Super Simple Poultry Brine
Super Simple Poultry Brine
Ingredients
- 1 Gallon Water
- 1 Cup Kosher Salt
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Black Peppercorns
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients in a large stock pot. Make sure the salt and sugar dissolves completely.
- Add the meat to a briner bucket or bag
- Pour the brine over the meat until the meat is completely covered
- I usually need to double this recipe for a 15-17 pound turkey.
- Allow the meat to brine for about 1 hour per pound of meat. For example, if you have a 15 pound turkey, allow the turkey to brine for 15 hours. If you are short on time, at least let the meat brine overnight.
- Before you apply a rub to the meat, rinse the meat with cool water to run off any excess brine, and pat dry.
- Cook the meat using your desired method. Enjoy!
Blog Post
Have you ever wondered what brining is good for? So many people out there on the internet say that brining is a must in so many recipes, especially turkey. But why? Why is it affective? What is the point of all of this? Why is it better than just throwing the turkey in the oven straight out of the package? It all comes down to science. I’m no scientist at all, but I’m grateful for whoever it was that came up with the brining method. In this recipe I will address the process of a wet brine.
What does a brine do? To sum it all up, the salt in brines denatures the proteins in the meat, which allows the cells to hold, and retain more moisture. Brines also help to tenderize meat. The whole process allows the meat to hold more moisture within it self. This makes it so you don’t lose all of the moisture to evaporation during the cooking process. That’s why brining is such a valuable tool for lean cuts of meat like pork loin chops, chicken breast, and turkey breast. Another great pro to brining meat, is the flavor that you can drive into the center of the cut. Not only are you brining the meat, you are also marinating it. On top of allowing the meat to retain more moisture, you are allowing the meat to receive flavor.
Turkey brine, bird brine, meat injections. All of these are ways that people use to add flavor to, and retain moisture in meats. There are a lot of arguments, and opinions out there as to which methods are most effective. I’m an advocate of brining poultry, but I am an even bigger advocate of knowing that it’s important for everyone to implement the method that works best for them. Every person, and every family has their preferred flavors, and methods. I’m here to share my favorite methods and flavors to help people decide what is best for them.
This brine recipe is super simple, goes with any meat, and will help the cut retain moisture. Having a simple flavor like this allows you to be able to go any direction with the flavor of rub you choose. Enjoy!