Pork or Chicken Brine
To add extra moisture and favor to cuts of pork or chicken, brine them first.
Brining is a classic technique for ensuring the meat stays tender, as it enables the meat to absorb more moisture. Therefore, it helps to tenderize the meat and prevent them from drying out during the cooking process.
Time:
• Prep: ~5 Minutes
• Brining: 2 to 12 Hours
You can go less than 2 hours, but it is probably not worth the effort. Also, you can leave it overnight, but be careful past 12 hours or your meat could become overly salty.
The basic brine is simply saltwater (1/4 cup salt + 4 cups water), which works perfectly on its own. However, in this recipe, we take the brine to the next level by adding some herbs and spices. You can use this recipe for either pork or chicken.
Ingredients
• Kosher or Sea Salt
• Brown Sugar
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Rosemary
• Garlic
Feel free to add or remove any spices (except salt) you want. Experimenting with spices is half the fun.
Directions
• Add salt, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar to the water in a large bowl. Whisk until salt and sugar dissolve. Ratio of 1/4 cup salt + 4 cups water.
• Add rosemary and garlic to the bowl.
• For pork or chicken breasts, pierce the meant with a fork on all sides. A needle meat tenderizer works great as well.
• Place the meat in the brine solution so it is fully submerged.
• Let sit for 2 to 12 hours in the refrigerator.
Notes
• You can use a bowl, a shallow pan or zip-lock bag to do the brining in. Just don’t use something that will react with the vinegar. If using a pan, flip the meat every couple hours.
• Be sure to use kosher or sea salt, not table salt, as table salt is denser than kosher or sea salt.
• This recipe works for both bone-in and boneless meat cuts. Brine thicker cuts longer than thin cuts.