Brining

[JimBob]

Anybody know a good source of information on Brining,net or a book?

Thanks.

[Delmonico]

Anybody know a good source of information on Brining,net or a book?

Thanks.

Do you want to brine it to preserve or to add flavor.  Amount of salt in the brine will depend on that.  Also use canning/picking salt, never table salt.  Iodized is bad and even non-iodized has anti-caking stuff in it.  The other is pure salt (Sodium chloride)

[JimBob]

Do you want to brine it to preserve or to add flavor. 

Actually a little of both but real interest is use as a preservation method.LOL I have my Grandmas cook and recipe books but lord only knows where they are.I know there are some recipes in them she used.

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[Delmonico]

Actually a little of both but real interest is use as a preservation method.LOL I have my Grandmas cook and recipe books but lord only knows where they are.I know there are some recipes in them she used.

Most old books for wet salting meat before smoking call for a brine strong enough to float a raw egg.  I know you can get modern devices that work better.  If brining beef you need to add some Potassium nitrate or Sodium nitrate to keep the meat having a good color.  That's all corned beef is.  The modern product is not brined as well.  Salt Pork and salt beef (corned beef) were stored in the brine till ready to use.  Will also be too salty to eat as is and will be better of soaked a few hours in a couple changes of fresh water.

[Doc Cuervo]

Do you want to brine it to preserve or to add flavor.  Amount of salt in the brine will depend on that.  Also use canning/picking salt, never table salt.  Iodized is bad and even non-iodized has anti-caking stuff in it.  The other is pure salt (Sodium chloride)

What about sea salt?

[Delmonico]

What about sea salt?

No, because it's not pure sodium cloride.

[Doc Cuervo]

Thanks.

[Hard Mouth]

Hey Doc,
for info on brining for flavor/moistness, go to www.melindalee.com . It's a cooking site with info on brining in water or apple juice or ?? I've followed her instuctions on turkey with great results. She specifies Kosher salt..

[Delmonico]

Kosher salt is just pure Sodium chloride, what makes it "Kosher" is the shape of the grains.  Kosher has fairly large flat grains like a flake pistol powder.  The origins of it is to remove excess blood from meat to make it kosher.  It does dissolve a bit faster, but it also costs several times more than canning/pickling salt.  Since most folks heat up the water to dissolve the salt when they make brine, kosher salt is a waste of money.

I'll go over an look at this ladies site sometime, I'm guessing she's just another of the TV cooking "guru's."  I'd like to have a few of them at a time come out to one of my cook camps sometime so I could see what they can do with out their tela-prompter.  Got a feeling few would make the grade.

[JimBob]

I'll go over an look at this ladies site sometime, I'm guessing she's just another of the TV cooking "guru's."  I'd like to have a few of them at a time come out to one of my cook camps sometime so I could see what they can do with out their tela-prompter.  Got a feeling few would make the grade.

I've found that a lot of those recipes from those type cooking shows have more to do with marinading than brining.