Welcome to the flavorful world of brining! If you’re aiming to impress at your next meal, mastering the art of brining is a surefire way to elevate your cooking game. Perfect for beginners, this guide will introduce you to everything you need to know about brining, ensuring your meats are not just good, but unforgettable.

What is Brining?

Brining is an extremely simply process where food is exposed to salt. When used for proteins (e.g. steak, chicken), the meat is more evenly seasoned and stays juicier during cooking. Vegetables can benefit from brining, too – it helps season them inside and out.

Thomas Keller, famous chef and restaurateur, describes salt as a flavour enhancer, meaning that it is used to enhance the natural flavours of your food. When you simply add salt to the top of your food, or during the cooking process, you aren’t giving enough time for the salt to really do its job. Brining, on the other hand, gives the salt time to work its magic on your food, inside and out.

There are two types of brining: wet and dry.

• Wet brining involves soaking the meat in a saltwater solution.
• Dry brining involves covering the meat in salt only.

These age-old techniques are simple yet transformative, making them an accessible secret weapon for any cook.

Wet Brining vs. Dry Brining:

Wet brining involves soaking lean cuts of meat or vegetables in a solution of water and salt. This is great when you want juicier meat, or for vegetables that will only be cooked for a short time.

Dry brining, on the other hand, uses just salt. This is the option to use when you want crispy poultry skin, or if you have fattier, well-marbled pieces of meat.

Either method can be used for nearly any cooking method, including frying, grilling and roasting, just to name a few. That said, you might want to avoid steaming wet brined vegetables – they could get soggy if you aren’t careful.

Wet Brining

The Basics

When you submerge food in salt water, two things happen…

First, the salt moves into your food. This is because salt naturally moves towards areas where there is less salt. When this happens, it brings the water into the food with it. This adds both flavour and moisture to your food. In scientific terms, this is called “osmosis”.

Second, when you brine meat, the salt helps break down proteins within the meat, which prevents it from contracting during cooking. This all means that the meat doesn’t squeeze out the moisture while it cooks.

The result: juicier meat, and perfectly seasoned vegetables.

Next-Level Wet Brining

When osmosis occurs, we now know that the salt brings moisture into the meat. But what if the water has been flavoured with spices or herbs?

When you add herbs or spices to your brine mixture, those flavours are infused with the liquid, allowing them to permeate the meat or vegetables.

We recommend combining the water, salt, herbs and spices to a simmer, then letting it cool before adding your food to the brine. This intensifies the infusion process, ensuring your flavours reach the meat.

This is particularly great when brining a turkey. Our favourite turkey brine recipe uses thyme, savory, sage and rosemary, plus some sugar. The herbs infuse their flavour into the turkey meat, while the sugar aids in browning the skin.

What You can Wet Brine?

Nearly any lean meat can benefit from a wet brine, but your options don’t stop there. You can even use a wet brine for fish, shellfish, and even vegetables.

While we’ve mostly discussed meats until this point, brining vegetables can have incredible results, especially when quickly cooking them to retain their crispiness. This is because the veggies don’t always get time to absorb the salt when we cook them for only a short time, and it is salt that brings out their natural flavour. The brining process allows the salt to permeate the vegetable, allowing you to cook quickly while still bringing out the incredible natural flavours.

Here are some of our favourite things to wet brine:

• Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Whole Chicken
• Whole Turkey
• Pork Chops
• Pork Loin
• Fish
• Shrimp
• Bell Peppers
• Asparagus
• Corn on the Cob

The options certainly don’t end there. Try brining different foods that are low in fat content and see what happens!

How Long to Wet Brine?

The answer to this question varies from food to food, and each typically has a range. Some larger cuts, including whole turkey, can be brined for as long as a day (and we’ve even gone longer!), while smaller cuts of meat, fish, shellfish and vegetables can take as little as 15-30 minutes.

How to Make and Use a Wet Brine

Here are the guidelines we follow at home for brining different foods:

Dry Brining

The Basics

You have probably already used this method, at least partially, without even knowing it!

A dry brine simply involves seasoning your food before cooking, which both seasons food and tenderizes meat. The secret is seasoning your food far enough in advance – you need to be patient.

This method is perfect for any marbled or fatty cuts of meat that don’t require extra moisture (e.g. ribeye steak), or vegetables naturally with lots of the moisture (e.g. tomatoes or cucumber).

The process of dry brining is actually very similar to wet brining – it too relies on osmosis. When you dry brine, moisture from the food is pulled out to the surface, which dissolves the salt. Then, the salty liquid is pulled back into the food. Like with a wet brine, this dry brine process allows to break down proteins that cause meat to contract during cooking.

The difference is that a well marbled steak (or other fattier meats) doesn’t need extra water from a wet brine – the steak can be juicy on its own. The meat will hold the rendered fat instead of squeezing it out, all because it isn’t contracting while cooking.

The other benefit for poultry is a beautiful brown, crispy skin.

Vegetables, on the other hand, are dry brined for a slightly different reason. Yes, the osmosis process helps season them. But our goal for vegetables is actually to draw out all of that extra moisture they naturally have.

But remember the secret ingredient: time.

Next-Level Dry Brining

This tip has very little to do with dry brining itself but, combined, these two methods pack a powerful punch.

When cooking nearly any protein, let it come to room temperature before cooking. This helps the meat cook more evenly, reducing the temperature variance between the inside and outside of the meat.

Further, muscle fibres in the meat tighten when cold. Allowing the meat to raise to room temperature relaxes those fibres, leading to increased tenderness.

IMPORTANT! While letting meat come to room temperature can help produce incredible results, it is essential to follow safe food handling practices. Never leave meat out at room temperature for an extended period, as this can increase the risk of bacterial growth. Instead, plan ahead and allow the meat to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes to an hour before cooking. FoodSafety.ca states “you only have two hours at room temperature before meat must be thrown away*, so every minute counts.”

What You can Dry Brine

Any fattier or marbled meats can be dry brined, as well as nearly any vegetable with high moisture content.

Here are the foods we dry brine:

• Pork Shoulder
• Steak
• Pork Chops
• Lamb Chops
• Whole Chicken (when we want crispy skin)
• Skin-On Chicken Thighs
• Chicken Wings
• Tomatoes
• Root Vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beets)
• Eggplant
• Cabbage

Try this method with all sorts of foods. There are many foods you cook every day that could benefit from seasoning in advance.

How Long to Dry Brine

Like wet brining, the answer varies depending on the food you’re preparing. But, generally, dry brining requires more time than wet brining.

When using a dry brine, you must provide time for the moisture in the food to be extracted. Only then does the salt dissolve and get pulled back inside the food.

Our methods range from 2 hours to 2 days.

How to Make and Use a Dry Brine

* Reference local food safety guidelines for your area when leaving food at room temperature.

Additional Tips for Successful Brining:

• Always follow safe food handling practices. Never leave meat out at room temperature for an extended period, as this can increase the risk of bacterial growth.
• Avoid brining food in warm water. Using warm water can extend the time food spends in the temperature danger zone (4°C – 60°C / 40°F – 140°F).
• If foods become too salty, rinse after brining to remove excess salt.
• Adjust cooking times slightly, as brined meats may cook faster due to the added moisture.

Conclusion:

Brining is a culinary game-changer for achieving juicy meat and flavourful vegetables. Starting with a simple wet brine and experimenting with different herbs and spices as you become more comfortable can transform your cooking. The next time you’re planning a meal, consider brining your foods first; the results will surely impress.

Have you tried brining at home? We’d love to hear about your experiences and any recipes you’ve enjoyed. Share your stories on our social media pages, and join the community of brining enthusiasts.

Happy cooking!