Brining
In
Meat
Brining is typically a process in which meat is soaked in a salt water solution similar to marination before cooking.[2] Meat is soaked anywhere from 30 minutes to several days. The brine may be seasoned with spices and herbs. The amount of time needed to brine depends on the size of the meat: more time is needed for a large turkey compared to a broiler fryer chicken. Similarly, a large roast must be brined longer than a thin cut of meat.
Dry brining
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Dry_brining_chicken.png/220px-Dry_brining_chicken.png)
Brining can also be achieved by covering the meat in dry
- The solutes.[2] This leads salt ions to diffuse into the cell, while the solutes in the cells cannot diffuse through the cell membranes into the brine. The increased salinity of the cell fluid causes the cell to absorb water from the brine via osmosis.[2]
- The salt introduced into the cell denatures its proteins.[2] The proteins coagulate, forming a matrix that traps water molecules and holds them during cooking.[6] This prevents the meat from dehydrating.
Fish
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Herring_-_Russian_style_%28brightened%29.jpg/220px-Herring_-_Russian_style_%28brightened%29.jpg)
As opposed to dry salting, fish brining or wet-salting is performed by immersion of fish into brine, or just sprinkling it with salt without draining the moisture. To ensure long-term preservation, the solution has to contain at least 20% of salt, a process called "heavy salting" in fisheries; heavy-salted fish must be desalted in cold water or milk before consumption. If less salt is used, the fish is suited for immediate consumption, but additional refrigeration is necessary for longer preservation.[7]
Wet-salting is used for preparation of:[7]
- Salted herring, non-gutted, with hard or soft roe and heavily salted (20% NaCl brine, with final product containing around 12% salt),
- gutted and lightly salted (2–3% NaCl), without roe,
- Anchovies, which can be immersed in brine or wet-salted. After several years, the fish liquefies and can be processed into paste or anchovy butter,
- Caviar and other types of roe.
Vegetables
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Og%C3%B3rki_w_trakcie_kiszenia.jpg/220px-Og%C3%B3rki_w_trakcie_kiszenia.jpg)
Pickled vegetables are immersed in brine,
Cheese
Brine is used in two ways in cheese production:
- Brined cheeses, such as halloumi and feta, are pickled in brine.
- Washed-rind cheeses, such as Munster, are washed with brine during the production process.
See also
- Kosher salt – Coarse additive-free edible salt
- Pickling salt – Fine-grained salt used for manufacturing pickles
- Curing (food preservation) – Food preservation and flavouring processes based on drawing moisture out of the food by osmosis
References
- ^ a b Benwick, Bonnie S. (November 14, 2007). "Wet Brining vs. Dry: Give That Bird a Bath". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1.
- ^ Kaiser, Emily (February 25, 2004). "Chefs Who Salt Early if Not Often". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
- ^ "The Science Behind Brining a Turkey". KQED. November 25, 2009. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
- ISBN 9780393249866.
- ^ Corriher, Shirley. "Why Brining Keeps Turkey and Other Meat So Moist".
- ^ ISBN 978-94-009-0445-3.
- PMID 12732572.
- ISBN 0-684-80001-2.
External links
- Brining on Cooking For Engineers - a discussion on what happens to meat as it brines (with reader comments)