This guide covers key brining techniques for various meats like pork chops, chicken, and turkey to help retain moisture and impart flavor.
Brining
It includes details on wet brines, buttermilk brines, and dry rubs along with tips for brining success. Brining pork or poultry before cooking enhances juiciness and infuses seasoning all the way through. A wet brine of salt, sugar and aromatics adds the most moisture
Ingredients
Directions
Wet Brining
- For overnight chicken brining, use the 3% brine solution.
- For other meats, use the 5% brine solution. The brining time varies depending on the type of meat:
- Cornish Game Hens or chicken parts: 2 hours
- Whole fish fillets: 3 hours
- Whole Chicken: 5 hours
- Cornish Game Hens or chicken parts: 2 hours
- Whole fish fillets: 3 hours
- Whole Chicken: 5 hours
- For turkey, use the 6% solution, brining for 12 hours to 18 hours.
- For chicken, turkey, pork and fish, add an equivalent amount of sugar as salt to the brine (making it a X:X:100 solution).
- After brining, dry the meat on a rack for the same amount of time to equalize the salt gradient. If possible, let dry at least 2 hours to dry out the skin or form a pellicle. This will assist with roasting or smoking later.
Dry Brining
- Follow the calculations at [Salt Your Meat](https://www.saltyourmeat.com].
- Brining time is approximately 1 hour per pound of meat. Adjust accordingly for larger or smaller cuts.
- If using water-cooled poultry, use a dry brine instead.