Q&A -- Brining

[skinnye]

The brine was above the 5% salinity, but I rinsed them pretty well and they spent 9 hrs in the sous vide and ended up a little salty, but not bad, there is a maximum saturation level with salt, so even 36 hrs was acceptable...

[Blether]

The brine was above the 5% salinity, but I rinsed them pretty well and they spent 9 hrs in the sous vide and ended up a little salty, but not bad, there is a maximum saturation level with salt, so even 36 hrs was acceptable...

Ooh, careful. Unless it's a very small duck, you won't reach max saturation in 36 hours. Think somewhere between 60 and 100.

[ChrisTaylor]

Is it a good idea to brine veal schnitzel?

[Mjx]

Is it a good idea to brine veal schnitzel?

Every time I've brined veal, it's made it mushy. But veal never really seems to need it, anyway (not that that stopped me from experimenting, obviously).

[Dakki]

Questions about this 3% brine thing.

How should I calculate the amount of salt required? Do I include the meat in the calculation or just the water?

eg, 48.5 parts meat, 48.5 parts water, 3 parts salt, or 97 parts water, 3 parts salt?

How long do you guys think I should brine a 8.65 kilo/19 lb turkey in a 3% brine?

[FrogPrincesse]

Questions about this 3% brine thing.

How should I calculate the amount of salt required? Do I include the meat in the calculation or just the water?

eg, 48.5 parts meat, 48.5 parts water, 3 parts salt, or 97 parts water, 3 parts salt?

This is the salt concentration in water, not taking the meat into account.

For example, use 30 grams of salt per 1 liter of water.

[qrn]

Its "brine to equalibrium" its the total weight of the meat and the water with enough salt to get the desired %,after leaving it long enough to "reach equalibrium.I made an excel work sheet that makes the whole thing very easy to calculate...works perfect every time...

Bud

[Dakki]

Makes sense.

What's the desired percentage (3%? Seems pretty high) and how do you calculate the minimum time to reach it?

[qrn]

Makes sense.

What's the desired percentage (3%? Seems pretty high) and how do you calculate the minimum time to reach it?

%is to taste,I use3.5% for bacon and,any thing more than that, is to salty,the time to "equalibrium"is probably not something you can say exactly what it should be,Its whatever is good to your taste, but that is the good part of "equalibrium work,

when the product is to "equalibrium" it won't get any more than the calculated level(you can't leave it in to long..),so you guess a time, and leave it in longer and it will never get more than your calculation...

Bud

[Blether]

It's worth reading the short Wet-curing bacon thread too. Dave uses a calculation that only includes the water %age of the meat (a putative 65%). Why, I don't know. Instinctively I'd go with the whole weight.

Brining equlilibrium time (penetration time by any method) always depends on the thickest part of the meat. I do pork belly in a strong (80% saturated) brine for 3.5 days, then allow to dry and equalise (i.e. reach equilibrium) for a couple of days more.

A limit on brining time is the keeping quality of the meat, especially in a domestic fridge being used day-to-day. Ideal brining temperature is 1 - 2C. I lay an esky-box pack on top of the brining box, and change in a new one every 12 hours or so.

[qrn]

Brining equlilibrium time (penetration time by any method) always depends on the thickest part of the meat. I do pork belly in a strong (80% saturated) brine for 3.5 days, then allow to dry and equalise (i.e. reach equilibrium) for a couple of days more.

interesting on the bacon,When I do bacon I dry cure it and use the desired weight % of curesalt on the surface

and then put it in a tight fitting plastic bag,in the fridge for a week or so,untill it is all absorbed into the belly,then off to the smoker and then sit a while and see if my meat slicer is gonna work right that day...

Bud

[Dakki]

Thanks for all the info.

On this turkey thing, does 32 kilos (meat + water) plus 1 kilo salt plus 1/2 kilo sugar, brined for 48 hours sound about right?

EDIT: I'm also planning to rest the thing for 24 hours to dry the skin before roasting, hopefully this will help equalize the salt throughout the meat.

Edited November 18, 2011 by Dakki (log)

[EnriqueB]

About the time for "brine to equilibrium", the other day I brined a lamb leg to a target salt percentage of 0,7%, and left it 48 hours in the fridge. Supposedly you can leave it longer than needed, but what I noticed is that the water had taken some color and smell from the meat. So I wonder whether it was too long, and whether healthy minerals, vitamins, and taste/odor molecules were being lost into the water when using this method...