You may have heard of the technique of treating meat with a brine. Today, we are going to cover exactly what this means!

What is Brining?

Brining is a common technique that is used when preparing meat, fish, vegetables and cheese. It is similar to marinating and curing with a few key differences. Marination focuses on soaking in acid to break down tissues thereby allowing more moisture to be absorbed. On the other hand, brining uses salt to have a similar effect.

While both brining and curing use salt, curing is used to preserve meat instead of process it. Additionally, curing is done over a much longer period of time. Brining can take place in a matter of hours or overnight.

In simple terms, brining involves covering the food in a layer of salt molecules to allow for osmosis to take place. This article will cover the basics of brining; however, a more in-depth scientific explanation of brining meat can be found here.

There are two types of brining: wet and dry. Salt is the star of both of these methods; however, in a wet brine, the salt is in a solution. In contrast, a dry brine involves leaving the meat in a dry salt mixture and is sometimes be referred to as a ‘dry rub’. In colloquial chatting, when someone simply says they are ‘brining’, they are typically referring to a wet brine.

What should we brine?

While brining is a term commonly used with meat, it can also serve purpose with vegetables and cheese (among other things). The purpose of brining for each type of food will vary and will be more effective for specific cuts.

Meat

Meat will lose roughly 30% of its moisture when cooking. Brining helps reduce this by allowing the salt to break down the tissues and protein. Additionally, this implies the meat can both absorb and retain more water (and seasoning!) during the cooking process resulting in a juicier, more tender product.

While all meats can benefit from brining, you will notice a much bigger difference in the effect on leaner cuts of meat. This is because they do not have the fat to contribute to the moisture and flavor. Examples of lean meats include chicken, turkey, lean cuts of pork (pork chops), lean beef (eye of round, sirloin tip, top round, bottom round), etc.

How long should I brine meat?

The general rule for wet brining meat is one hour per pound. Notably, brining meat is typically started less than 24 hours prior to cooking. If left too long, brining can break down the protein too much and turn it into an unappetizing mush.

Tips for brining meat

• Wet brine
  • Calculate how much water you need to cover the meat entirely
  • Add a 1:16 ratio of salt to water (roughly)
    • Example: 250mL of water should have ~15. 6g of salt
    • Example: 1 cup of water should have ~14.8g of salt
  • Optionally, add preferred seasonings to the mixture
  • Leave meat in mixture (in fridge) for roughly 1 hour per pound of meat
• Dry brine
  • Add roughly 0.5 teaspoon of salt for every pound of meat
    • If you do not want to measure, you can just add the normal amount of salt you would normally add when eating the meat at the table
  • Optionally, add seasonings to the mixture
  • Leave meat in salt mixture for roughly 1 hour per pound of meat (1-hour per inch of steak)

Vegetables

A brine is commonly used with vegetables when you want them to undergo fermentation. The salt helps to draw water out of the vegetables thereby limiting exposure to oxygen (creating an ideal environment for fermentation!). This being said, we typically only ‘dry salt’ vegetables for fermentation if the water drawn out will fully submerge the vegetable — otherwise, we use a brine. Dry salting vegetables that are cut finely or have a high water content will suffice.

Brines should be used if the vegetables do not have a lot of water content relative to their volume. Examples of these are carrots, beets, radishes, asparagus, etc.

Tips for brining vegetables

• Less salt results in faster fermentation
• More salt results in longer-lasting and crisper vegetables
• Below is a general guide on the salt concentration you should add (it is mostly trial and error to get the profile you enjoy, but below is a good starter)
• Don’t forget to add seasonings like whole peppercorns, sugar, cloves, etc.

Salt %	Vegetables	Water (mL)	Salt (g)
2-2.5%	onion, garlic, radish, asparagus, whole tomato, parsnip, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, broccoli	500mL	2% – 10g 2.5% – 12.5g
3-5%	Cucumbers, squash, zucchini, peppers, green onion	500mL	3% – 15g 5% – 25g

Cheese

Brines used for cheese is a whole different beast in itself. Cheese by itself has enough lactose to convert the moisture into acid, which is unideal for proper ripening. Aside from adding a nice saltiness to the cheese, the brine pulls moisture out of the cheese to create a rind and inhibit the growth of mold. Furthermore, cheese brines are typically used for preservation. Depending on the type of cheese, the method of brine application can vary from a soak, a spray, or a wash.

Cheese brining solutions have a much higher percentage of water as they are typically used for preservation and adding a saltiness to the flavor. Accordingly, the solution can vary from a light brine (~10% salinity) to a heavier one (30%) depending on the recipe.