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Q-talk *ON TOPIC ONLY* QUALITY ON TOPIC discussion of Backyard BBQ, grilling, equipment and outdoor cookin' . ** Other cooking techniques are welcomed for when your cookin' in the kitchen. Post your hints, tips, tricks & techniques, success, failures, but stay on topic and watch for that hijacking. |
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02-25-2013, 09:45 AM | #1 | |
Got rid of the matchlight.
Join Date: 02-21-13
Location: Knoxville, TN
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Brine with varying concentrations of salt
Board wouldn't let me reply to this thread: http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=111659 so I am referencing it here.
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Essentially, I was preparing about 100 boneless skinless breasts for grilling and did not have a way to refrigerate. So instead I used an approximately 50/50 ice/water mix and used a large cooler to brine. Of course because of the ice, the initial salt concentration would have been the equivalent of 2 cups/gallon, way too salty, especially with the 18 hours it was going to soak. However as the ice melted, the concentration dropped back to normal 1 cup/gallon levels. NOTE: I did stir the bath occasionally to ensure a uniform concentration as the ice melted. Indeed the chicken was a huge success, and while I have limited experience with brines, I am curious if this might yield even better results than a constant salinity bath. I would expect that the high concentration at the beginning would have some effect on the meat. And as long as the final concentration is where you want it to be, the meat shouldn't be too salty. In the end, I wonder if those who have found that a particular brine results in good texture but meat that is too salty, could be served by adding some water a few hours before removing the meat from the bath. The initial salinity would be enough to make the physical changes to the meat's structure... while reducing the concentration to more palatable levels near the end would draw out the extra saltiness. Thoughts? |
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02-25-2013, 09:54 AM | #2 |
Banned
Join Date: 02-07-11
Location: brenham, texas
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I personally never saw much difference to warrant brining on just breasts that a good season can't do. Whole chickens for sure. The purpose of the brine is to just add moisture while enhancing flavor. We would t have to brine if the chickens weren't grown in 3 months. There are charts for equilibrium brining all over the Internet. I have had just as good luck loosening up the skin and putting season and marinade in there. Cooking really Hott 350+ and pulling the chicken at the appropriate temp, you will never get a dry bird. I'm sure there are mixed views on this, so this is mine.
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02-25-2013, 10:03 AM | #3 |
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: 04-08-04
Location: Marianna, FL
Name/Nickname : Tim
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I use a simple salt/sugar brine on anything I brine.
Ratio of 1 gal water, 1 cup Kosher Salt, 1 cup table sugar. Scaled up or down as needed, of course. Never found any need for any variation and never had a product that was too salty. I have played with adding flavors, but just prefer to do my seasoning with rubs and sauces if needed (at least most of the time ) As to the old thread. The forum software stops folks from bumping an old thread unless they have a legitimate (at least to them) reason. At the bottom of the "reply" area is a statement with a check box. Check off that box and you can revive the old thread. TIM
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02-25-2013, 09:17 PM | #4 | |
Got rid of the matchlight.
Join Date: 02-21-13
Location: Knoxville, TN
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Quote:
We did this last year by just seasoning and grilling. It took over 2 hours to grill everything (8-10 min each) and we managed to serve some dry dull chicken; it was horribly embarrassing. This year I used a brine in hopes of keeping some moisture after the long hold time. I also pounded them to a uniform thickness so they would cook faster and more evenly. Finally I sliced them in half so I could squeeze more on the grill. All said, we managed to grill all of the chicken in an hour (4-5 min each), and it was moist and flavorful with nothing but seasoning in the brine. So in our case the brine served 3 purposes:
All I know is that I am now a true believer in brine. Sure its not necessary in most circumstances, but it certainly does what it's supposed to do. |
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02-25-2013, 09:40 PM | #5 | |
Got rid of the matchlight.
Join Date: 02-21-13
Location: Knoxville, TN
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Quote:
And while your ratio is exactly what I was aiming for... I couldn't use it directly without some means of keeping everything cold while it soaked. This is when I thought to use ice in a cooler; but of course ice melts. I could have put ice in baggies or something, but I thought "make the brine strong enough that the target ratio of 1 cup/gallon would be met when the ice melted" and all should be good. It was. |
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02-25-2013, 09:55 PM | #6 |
Babbling Farker
Join Date: 04-03-11
Location: Texas
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I make a brine that is capable of adjusting its salinity and concentration by me scolding it.
The "no.. this was not helpful" button is over there ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------> |
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02-25-2013, 11:00 PM | #7 |
Moderator
Join Date: 12-09-04
Location: Wandering, but not lost
Name/Nickname : Captain Ron
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I've done some online research on this in the past, plus some empirical research, which I ate
The minimum salt level for a brine to do it's thing is 150g/gallon of water. The volume that equals 150g. is tough to say because it depends on the salt type (Diamond brand K salt vs. Morton K salt vs. table salt) due to the size of the crystals. The ideal salt level based on research by Dr. Etstes Reynolds at the University of Georgia is 272g/gallon and Cooks Illustrated recommends 568g/gallon. In home measurements the Cooks illustrated recommended brine is 1 cup or Morton K Salt to a gallon of water. Dr. Estes recommendation is 1/2 cup Morton K salt/gallon. I've traditionally used 1 up of Morton K Salt to one gallon of water but since doing this research I have switched to 1/2 cup Morton K salt to one gallon of water. I haven't noticed any difference in the moisture level of the cooked food, but it is a little less salty. If you're interested in the science behind brining I recommend this site... http://www.edinformatics.com/math_sc...ng/brining.htm[/QUOTE]
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