Smokin-It User Forum!
Recipes => Brines, Marinades & Injections => Topic started by: pargolfr2003 on September 05, 2015, 06:37:34 AM
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I've been thinking about getting a Briner Jr but not sure if I actually need one. I've been brining my poultry in a large glass bowl but I always like having a specific tool for every job so toying with the idea of throwing down on a briner. What are you using?
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For small items, I use gallon or 2 gallon zip bags. For bigger items, like butts, I use a large tupperware container.
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Tim, I work for a school district and had one of the cafeteria ladies save me a 3 gallon bucket that strawberries were delivered in. It works great for a brining bucket and was free!
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You can also go to or call some of the fast food places in your area and see if they will save you a food grade bucket with lid. As they get oil or other items in them. Normally will just give it to you and then you can wash and have a brine container.
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The Briner Jr. Love it, and have never regretted getting it!
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What I like about my Briner Jr is that it fits in my smallish refrigerator and still leaves room for the other essentials. I also like the "plate" that holds the meat under the brine. No regrets on buying it, and I even managed to find a place in my overstuffed cabinets to store it when not in use.
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What I like about my Briner Jr is that it fits in my smallish refrigerator and still leaves room for the other essentials. I also like the "plate" that holds the meat under the brine. No regrets on buying it, and I even managed to find a place in my overstuffed cabinets to store it when not in use.
Also great points! +1!
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All good points. How big is that Bruner Jr. Will it hold a turkey breast?
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I bought a container at my local restaurant supply store. Many of these stores are open to the public. Madison WI has a couple of these stores, so you might have one in Fayetteville (similar size population). They have the clear plastic food-grade containers that restaurants use, in a multitude of sizes from 1 gallon to 5 gallon and everything in-between, and either square, or round, short or tall, just measure your space in the refrigerator to find one that fits. All come with lids. And are considerably less expensive than the Briner Jr. It's easy to find ways to weigh down something that floats, like with a plate, and a ziplock bag of ice on the top. I've seen many other clever ideas on weighing things down that restaurants use. You don't really need a special gadget for that.
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All good points. How big is that Bruner Jr. Will it hold a turkey breast?
Tim,
Yes it should hold a turkey breast just fine. For turkeys I bought Turkey Bags by True Liberty Bags. They cost about $1.00 each off of Amazon.
Greg
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I've got the Briner and Briner Jr. and love them both. The hold-down plate works with no muss, no fuss simplicity. I do not regret the purchase of either item.
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I bought one of these at a local restaurant supply store:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E0JMCC
I like that it is square verses the round of the Briner/Briner Jr.
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Refrigerator space is just too much of a premium at our house. A 12 pack or 18 pack ice chest and a bag of ice is what I use for up to 24 hour brines. The ice chests are narrow enough and deep enough to minimize the amount of brine required.
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Went to Sam's Club, asked at the pastries/deli area if they had any empty cake icing containers....received two 32lb containers, approx 7.5 in. bottom LENGTH ( and 9.5 in. at top) x 9.5 in bottom WIDTH (and 11.5 in. at top) by 15 in. HEIGHT. Will work well for brining 2x butts. Food-Grade "5"
All for the great price of FREE-99
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Nice score, Jody!
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Went to Sam's Club, asked at the pastries/deli area if they had any empty cake icing containers....received two 32lb containers, approx 7.5 in. bottom LENGTH ( and 9.5 in. at top) x 9.5 in bottom WIDTH (and 11.5 in. at top) by 15 in. HEIGHT. Will work well for brining 2x butts. Food-Grade "5"
All for the great price of FREE-99
Jody, I did this about a year ago too. Does the container look like the ones in my photo here?
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=2581.msg18029#msg18029
Just make sure and tell them you aren't using it for "food" storage or they won't give them to you. I actually put my meat and brine in large 2.5 gallon baggies and use the container as a catch-all just in case something happens to the brine bag. It works well for packer briskets. I have some smaller food grade containers for pork butt brining.
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The blue buckets at Lowe's are #2 HDPE, which are the same exact as the food grade buckets. I have one five gallon and two two gallon buckets with lids for under $10. In my book that's a no brainer!
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TMan, I'm pretty sure I looked through the forum and found your post BEFORE I went to find these freebies - - - thanks for the idea......WORKED perfectly for the butts I'm cooking tonight for NYEve party tomorrow
Jody