It’s Turkey Brine in Tennessee

So, as I recently discovered (this week actually), brining meats is a fabulous technique for ensuring juicy-tender noms. Now I am obsessing on this practice and simply must try this with a turkey. This will be a first. One of several firsts to occur over this holiday.

1. Brining a turkey
2. Smoking a turkey
3. Smoking anything without assistance
4. Making a Thanksgiving meal that I will probably not share with anyone

I am going to submit this ‘pre-brining’ blog now, so I only have to update how it went after I am done. After all, it is a holiday – and I have my Christmas dress to get sewn together!

Brine for poultry 

As with brining pork, brining chicking, poultry and turkey adds moisture and flavor to meat before cooking so it is juicy, tender and yum after cooking. I figure to smoke a turkey breast, I need to add a lot of moisture. The brining technique will work with a whole turkey, whole chicken or a turkey breast.

   

Brining solutions start with salt dissolved in water. For me, I am going to add sugar and spices as well. I want F L A V O R !

  

Note: Start brine solution itself early enough to boil it, remove from heat and chill prior to submersing turkey in it for soaking. Brine solution needs to be at 40°F degrees or lower otherwise it is a haven for growing bacteria (“Food Temperature Danger Zone” is 41°F and 140°F where bacteria thrives). NEVER start brining in room temperature water.

*When thawing a frozen turkey, the preferred method is to place it (still wrapped) in the refrigerator on a deep platter or pan to catch any liquids that might leak out. Allow 24 hours in the refrigerator for every 5 pounds of turkey. I suggest when you are buying a turkey, you make sure that it will:

a) Fit in your freezer
b) Fit in your refrigerator

Close to the end of the thawing time you can remove the giblets (heart, liver, gizzard, and neck) from the chest cavity to either dispose of - or cook and add to giblet gravy!

Note: You will need to make sure you have a non-reactive container or food grade clean bucket large enough to hold the turkey/poultry and brine solution to cover meat completely.

Time:  Allow 8.5 hours for soaking and prep. Time needed to cool the brine solution prior to adding ice will vary. Yes, this means I have no clue because I have not done this type of brining before. I did not boil the solution for the pork chops...

Ingredients

Fresh or thoroughly thawed turkey*
1 Gallon water (must cover meat)
1.5c sea/Kosher salt
.5c sugar
1T whole black peppercorns
1T whole allspice
8c Ice

Prep:

Combine water, salt, sugar, peppercorns and allspice in large stockpot. Stir to dissolve salt and sugar while heating to a boil over fairly high heat.

Remove from heat and cool the brine solution completely.

Add ice to solution along with turkey, place in the refrigerator and allow to soak 8 hours. Make sure ALL of the meat is under water. Weigh it down if you must.

Makes 1½ gallons (after adding the ice) of brine.

Once you are done soaking/brining the meat – remove it from brine solution, rinse inside and out. Prepare to cook however you wish.

Dispose of brine solution.

For me – this takes me to my smoking adventure.

Puff puff give...

Puff puff give...







 

Brining Pork Chops - or - Taking a Salt Bath

So, for years I made DrY pork chops. I was NOT proud of my ability in cooking them, AT ALL. This weekend I got a wild hair and decided to thaw some pork chops I had frozen and cook them up. Sunday morning I suddenly though – why don’t I brine them and smoke them on the smoker. The upside of smoking pork chops (in my limited experience) is it lends magnificent flavor to the meat. The downside is it dries a dry meat further.

Enter “BRINING” as a tool towards moist, juicy meats.

Brining any meat apparently adds a significant amount of moister/water before the meat is cooked. This gives us a juicier and tenderer end-product. Basically it takes LONGER to cook the water/juices out when there is more water in the meat. Brining adds that water.

Now, as far as it working on “any” meat – I do not know. I have only tried it on pork chops. However, I am feeling rather “special” right now – after my “Porking” success and have decided I WILL brine a small turkey and SMOKE it for Thanksgiving. A nice little treat since I am spending the bulk of the holiday alone again this year. More on that later!

In my reading, the basic brine solution is 1 cup of regular table salt to 1 gallon of water (=1 Tb per 1 cup of water). This is not an overly salt-laden solution so it will be harder to “over-brine” with it. Over brining (adding too much salt to the meat) cannot be undone. The solutions should be salty to taste but not thick. If you use kosher/coarse or sea salt, you will want to go with 1.5 cups per gallon water. The weight by volume is less.

I suggest, for your first try at brining, err on the side of caution and go with less time. Under-brining will not hurt anything. I cannot emphasize enough that over brining (due to longer soaking time or higher salt content) will ruin the meat. There is no way to undo the damage.

• Pork Chops (about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick) - 12 to 24 hours
• Whole Pork Tenderloin - 12 hours
• Whole Pork Loin - 2 days

Brining times are not only determined by the weight and thickness of meat but also by the grain of the meat. Pork tenderloin takes less time to brine by weight than do pork chops because the long running grain pulls the brine into the meat.

Now, there are many seasoning options to add to the brine solution. A sweetener being a good idea. Sugar (white/brown), molasses, corn syrup, maple syrup, or honey. A good rule of thumb is to add a ½ cup of sweetener per gallon of brine solution.

• When preparing to brine, make sure you pick a container that can handle the meat size and the liquid.
• Make sure you submerge the meat completely. The brining solution only needs to just cover the meat.
• You must refrigerate the meat during brining – OR – pack ice/ice-packs around the meat in a cooler.

Other seasonings can be added from any recipe or for any taste YOU desire. Herbs, peppers, spices garlic and onions will add flavor to pork. Try not to overpower the flavor of the pork. This will take a little practice. Garlic and onions should be minced or chopped to expose the maximum amount of surface area to the brine solution.

***Note: I went with ¼ salt and a ¼ c sugar to 4 cups water, but I will try to go with the 1 Tb salt and 1/2Tb sugar per cup water option next time.

Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops

This is the first time, in my cooking "career", that I made pork chops which I felt were worth eating.  Yes, I have cooked pork chops many times, but they were merely edible. They made a good T.....  Ok, never mind.

I highly suggest you think ahead on this one and brine the pork chops 12-24 hours. I had never made a decent moist pork chop until I brined mine for a paltry 6 hours and it made a HUGE difference in how moist/dry the chops turned out. I cannot imagine what 12 hours in brine would have produced! These pork chops were moist, fairly tender and very tasty using the brine method and the below recipe. I will post the brine recipe as well.
Note: I used 1” thick cut bone-out pork chops and had to add to the cooking time.

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs (can be regular bread crumbs)

• 3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan (I used shaky cheese)

• 4 (1/2 to 3/4-inch thick) center-cut pork loin chops (each about 10 to 12 ounces)

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 6 tablespoons olive oil (or you can use bacon drippings)

• Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions (assuming not brining or after brining is complete)

Preheat 3 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet over medium heat.

Whisk the eggs and pour into a pie or soup plate. (These plates have higher sides than regular plates to keep contents inside, but a flat bottom unlike a bowl so meat sits flat on contents to aid in complete coating).

Pour the bread crumbs in another pie or soup plate.

Sprinkle the cheese in a third pie or soup plate.

Sprinkle both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper (to your liking).

Coat the chops completely with the cheese, patting to adhere. If the cheese coating is too thick, it will keep the egg from sticking in the below next step. This part isn’t that big a deal and you will settle into what works best for you on this issue.

Dip the chops into the eggs.

Coat chops completely with the bread crumbs, patting to adhere.

Add pork chops in skillet, in batches if necessary, and cook until golden brown and the center reaches 150 degrees, about 6 minutes per side. You may wish to cut into a chop to make sure it is cooked to your liking – especially if you do not have a meat thermometer.

Transfer the chops to plates and serve with lemon wedges.

Note: Lemon wedges add tangy flavor without adding salt after the fact.

I actually used 6 each 1" chops and had plenty of egg left over.  Feel free to add chops to this recipe and still not be required to crack another egg.

What the ?????? What You Lye'n 'Bout Willis?

When I make it out to the Sunrise Supermarket in Knoxville, I typically find plenty of oddities to giggle at, ogle over, be confused in, and sometimes grossed out by.  This most recent trip did not disappoint.

Lye Water? Do we get to skip the soap all together?
Corrosive?
Get rid of your enemies this way?
Clean your pipes, for real?

FYI, it is used for curing many types of food including but not limited to Century Eggs, Lutefisk (Lyefish), Green olives and etc.

I am not going to try this one...  Just Say'n

What the ???????? Just Dew It!

So on my trip to the Sunrise Asian Market in Knoxville I found this treat!

Almond Dew?  As opposed to Almond Rain?  Almond Mud?  Almond Paste?

From what I can tell it is to Almonds what Rose Water is to Roses.  Not as strong as an Almond Extract but a lighter version that could be used in cocktails, dessert creams and etc.