J
jfry
Guest
Board wouldn't let me reply to this thread: http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111659 so I am referencing it here.
I was forced to conduct a bit of an experiment last week that tests your comments about equilibrium... and the results were fantastic. I am curious if perhaps this method yields better results than the typical brine and would love to have someone try it and compare to their typical method.
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?
Well, the answer is yes and no. A brine works on osmosis, the movement of molecules from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. Eventually, over time, the concentrations will reach a state of equilibrium.
So, you have salted water that you are exchanging with the liquids in meat. The meat will absorb salt and water over time, and the meat will get progressively saltier to a point, based on the strength of your brine. So, if you had an average strength brine (1 cup of salt to 1 gallon of water) and you liked a particular brine time for chicken breasts (say 2 hours) it's possible that you have not reached the state of equilibrium by the time you pull your chicken out of the brine and rinsed it. If you left it in 4 hours you may notice it's saltier (and maybe my now it's reached the state of equilibrium) but you may not be able to tell much difference between a 4 hour brine time and a 6 hour brine time.
I was forced to conduct a bit of an experiment last week that tests your comments about equilibrium... and the results were fantastic. I am curious if perhaps this method yields better results than the typical brine and would love to have someone try it and compare to their typical method.
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?