Calling food nerds! Q: Why brine meat?

[freemotion]

Who can tell me why some recipes call for brining? What does it do, actually? When would you want to brine something, and what would you want to brine?

I made a lovely pork shoulder a couple weeks ago and the directions took three days, and it was TO-DIE-FOR!!! The first day was rub with salt generously, wrap and fridge overnight. Then cook, back in fridge overnight. Then finish cooking and serve. Holy cow...er...holy hog!

So, do I brine my own pork roasts, or what? What is the brine doing to the meat? Does the rubbed-in salt qualify as brining in a way?

Y'all are so much more interesting than simply googling this!

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Who can tell me why some recipes call for brining? What does it do, actually? When would you want to brine something, and what would you want to brine?

I made a lovely pork shoulder a couple weeks ago and the directions took three days, and it was TO-DIE-FOR!!! The first day was rub with salt generously, wrap and fridge overnight. Then cook, back in fridge overnight. Then finish cooking and serve. Holy cow...er...holy hog!

So, do I brine my own pork roasts, or what? What is the brine doing to the meat? Does the rubbed-in salt qualify as brining in a way?

Y'all are so much more interesting than simply googling this!

Love me tender!

 

[patandchickens]

Disclaimer: I am *so* not a foodie, just someone who cooks normally

Brining moisturizes and to some degree tenderizes the meat. Letting the thing sit for a day or three with salt rubbed on the outside is sometimes called "dry brining" (as opposed to wet brining, which is soaking for a day in a saltwater solution). I do not know for sure but my impression (I'm not sure where this impression is from, probably inference rather than actual information LOL) is that dry-brining is more just for tenderizing/flavoring whereas soaking in a brine solution can also moisturize meat that would otherwise be inclined to be dry (e.g. commercial turkey breasts that are not already pre-brined or injected). But AFAIK the two are basically the same type procedure, just differing in salt delivery method so to speak. Dry brining also quite often adds some herbs or garlic or whatever to flavor the meat at the same time.

I will brine things I'm suspicious of toughness in (a year-old turkey) or expect to be drier than ideal (pork from sources that historically have tended to be dry) but mostly all's I'll do is rub a roast with salt a few hours before putting it in the oven. Which I'm not sure whether it really does more than flavor the meat. But I do it anyhow. It is easy enough

Interested ot see what others reply,

Pat

 

[AnnaRaven]

According to Shirley Corriher's Cookwise:

Water flows in and out of cells toward the area of most concentrated salt. If you rub salt on meat, it draws water out at first. Given time and lack of evaporation of the moisture outside, the salt on the surface is diluted by the water drawn out and the salt is less concentrated outside. So the salt water flows into the cells (drawing any flavoring agents with it). And the water in the meat cells is still more concentrated so it flows more into the inner cells.

So basically, it draws the moisture more toward the center of the meat so the outside can get crispy and the inside stay moist. This is also why you want to *either* salt right before cooking OR many hours before - so it has time to reverse the process and draw the moisture back into the meat.

 

[abifae]

yep yep. Moisture issue

Also it taste amazing LOL.

It's a preservation method, but we don't brine until it's fermented.

 

[freemotion]

This was so much more fun that Google!! Thanks ladies, very clear!

 

[tortoise]

They got to it first. I brine rabbit arms/legs and roast them. To die for!

 

[freemotion]

I never saw my mother brine anything so it is a new thing for me. Of course, the rabbits were a bit dry unless cooked with a sauce....she was a sauce and gravy genius, I tell you!

 

[journey11]

I don't brine anything because I don't want the added sodium. But all my home raised meats are already tender and juicy enough as is, IMO, so I can live without it!