BRINING BASICS

If you are going to cook lean meat, you need to brine.  Poultry, pork, ribs, roasts, and shrimp will end up extra moist as the result of brining.  There are two types of brines: wet brines and dry brines.  Brines are simply a salt and water mixture.  The salt solution causes the meat to take on more moisture from the brine.  A dry brine is simply a dry rub.  Dry rubs do not cause the meat to take on more moisture, but they do cause the meat to retain moisture when they are cooked.  Because of this, wet brines are best for really lean meats, whereas dry rubs are best for less lean meats.

So, how does brining work?  The heavy salt concentration of the brine causes the salt water to diffuse into the meat to bring the salt concentration inside and outside the meat to equilibrium. This means when you start cooking, the meat will have a higher moisture content than non-brined meat.  However, it will also have a higher salt concentration.  The salt in the meat will wok to tenderize the meat, but if you brine for too long, you run the risk of the meat being too salty.

Not only does brining cause the meat to retain its moisture, but it also adds texture.  Brining will also help in the unfortunate event that the meat is over cooked.  Brines can also be enhanced with additional favors that will enhance the meat.

WET BRINES

Wet brines at their simplest are salt and water mixtures.  The simplest brines are nothing more than salt and water at approximately 1 cup of table salt to 1 gallon of water.  The salt in the brine will force moisture into the meat that will remain while the meat cooks.  

While wet brining is easy, it takes some planning.  For small chickens or pork chops, brining can take as little as a few hours, but for larger meats such as whole turkeys, brining can take 24 hours or more.  Add on a few more hours to thoroughly dry the meat after brining.  Generally, for instance with chicken, I will brine the meat the night before, then in the morning I will take the meat out of the brine, wash it with cold water, dry thoroughly with paper towels, and the place the meat on a plate uncovered in the refrigerator until it is time to cook.  This will thoroughly air dry the meat.  

Before brining, check the label to make sure your meat is not prebrined.  Never brine meat that has already been prebrined.If you are going to brine meat that is frozen, you may need to start thawing the meat 2 nights before cooking to make sure it is fully thawed prior to brining.

Brine can last, if it is refrigerated for a few weeks, depending on whether and how much sugar is added.  While brining itself does not take a lot of effort, creating the brine cane be time consuming.  Therefore, I recommend creating enough brine for 2-3 meals at a time.  This way, the excess brine can be stored refrigerated in a Tupperware container so that brine is always on hand for quick overnight brining.  The brine should never be stored in corrosive material such as a metal pot.  Plastic containers and bags, stainless steel containers,  and ceramic containers make for good brining containers and brine storage.  Never store brine or brine in non-stainless steel containers, as the chemical reaction that is caused by the salt and metal will cause the meat to take on an undesirable flavor.

PREPARING THE BRINE

There are many types of wet brines that can be used to make sure your meat is moist.  The number of additional ingredients that can be added to increase and change the flavor or your brine are almost infinite.  However, at its most basic, brines are simply boiled or cold brines.  Both boiled and cold brines have their own benefits.  You can add more salt, sugar, and hers to boiled brines, therefore require less time to achieve full moisture retention.  Boiled brines also soak in added flavors from herbs and other flavors better and can impart more flavor to the meat.  

However, I prefer a cold brine.  A cold brine has less salt and added ingredients, and therefore does not need to be boiled, and the time consuming task of creating the brine is less. This is because boiled brines need to be brought to a full boil and then brought back down to just above freezing prior to use.  Using a brine before it is refrigerated and brought down to a temperature just above freezing can cause the meat to 1) inadvertently to start cooking, or 2) risk bacterial growth.  The sugar In brines are the perfect medium for bacterial growth, and therefore, meats should not be subject to anything but cold brines.  

I prefer cold brines for numerous reasons.  Cold brines have less salt and do not take as long to prepare.  While boiled brines take less time to brine the meat, I prefer the longer brine time of cold brines because this means I can brine the meat in the refrigerator overnight, without risk of over brining.  Over brining can cause the meat to become too salty, which is disastrous to already salty meats like pork, or blander meats like poultry.  Brining also helps break down proteins, which helps tenderize meat, but over brining can turn your meat into mush.

BRINING YOUR MEAT

The worst thing that can happen when brining is allowing dangerous bacteria to grow on your meat.  Therefore, you need to make sure that you always brine in the refrigerator and you do not expose the meat to air.  Never reuse the brine unless you want to get sick.

In general, meat should be brined for about an hour per pound.  Once the meat is fully brined, remove the meat from the brine, rinse off any extra salt solution, and pat dry.  Once the meat is dry, the meat can go directly on the smoker.  However, if you are smoking a whole bird, or any poultry containing skin, you need to dry further to get crispy skin.

If crispy poultry skin is desired, it is imperative that the meat is completely dry.  In order to ensure that the meat is dry, consider refrigerating for a couple of hours to facilitate surface dehydration.  To get a crispy brown skin on whole birds remove from the brine, thoroughly dry the bird, then air dry uncovered in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.

RUBS/DRY BRINE

Sometimes recipes will refer to rubs, sometimes they will refer to dry brines.  Dry brines and rubs are the same thing.  The end result is the same, the wet brine will add moisture to your meat and pull seasoning into the meat, the rub will help retain moisture and pull seasoning into the meat.  Many people add the rub right before cooking, however, the effectiveness of a dry rub is based on the amount of time the meat is refrigerated with the rub coat.  The rub coated meat optimally should be refrigerated in Saran Wrap or a zip lock bag for 1-2 days, however, if you are short on time, the longer the meat is refrigerated covered in rub the more flavor and moisture the cooked product will have.

The simplest rub is 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of meat.  However, most rubs will also contain black pepper, paprika, sugar or brown sugar, and other herbs and spices.  Sugar will help caramelize the meat.  Salt will help retain moisture and add flavor.  Pepper will add spice and paprika will add color.

Many recipes call for kosher salt, while other call for other types of salt such as sea salt.  When using salt with larger crystals, such as sea salt, you may need to add more salt than if the recipe calls for kosher salt.