bay leaves, lemon slices, juniper berries,

> peppercorns, cloves... the possibilities are endless.

>

> Brining is especially useful for any kind of modern fowl or pork, because

> they're seriously low in fat, but even for a fatty bird like a goose, it

> can improve the texture and flavor, and it's essential for tongue.

>

>

>

> -

[Guest guest]

Tom-

>Thanks. Sounds delicious. How long do you let the meat sit in the brine?

It depends on the meat. Large tongues, like bison and beef, brine for

days. Chicken and other birds maybe overnight unless you're brining a cut

like a breast, in which case you'd just leave it in there for an hour or so.

>I grew up on boiled tongue, never brined, and it was delicious to me,

>but I'd love to try brining it.

Brining doesn't dramatically change the taste of a boiled tongue,

actually. It just makes it more juicy and tender and pink, and it makes

the skin much, much easier to remove. I brine my tongues, then simmer them

with some vegetables, then peel the tongue while reducing the stock to make

a sauce. Delicious!

-

[Guest guest]

What about using pre-ground meat?

TT

--- haecklers <haecklers@...> wrote:

> Ok, working my way throught the Charcuterie book,

> I've been brining

> meats with fantastic results! I got interested in

> this after

> reading Marc Kurlansky's book " Salt: A World

> History " and finding

> out how much our ancestors preserved meats and

> vegetables in salt -

> either dried or in brine. I'd always pictured

> salted fish or meat

> as kind of yucky and far inferior to what we eat

> today. But then I

> tried some, it's fabulous! Brining in kimchi juice

> is wonderful, or

> you can make brine just for meat - 4 cups water 1/4

> cup salt, and a

> tablespoon of sugar, maple syrup, or honey if you

> like with whatever

> seasonings you prefer - bay leaves, allspice,

> cloves, cinnamon, hot

> pepper, fennel, garlic, etc...

>

> He says brining in salt water changes the molecular

> structure of the

> protein so it holds more water - so the meat is more

> tender and

> juicy when cooked. The skin gets thinner and browns

> more easily

> when brined with some sugar.

>

> The flavor changes, especially if you are using

> kimchi juice with

> naturally - occurring nitrates/nitrites. The

> ascorbic acid from the

> ingredients keeps them from converting to

> carcinogens. (In the book

> he uses " Pink salt " for nitrites, but I prefer the

> natural sources,

> also traditional - our ancestors loved to pickle

> meats with

> their " sauerkraut " which when they did it rarely

> contained only

> cabbage - they'd throw in juniper berries and other

> seasonings,

> onions, carrots, whatever they had on hand. It was

> really " barrel 'o food " to eat throughout the

> winter. When you

> consider that fermenting actually ADDS nutrients

> while most other

> forms of keeping foods caused loss of nutrients

> (drying, root

> cellaring), you can see why they'd probably barrel

> up whatever they

> could fit in. Yes, even refrigerated foods lose

> nutrients and

> enzymes. Cabbages kept in the dark for two weeks

> will have

> considerably less vitamin A than when fresh picked.

>

> ANYWAYS, to brine meat, just get the brine and soak

> the meat in a

> nonreactive dish (glass, ceramic) in enough brine to

> cover. You'll

> have to put a plate or something on the meat to keep

> it from

> floating. You can brine for a few hours for filets

> of fish or a

> week for something like beef brisket. When first

> learning brining,

> you can cut off a small piece of meat and fry it up

> to taste and see

> if it's too salty. If it is, just soak in water -

> it will release

> salt into the water and become less salty. You'll

> want to do all

> brining/soaking in the refrigerator for safety, of

> course.

>

> I'm pretty sure Boston Market brines their chicken

> in salt/sugar

> water.

>

> So far I've brined pork chops in kimchi juice, pork

> shoulder in

> sweetened brine - fabulour cooked all day at 250,

> ribs in salt/sugar

> water with spices, and made the brined corned beef

> brisket in the

> book Charcuterie. It has all been gourmet-quality

> food. Really,

> guys, you've got to try this!!!

>

>

>

>

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