Brining?

Well, brining is a little different process than marinating. I'll let someone smarter explain the chemistry, but brining is typically done more to increase moistness in the piece of meat through the action of the salt. My experience has been that you can impart a small amount of flavor through adding things to the basic brine, though. I think of marinating as a process intended primarily to impart a particular flavor to the marinatee.

I usually brine chicken breasts or pork chops- stuff like that. Those I do in a ziplock bag. My basic formula is 1/4 cup kosher salt and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a gallon or so of water. I'm not real scientific, I guess. I've had good success adding pepper and garlic to that recipe.

I'm not experienced at all in brining large pieces of meat. My inclination would be that for larger cuts, you could use a clean ice chest to hold everything.
I hope that helps.

If you have an extra fridge to keep them in, the large stainless steel stockpots with the thin bottom are useless for cooking with but work just fine for brining and are inexpensive. You want to use a non reactive vessel. Glass, stainless, and most plastics are fine. Just don't use aluminum. The salt reacts with the aluminum and bad things ensue.

Here is an old thread on brining:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6677&highlight=books


As for a book. Many opinions on this. I'm not sure I believe these guys read this much. Smoke and Spice is one of my favorites. Here are a couple links to Brethren threads on books:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20021&highlight=books
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20746&highlight=books
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19882&highlight=books
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16763&highlight=books
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13494
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12906&highlight=books
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11962&highlight=books

On edit: Doing a search around this place can take you to threads that make you question the sanity of many, many, many of these farkers. But it sure can give you a laugh. I highly recomend it.

I brined the chickens I smoked yesterday the night before, using salt (duh) apple cider vinegar, basil and brown sugar. I usually brine salmon before I put it on to smoke too.

As far as a book recommendation, I like Stephen Raichlen's books for recipes, but I find that I always modify his "low and slow" directions to go lower and slower. I can't imagine that ribs at 325 for 2.5 hours can be as good as mine done at 225 for 7, but maybe that's just me.

smokinbadger said:

As far as a book recommendation, I like Stephen Raichlen's books for recipes, but I find that I always modify his "low and slow" directions to go lower and slower. I can't imagine that ribs at 325 for 2.5 hours can be as good as mine done at 225 for 7, but maybe that's just me.

Click to expand...

You are right on the money brother.:eusa_clap

I have never brined a brisket, but I used to routinely brine my boston butts, turkeys, and chickens. Alton Brown has a good brine recipe, as do many of the brothers out there. The threads already noted have great info...

You dont brine beef because it already has moisture, better known as fat. Leaner meats tend to dry out, hence the brine. Hence poultry and pork!

Marinating is a tenderizing process, best achieved by exposing to acidic juices.

2nd hand said:

A brine is the same as marinading correct? If so, how do you guys and gals brine larger pieces of meat? Do you use like a 5 gallon bucket(clean of course)? I've smoked an 11 lb beef round flat and a 15 lb of some part of a cow lol and I would've liked to let it sit in some sort of marinade.

Also, is there a good no nonsense bbq book that you would recommend for a rookie like myself. I'm still working on my vent adjusting to keep my lump burning longer.

Click to expand...

2nd Hand I would recommend Paul Kirk's championship BBQ book it has alot of information on sops, mops, brines and marinades. It is my go to book for a majority of my BBQ needs.