Brining

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Brining

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sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 05 2:04 pm Post subject: Brining
We got Nose to Tail Eating for Christmas. Quite a few of the recipes involve brining stuff before you cook it. Has anyone else tried it, and if so what does it bring to the party?

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28239
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 05 2:12 pm Post subject: Re: Brining

sean wrote:

We got Nose to Tail Eating for Christmas. Quite a few of the recipes involve brining stuff before you cook it. Has anyone else tried it, and if so what does it bring to the party?

Well I cure and smoke a lot, and that always involves brining for preserving.

But in the pure cookery sense I am not sure what to say.

jema

twoscoops

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1924
Location: Warwickshire

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 05 2:13 pm Post subject:
Depends what kind of stuff. I've brined bacon, which wasn't great, and brined the Christmas hams before boiling and baking. What else does the book say you can brine? A butcher I buy from does brisket and pork ribs, which are delicious, so I guess you could brine almost anything.

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 05 2:14 pm Post subject:
I haven't done any bacon or smoking, I think it's talking about less time in the brine, and possibly a less concentrated brine than you'd use for preserving.

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 05 10:46 am Post subject:
He suggests pig's cheek & tongue, pork belly, ox tongue and brisket. I also think I saw something somewhere about brining goose before roasting.

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 05 1:20 pm Post subject:
I would imagine it would go some way to tenderising the meat prior to cooking. I always do my bacon in brine now, we prefer it to the dry cure, and it's very easy. I brined a ham for Christmas in a cider brine, but with maple syrup instead of treacle/molasses, as I didn't have them at the time. It was very good, and nearly finished now

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 05 1:24 pm Post subject:
I'll give the pork belly recipe a whirl and report back.

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 05 1:43 pm Post subject:
Right, the pork belly is going into the brine this afternoon for roasting on Sunday. I've used Fergus Henderson's recipe, which is: 400g caster sugar 600g sea salt 12 juniper berries 12 cloves 12 black peppercorns 3 bay leaves 4litres water Further posts as events warrant.

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 05 2:01 pm Post subject:

It sort of worked. I brined it for three days, then rinsed and dried before roasting in a fairly hot oven. It was very salty round the edges, so when I try it again I think I'll give it a soak in fresh water for an hour or so, rather than just rinsing. And I'll slow roast it, which is what I usually do with belly.
I didn't think it did all that much for the meat as a hot roast, but the cold leftovers were fantastic, infused with the flavours from the brine.

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 05 12:11 am Post subject:
Sounds fantastic!....My kitchen range turns up in about a week, six weeks after we ordered it, and then I can stop eating out of the microwave, thank God!!...I hope to strt smoking meat and fish when I shoot and catch them, via an inspection hatch in my chimney exterior wall. Anyone else tried this?

snowball
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 6246
Location: swindon

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 05 7:53 am Post subject:
We generally have to soak, rinse our bacon before cooking. I forgot to soak some of the best bacon we had done on New Years day, (I wonder why?) It was just about inedible.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 05 8:41 am Post subject:
Jane Grigson, in her classic work 'Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery', describes a number of brining processes. She talks about it almost as a way of treating pork so as to akways have some salt pork or bacon on the go. I haven't tried anything from the book yet, I've only had it a fortnight, but if I do I'll let you all know how it worked.

McLay455

Joined: 23 Nov 2004
Posts: 89
Location: West of Scotland

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 05 8:59 am Post subject: Smoked chicken
I brine a chicken in a strong brine for 2 hours befor hot smoke cooking it in the barbecue Stab chicken all over with a skewer Weight down in a strong brine 80 pct with a handful of brown sugar in it. Take out after 2 hours or longer pat dry and oil Put in barbecue over wet oak chips and close lid smoke cook until nicely smoked eat hot or cold I also do duck and duck breasts like this

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 05 9:23 am Post subject:
Thanks, I may try that tonight as my range is due today...yippee!!

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28239
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 05 9:52 am Post subject: Re: Smoked chicken

McLay455 wrote:

I brine a chicken in a strong brine for 2 hours befor hot smoke cooking it in the barbecue

Stab chicken all over with a skewer
Weight down in a strong brine 80 pct with a handful of brown sugar in it.
Take out after 2 hours or longer
pat dry and oil
Put in barbecue over wet oak chips and close lid
smoke cook until nicely smoked

eat hot or cold

I also do duck and duck breasts like this

Nice

My only problem is getting the damn chicken.

jema

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