meat brine

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I needed some pork chop brine and this did the trick. Original recipe from spendwithpennies. Not much to modify in this one. I keep a copy here for personal use and convenience. I suppose this could be used with other white meat as well but haven't tried.

Ingredients

4 cups water
¼ cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 dried bay leaf
1 sprig fresh rosemary
4 pork chops

Instructions

In a medium-sized pot add water, kosher salt, sugar, peppercorns, bay leaf, and rosemary.

Bring to a simmer over high heat. You do not need the water to rapidly boil but you need to make sure the salt and sugar have dissolved in the water. Remove the pot from the heat and cool completely.

Once the brine is cool add the pork chops to a large ziptop bag and pour in the brine. Let the pork brine in the refrigerator for up to 2 hours.

Rinse and pat dry before cooking.

Recipe Notes

Purchase pork that has not been pre-brined. A lot of pork in grocery stores has a saline solution so using brine on that will make it too salty.

Ensure sugar and salt are completely dissolved in the brine.

Brine must be completely cool before adding the pork.

Don't brine them too long (2-4 hours is enough) or the meat can take on a mushy texture.

To season pork before cooking, use herbs and spices without salt.

Do not store 'used' brine. Once your pork has been brined, discard the remaining brine.