# Brined?



## markdchef (Jan 26, 2001)

Immersing in a solution of salt and water is called brining.

The recipe varies but the basic ingredients are cold water and salt.

The Food Network show Good Eats did a Thanksgiving show 2 yrs ago about brining. www.foodtv.com


----------



## anneke (Jan 5, 2001)

One of my relatives tried Alton's brined turkey recipe last year; no difference whatsoever. No notable improvement. As an advocate of brining (especially shrimp and pork), I was very dissapointed.

[ October 04, 2001: Message edited by: Anneke ]


----------



## daveb (May 1, 2001)

Several recent posts have talked about "brined" pork or turkey. This is a culinary term I'm not familiar with. 

Can someone explain?


----------



## daveb (May 1, 2001)

Anneke, what are the advantages of brining, especially shrimp and pork, since you recommend them.


----------



## live_to_cook (Aug 23, 2000)

I can only speak to brining whole poultry, since I don't do shrimp or pork. I have seen numerous brined pork roast/loin/chop brines, though.

A good stiff brine makes poultry tastier and more moist. That's my experience, at least. It tenderizes, and helps excess blood or fluid leave the bird.

My wife's favorite chicken is brined, butterflied and roasted at high heat over a bed of thinly sliced potatoes (a la Cook's Illustrated).

(honey brined turkey) http://www.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?id=102478


----------



## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

I'm surprised by your post Anneke. I brined my turkey last Chrsitmas, everyone commented on how flavourful and moist it was. No one knew at that point the turkey spend the night in brine.


----------



## anneke (Jan 5, 2001)

Iza, my sister isn't the best cook in the world, so I should probably try it myself before I rule it out. 

Dave, the advantages are hard to describe. 
In the case of shrimp, brine seems to restore that fresh from the sea flavour. It also makes them snappy (?!). 

For pork, try this recipe; you'll see what I mean. Pork is so bland, I find this really enhances the taste and the texture of the meat. Got this one from David Rosengarten.

PORK ROAST 
7 rib, center-cut pork roast 
Brine:
8 cups water 
1/4 cup coarse salt 
3 tablespoons sugar 
3 bay leaves 
2 whole cloves 
1 cinnamon stick 
2 teaspoons black peppercorns 
1 clove garlic, smashed 
Salt and pepper 
6 ounces thick sliced bacon 
3 tablespoons flour 
2 cups pork stock or beef stock 

In a large pot bring water, salt and sugar to a boil. Add bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon stick, peppercorns and garlic and simmer 5 minutes. Let cool and pour over roast. Marinate 8 hours or up to 12 hours. Drain. 
Season meat with salt and pepper, wrap with a few strips of bacon and transfer to a roasting pan. Place in a preheated 250 degree oven for about 2 hours or until an instant read meat thermometer, inserted in roast, registers 140 degrees. 
Yield: 6 servings


----------



## w.debord (Mar 6, 2001)

Sara Molton has an episode about 2 weeks ago with a older southern lady (I can't think of her name at the moment... she's like 6'5" and 70 plus years old). Anyway you can probably find the show and her recipes at Food Network.

She was fabulous, a scratch cook/baker who uses "dump" measuring (which means she eyes her amounts, doesn't measure them)! She demo.ed her fried chicken and talked about her secret to really moist chicken and it was soaking them in salt water to tenderize (she has a cookbook based on her restaurants recipes). If you get the chance you should look up this episode...I REALLY enjoyed it and it was my intro to brining.


----------



## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

W. DeBord, was it Edna Lewis? She is the "Grand Dame" of Southern Cuisine. I had the pleasure of meeting her and sitting in on one of her lectures while I lived in Atlanta. She has done lots in promoting the food of Regional America long before many of the more famous chefs came along. She is a true inspiration.


----------



## linda smith (Mar 30, 2001)

Although I still suffer from an extreme abhorrance for turkey, having roasted about 500 turkeys per annum in my catering days, I am still obliged to pull out the roasting pan twice a year. My 80 year old father-in-law insists. Brining a free range/organic bird is the only way to go. I always use kosher salt and I often add some herbs to the brining mixture.


----------



## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

Anneke, get your sister the Cook Illustrated Marye mentionned there is an anrticle covering the basis of brining.


----------



## anneke (Jan 5, 2001)

Yeah, I could, but that would mean I'd have to have a turkey dinner at their place sometime this year... (Sigh!  )


----------



## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

:lol:


----------



## kimmie (Mar 13, 2001)

:lol: :lol: :lol: 

just get «high» :smoking:


----------



## anneke (Jan 5, 2001)

WHAT???????????????!!!!!!!?????


----------



## w.debord (Mar 6, 2001)

I'm just going to pass by the last few posts, if that's o.k., cough, cough....

Do you have her book Pete? If so do you like it? I was so totally impressed with her cooking that I stopped what I was doing and actually sat down in the middle of the day to watch her (didn't pickup the phone when it rang either). 

You could almost smell her food though the t.v.! I haven't seen ANYONE cooking in a long time that REALLY impressed me as much as her! LUCKY YOU (getting to meet her).

Shes' a WOW in my book! I'm hoping Santa brings me her book.


----------



## kimmie (Mar 13, 2001)




----------



## nancya (Apr 30, 2001)

Kimmie, I think you should start a new thread on _smoking_ a turkey. 

Seriously, I *always* brine polutry...makes all the difference in the world. Even in slow roasted sticky chicken.....


----------



## mofo1 (Oct 15, 2000)

Do any of you use vinegar in your brines? I usually use a little to taste. I used walnut vinegar on a pork loin a while back and it was fantastic. I've also used vanilla to add flavor to pork. My next experiment will be sassafras brined pork. (I like pork.) Maybe pared with a quince or persimmon sauce.


----------



## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

This is a good thread. Just bringing it back up again. 

Kuan


----------



## georgeair (Jun 11, 2001)

Kuan - thanks on behalf of all the flavorless, dry turkeys I endured as a child for bringing this back to the top. 

Cooks Illustrated provided a clear enough description of the reasons, not just the process, to get me to try this a couple years ago, and I am SO hooked on this method. I use this for turkeys, chickens, hens, pork ribs, shrimp, pork loins and best of all fried chicken with terrific results and a full year of compliments before I started letting people in on the secret. Don't try this on beef, etc. as the cook time and meat fiber are both not well suited for this process.

Keys for me are Diamond Krystal kosher salt and cutting back on the sugar content of the brine for things that are going on the grill to minimize burning. Also rinsing well is critical.


----------



## cookinscool (Sep 29, 2002)

What will brining do to a kosher turkey?
Kosher turkeys are already salted and drained of excess blood and fluids so would brining have much affect on any kosher poultry?


----------



## chiffonade (Nov 29, 2001)

This T-Giving, we had a Maple Brined Roast Turkey. (Maple Brine recipe furnished by a dude on another board, _Mean Chef_, technique by Allton Brown.)

I mean to tell you - this is the bird of lore. The flavors which penetrated the meat were incredible but what really blew me away was the juiciness. I'm not a white meat eater, I think white meat is consumed for the sensual mouthfeel rather than flavor. I also think it tends to be dry. My brother carved this turkey after a 30 minute rest and the juice that ran off the breast was mind boggling. It even looked good to _me_!!!!

I used to be a "breast down bird roaster" in an attempt to keep juices in the breast. I won't _roast_ a bird now without brining it. Husband worked for a restaurant in Durango that wouldn't consider serving chicken unless it was brined.

If a person didn't see any discernable results from brining, they should examine the brining time or try another brine recipe.

I can confidently say that the combination of brining and a short term burst of initially intensely high heat have raised roast turkey to an art form.


----------



## leethequeen (Mar 13, 2002)

How long can you/should you brine the turkey?


----------



## chiffonade (Nov 29, 2001)

This is the Allton Brown method of brining. The Maple Brine recipe is directly below it.

Good Eats Roast Turkey

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water

For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil
Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Maple Brine

2 c brown sugar
1 c maple syrup
3/4 c kosher salt
3 head garlic -- cloves separated, not peeled
6 ea bay leaf
1 1/2 c fresh ginger -- unpeeled, chopped
2 tsps dried chile flakes
1 1/2 c soy sauce
5 sprig fresh thyme
3 qts water

Combine all ingredients in large stainless steel pot. Bring to simmer, remove from heat and cool completely

Remove turkey neck and giblets. Rinse turkey well.

Put turkey in cold brine. Use a stainless, plastic or other non-reactive container. Add water if brine doesn't cover bird.

Refrigerate 2 days, turning bird twice a day.

To cook: remove turkey from brine, pat dry, brush with olive oil. Either grill or cook in oven.

DO NOT stuff turkey

NOTES : For a 14lb. Turkey

Chiff Note: Add more of the intensely flavored ingredients for larger birds and brine *no less than* 48 hours.


----------



## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

Thanks for the recipe Chiff! Can't wait to try it.


----------



## leethequeen (Mar 13, 2002)

What happens if you brine the turkey for more than 48 hours?


----------



## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Depends on the brine. 1c salt to 1 gallon of water can cure the turkey in three days. To quick cure, we normally use 2c salt to 1 gallon of water. If you want to let it brine for 48 hours I'd use 3/4 cup salt to 1 gallon of water.

Kuan


----------



## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

In one book, it is said you can brine a turkey for 7 days...


----------



## marmalady (Apr 19, 2001)

Wendy, I think the woman you saw on Sara Moulton was 'Mama Dip', from 'Mama Dip's Kitchen' in Chapel Hill, NC. She has a cookbook out by the same name, and is truly one of the old-time cook-by-instinct cooks out there.


----------



## leethequeen (Mar 13, 2002)

Thank you to everyone who posted about brining. My Christmas turkey was the best ever!


----------



## chiffonade (Nov 29, 2001)

It really does make a difference in both flavor and juiciness.


----------



## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

I keep bringing up old stuff. Have I been here that long already?


----------



## agoodcook (Aug 10, 2003)

As everyone has already mentioned, brining is simply placing your thawed turkey in a salted solution of cold water and salt. I use sea salt. You can also add other seasonings, but I like to season my bird from the inside after brining. Place the bird in a container large enough to turn the turkey. Cover and place in frig or if you live in colder climate, place tightly covered on your porch. Brine overnight, and turn the turkey half way through the process. Next morning, rinse the bird, and pat it dry. Place seasonings in the cavity of the bird, celery, garlic, onion, or what ever you use. Rub the bird all over with butter, and place on a rack. Place bacon over the breast and legs. Tent with foil and bake and baste per your size bird. You will have a delicious, tender and flavorful bird.
Blessings,
Angelle


----------

