On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:06:31 -0600, Chemiker
> wrote:

>Wife was shopping at our fave package store and
>ran into a fellow who was a chef, trained in Europe.
>She mentioned how she enjoyed certain meat
>dishes (in Europe) and he told her it was prob.
>because they brined the meat first, and later
>reincorporated some of the brine into the sauces.
>
>He also said that brining is not as well known
>here in the US, but I know some BBQ-types
>use it.
>
>ANybody have any experience on brining
>meats before cooking?
>
>Chemiker, who's never used it.

Brining has been around for quite some time where I come from. I
typically brine holiday turkeys, but only non-saline-injected birds.
Often cuts like pork tenderloins are "enhanced" with salt solutions,
too. Such things probably shouldn't be brined because they'll end up
way too salty. Anyhow, who wants to pay meat prices for salt water?
But pork chops and such (especially pastured pork, as Steve Pope
already mentioned) benefit from some time in a brine.

Stephen Pyles's brine recipe is this:

1 gallon of water
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 bay leaf
1 Tblsp chopped thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
2 cloves
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp cayenne powder

Put all the ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a boil over
medium heat while stirring. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool.

A big item like the 20-lb. turkey I did at Thanksgiving, I'll brine
overnight. The pastured pork chops I cooked for guests a while back
got only a little over an hour in the brine before being roasted in a
hot smoke environment -- hotter than typical BBQ, that is.
--
modom

ambitious when it comes to fiddling with meat