DivotMaker
New member
My jerky experiment this past weekend prompted me to learn more about brining. Here's the link, for those of you that haven't seen it:
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1503.0
I discovered the advantage to using brines on poultry and pork, but now realize I didn't know a whole lot about what I was doing. All I knew, was that I could mix a solution of mainly salt and sugar, soak meat in it, and the end result would be meat that was much more moist and flavorful that without the brine. A bit of a "dark science," I suppose. Just follow the potion.... In the process of devising a jerky curing brine, I learned a lot about the what, but also the how and why brining works (with the help of Martin from DiggingDogFarms). Here's a little about what I learned, and some links for you to learn a lot of details on your own!
How Brines Work:
A common misconception is that brines work through osmosis. They, in fact, work through a process know as diffusion. Without getting too deep in the weeds (you can watch the sources videos for the fully-illustrated explanations), diffusion allows the salt and water molecules to diffuse throughout the meat. Osmosis would pull the water out of the meat into the solution (path of least resistance).
The other thing that occurs is that the negative salt ions actually modify the protein molecules in the meat. They cause the protein fibers to expand (push away from each other), which allows more solution to pass through the fibers. These modified protein molecules then act as a barrier, of sorts, during cooking to trap the moisture inside the meat. So, brined meat will weigh more after brining, and will be more plump and juicy after cooking.
Two different kinds of brine: Gradient and Equilibrium
Gradient Brine: A gradient brine is all I've ever used. This is any of my brine recipes on the forum, with the exception of my jerky brine. Essentially, a gradient brine is one that is a set amount of ingredients, and time is the determining factor. For example, many have seen brines that start with:
1 gallon of water
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of kosher salt
...and various other ingredients for flavor (onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, etc.). These ingredients are not important for this discussion, as they only affect the final flavor profile of the meat. They will be, however, figured in to the equilibrium brine calculation, so far as weight.
Once the basic gradient brine is assembled, our key metric is going to be time in the brine. For example, I brine a whole chicken no longer than 3-4 hours, but will brine a 9 lb pork butt for 12-13. If you keep a chicken in for 12 hours, you're going to have one salty bird! So, the dark science comes into play again! We all have our preferences on time, through trial and error, and our own personal tastes.
Many large operations use gradient brines because they are simple; one brine, many products. The difference is that they have the timing thing down to a science. X gallons of brine, X lbs of meat, X time. Consistency through a process. Unfortunately, many of us at home aren't as "precise" as a commercial operation. Sometimes, life gets in the way and we miss a deadline to pull the meat from the brine, or just forget how long it was actually in for! I've been lucky with my timing, for the most part. One time, I did over-brine some baby back ribs. I realize, now, that this was luck. No science, just trial and error.
Equilibrium Brine: So what if you could take the "guesswork" out of brining, and actually predict the results? Enter the equilibrium brine!
OK, so we've learned that brining works by diffusion, not osmosis. With that in mind, equilibrium brining calculates that diffusion, predictably.
First of all, we are dealing with a known weight of meat, and an equal weight of solution. If you have two containers of solution, side-by-side, with a tunnel between them, and fill both with exactly the same volume weight of solution, they will eventually reach equilibrium. So, one container contains a 2% salt solution, and the other container is plain water. Eventually, the two containers (as a whole unit) will contain a 1% salt solution. Those salt molecules are bouncing off each other, and will eventually bounce through the tunnel, into the water where there are no salt molecules. The 2% solution will diffuse into the 0% solution, and the overall will be a 1% solution. Make sense? That's what's happening in our meat! If we make a solution exactly the same weight as the meat, the salt, sugar & cure will diffuse into the meat and reach equilibrium! So, no matter how much time the meat sits in the solution, the salt, sugar and cure content will never exceed what it was calculated to be! Predictable results, and easy modification of results. Here's a link to Martin's calculator:
Martin's Equilibrium Brine Calculator
Just plug-in the variables, and your results will calculate. There's even a handy-dandy conversion calculator!
Real-world test:
The link above documents my jerky brine. Here's the calculations I plugged into the calculator:
Weight of meat in Grams: 3631
Cure #1 % nitrite: 6.25%
Salt % Desired: 2
Sugar % Desired: 2
Parts Per Million (PPM) Nitrite: 156
Calculate the Cure
Cure #1 Needed: 9.06 grams
Salt Needed: 64.12 grams
Sugar Needed: 72.62 grams
Total 3776.8 grams (this is the total of meat + cure, salt and sugar)
By weighing each ingredient, and adding them to your water (or flavoring sauces, like soy and Worcestershire), they will be considered in the total weight of the solution. Remember, our solution must weigh 3631 grams for a 1:1 brine.
What I've learned:
Equilibrium brining, although more preparation work, is a superior brining method to achieve predictable, and consistent, results. In my jerky brine, for example, I know that I need to reduce the salt in the brine to 1.5%, so I can safely add a little additional seasoning (containing salt) to the surface prior to smoking. This, to me, is much more appealing than just "guessing" that I need to cut the brine time by, say, 2 hours! While I assume I could calculate the salt in the seasoning, it's subjective and based on taste preference. There still needs to be a little "dark science" in this to make me happy!
Martin (DiggingDogFarms) will (hopefully) chime-in and correct any of my misunderstandings, errors, or downright lies (unintentional, I assure you!). This process is fascinating to me, and I plan on exploring it much further!
For some really good tutorials and explanations on this (far better than my cliff notes), check out Stella Culinary:
https://www.stellaculinary.com/podcasts/video/the-science-behind-brining-resource-page#videothree
There'll be a 100-question quiz tomorrow. Bring a #2 pencil, please. ???
Class dismissed.
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1503.0
I discovered the advantage to using brines on poultry and pork, but now realize I didn't know a whole lot about what I was doing. All I knew, was that I could mix a solution of mainly salt and sugar, soak meat in it, and the end result would be meat that was much more moist and flavorful that without the brine. A bit of a "dark science," I suppose. Just follow the potion.... In the process of devising a jerky curing brine, I learned a lot about the what, but also the how and why brining works (with the help of Martin from DiggingDogFarms). Here's a little about what I learned, and some links for you to learn a lot of details on your own!
How Brines Work:
A common misconception is that brines work through osmosis. They, in fact, work through a process know as diffusion. Without getting too deep in the weeds (you can watch the sources videos for the fully-illustrated explanations), diffusion allows the salt and water molecules to diffuse throughout the meat. Osmosis would pull the water out of the meat into the solution (path of least resistance).
The other thing that occurs is that the negative salt ions actually modify the protein molecules in the meat. They cause the protein fibers to expand (push away from each other), which allows more solution to pass through the fibers. These modified protein molecules then act as a barrier, of sorts, during cooking to trap the moisture inside the meat. So, brined meat will weigh more after brining, and will be more plump and juicy after cooking.
Two different kinds of brine: Gradient and Equilibrium
Gradient Brine: A gradient brine is all I've ever used. This is any of my brine recipes on the forum, with the exception of my jerky brine. Essentially, a gradient brine is one that is a set amount of ingredients, and time is the determining factor. For example, many have seen brines that start with:
1 gallon of water
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of kosher salt
...and various other ingredients for flavor (onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, etc.). These ingredients are not important for this discussion, as they only affect the final flavor profile of the meat. They will be, however, figured in to the equilibrium brine calculation, so far as weight.
Once the basic gradient brine is assembled, our key metric is going to be time in the brine. For example, I brine a whole chicken no longer than 3-4 hours, but will brine a 9 lb pork butt for 12-13. If you keep a chicken in for 12 hours, you're going to have one salty bird! So, the dark science comes into play again! We all have our preferences on time, through trial and error, and our own personal tastes.
Many large operations use gradient brines because they are simple; one brine, many products. The difference is that they have the timing thing down to a science. X gallons of brine, X lbs of meat, X time. Consistency through a process. Unfortunately, many of us at home aren't as "precise" as a commercial operation. Sometimes, life gets in the way and we miss a deadline to pull the meat from the brine, or just forget how long it was actually in for! I've been lucky with my timing, for the most part. One time, I did over-brine some baby back ribs. I realize, now, that this was luck. No science, just trial and error.
Equilibrium Brine: So what if you could take the "guesswork" out of brining, and actually predict the results? Enter the equilibrium brine!
OK, so we've learned that brining works by diffusion, not osmosis. With that in mind, equilibrium brining calculates that diffusion, predictably.
First of all, we are dealing with a known weight of meat, and an equal weight of solution. If you have two containers of solution, side-by-side, with a tunnel between them, and fill both with exactly the same volume weight of solution, they will eventually reach equilibrium. So, one container contains a 2% salt solution, and the other container is plain water. Eventually, the two containers (as a whole unit) will contain a 1% salt solution. Those salt molecules are bouncing off each other, and will eventually bounce through the tunnel, into the water where there are no salt molecules. The 2% solution will diffuse into the 0% solution, and the overall will be a 1% solution. Make sense? That's what's happening in our meat! If we make a solution exactly the same weight as the meat, the salt, sugar & cure will diffuse into the meat and reach equilibrium! So, no matter how much time the meat sits in the solution, the salt, sugar and cure content will never exceed what it was calculated to be! Predictable results, and easy modification of results. Here's a link to Martin's calculator:
Martin's Equilibrium Brine Calculator
Just plug-in the variables, and your results will calculate. There's even a handy-dandy conversion calculator!
Real-world test:
The link above documents my jerky brine. Here's the calculations I plugged into the calculator:
Weight of meat in Grams: 3631
Cure #1 % nitrite: 6.25%
Salt % Desired: 2
Sugar % Desired: 2
Parts Per Million (PPM) Nitrite: 156
Calculate the Cure
Cure #1 Needed: 9.06 grams
Salt Needed: 64.12 grams
Sugar Needed: 72.62 grams
Total 3776.8 grams (this is the total of meat + cure, salt and sugar)
By weighing each ingredient, and adding them to your water (or flavoring sauces, like soy and Worcestershire), they will be considered in the total weight of the solution. Remember, our solution must weigh 3631 grams for a 1:1 brine.
What I've learned:
Equilibrium brining, although more preparation work, is a superior brining method to achieve predictable, and consistent, results. In my jerky brine, for example, I know that I need to reduce the salt in the brine to 1.5%, so I can safely add a little additional seasoning (containing salt) to the surface prior to smoking. This, to me, is much more appealing than just "guessing" that I need to cut the brine time by, say, 2 hours! While I assume I could calculate the salt in the seasoning, it's subjective and based on taste preference. There still needs to be a little "dark science" in this to make me happy!
Martin (DiggingDogFarms) will (hopefully) chime-in and correct any of my misunderstandings, errors, or downright lies (unintentional, I assure you!). This process is fascinating to me, and I plan on exploring it much further!
For some really good tutorials and explanations on this (far better than my cliff notes), check out Stella Culinary:
https://www.stellaculinary.com/podcasts/video/the-science-behind-brining-resource-page#videothree
There'll be a 100-question quiz tomorrow. Bring a #2 pencil, please. ???
Class dismissed.
