Technique: Brine, Marinate, Pickle + Cure

I regularly make quick pickles, have made sauerkraut, and recently posted [Little Cultured Pickle For Me], so have some experience with this topic. Historically, brining, marinating, pickling, and curing are usually understood as techniques for the preservation of meats, fowl, and fish, as well as vegetables, before the time of refrigeration. But, these days the techniques are integrated with many cuisines (sauerkraut and Germany, kimchi and Korea) and are now considered very nutritious and critical food for a healthy gut and diet.

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Basic Preservation

There are many preservation techniques, that are also now part of regular food preparation techniques for a meal you want to cook in a few hours or days. But in both cases, this type of meal prep takes time, proper equipment, and planning.

I wet brine turkey, and may dry brine certain cuts of beef (although I do not eat beef often). I marinate mainly chicken, but will do other types of meat, tempeh, tofu, and have also marinated cauliflower. Something I do often is quick pickling, mainly with onions, cucumbers, carrots, and radish as I like a bit of acid with my rice dishes and taco-type meals. One thing I have not done is curing, although I have assisted in the curing of pork in Europe.

• Brining = preserving and/or flavoring with salt. 
• Marinating = preserving and/or flavoring with acid.
• Pickling = preserving with salt (fermented pickles) or preserving with acid (unfermented pickles)
• Curing

What I do not list here is fermenting as I have the least experience with this technique. From my previous post, you may note that I consider fermenting a science and art where it takes years to decades to perfect. Few cooks are experts in this long-term technique; although we appreciate the effort of others in that we use their products from miso to gochujang, from fermented garlic to chili paste.

• SpiceInc: The bottom line is that not all pickles are fermented, and not all fermented foods are considered pickled. It’s easy to use the names interchangeably because they are such similar processes, but each has unique features that mean the results do different things in terms of taste and in terms of potential health benefits.
• TheKitchn: Here’s what you need to remember: Pickling involves soaking foods in an acidic liquid to achieve a sour flavor; when foods are fermented, the sour flavor is a result of a chemical reaction between a food’s sugars and naturally present bacteria — no added acid required.

Brining Technique

I started at TheSpruceEats and found their description of brining very helpful, as was their graphic, copied below. But before I dive into the detail, let me state categorically, I do not buy meat (or fowl) that has been pre-injected with brine because there is no telling what was put into the carcass and it just adds cost when it is something easy enough to do myself.

What is a Brine

A brine is simply and combination of water with salt, that is used to soak meat. Specifically, TheSpruceEats: 1C table salt (finely ground with no additives) + 1 gallon filtered water = brine. Brines can also have sugar, and added herbs or spices to add additional flavor to the mixture.

Brining Intent

The basic use of a brine is to allow a basic chemical process to occur that saturates the meat so it becomes more moist and flavorful. The cooking goal is to cook meat that does not dry out.

The whole intent of brining is to force the animal cells to accept as much water as they can hold, and loose as little water as it can during the cooking process. The salt in brine denatures meat’s proteins, and allows the cells to retain more moisture. Science indicates that the cooking process alone often will remove ~20-30% of the cooked meat’s moisture. So the more moisture you start with, the juicer the meat will be once done cooking.

Quick Wet Brine Method for Meat

• First I make the brine by mixing water and brining salt, then if I want I add herbs and spices.
• For turkey, I use an older plastic cooler, but use whatever non-reactive container that is large enough to hold the meat and brine.
• Add the meat to the container and pour the brine over it, until the meat is completely submerged.
• I then lid the container and refrigerate immediately.
• After brining long enough, I remove the meat, pat it dry with a paper towel, and continue cooking.
• Toss the brine down the sink for it is now contaminated. Wash your hands well after everything is done and be sure to wipe down any counter or sink splashed with the brine water; and clean the container well.

Brining Salt

Any salt can be used, but the equation above (salt volume) may change depending on salt type type. Kosher salt takes up more volume than table salt for instance. A modern way of handling these variations in salt volume is to measure it by weight. Regardless of salt preference, use what the recipe calls for since they presumably have measured and tested the brine.

In my preference order, here is the salt I would use.

• Pickling Salt is what I use for brining and it is basically a finely ground kosher salt, without any iodine or additives.
• Diamond Crystal Kosher salt is what I mainly use for my cooking, for it has a consistent flake size and a less saltiness taste per volume.
• Morton Kosher salt is good for dry rubs given its crystal size, and works with brines.
• Himalayan pink salt is not on my brining list for I think it introduces mineral grit to the food, but others really like this salt.
• Light Grey Celtic Sea Salt has high moisture to begin with so while some prefer sea salt, I think it is hard to properly measure out and current sea water contains micro-plastics I do not want to eat (NatGeo; Nature).
• Table salt is often used by USA cooks for brines (including Cooks Country), but I do not use it for brining. If I had to use it, I wold look for contaminate free version without iodine or anti-caking agents in the salt.

What to Brine

Generally I brine chicken and turkey, but pheasant or partridge can also benefit. I know people who brine certain pork cuts before smoking or grilling, especially the non-fatty pork tenderloin. Most people do not brine beef, however I have brined a completely submerged beef rump roast for 7 days while making German Sauerbraten. At the other end I personally have never brined fish or lamb. But I have been told that a quick brine can firm up haddock or cod. Purportedly removing the formation of the white albumin that forms on some fish, like salmon.

I dry brine eggplant before frying to help leech moisture from the veggie. As a quick side note, many cheeses are washed with a brine.

How to Brine

The chart above describes it well, you add salt and water to a container and mix until the salt is disolved. Then add aromatics, which ones depends upon the meat and what you are going to cook, boil and keep in fridge until cool. Then add the meat and let it sit completely in the mixture for a period of time and then remove.

Rinse the meat in case there is salt on the exterior, dry off so it cooks well and crispy, and prepare the meat or veggies per your recipe for cooking.

Brining Results

Rather than injecting the brine, home cooks often soak the meat. That process results, after cooking, with a meat that is moist and juicy, but not necessarily more flavorful, although as we know the salt helps. The only way to infuse flavor is to add aromatics to the brine, and cook with flavor enhancing additions.

Marinating Technique

What is Marinating

Marinating is a technique of soaking foods in a seasoned, mostly acidic liquid before cooking. As I understand it, this comes from the brining technique, and is intended to add flavor to the meat soaking in the liquid.

• From my experience, most of the meats do not soak up much from the marinades, so for calorie counts I assume 1-2T absorption per serving of meat.
• In fact, some folks say stick to dry rubs as only a bit of the outside of meats receive flavor from a marinate, while the meat deeper inside is not affected at all.

I do not wrap meat in plastic after a wet or dry rub. If dry I just wrap it lightly in parchment paper so it can breathe a bit and put it in a sealed container in the fridge. For wet I tend to use glass containers. For a list of the wet marinades and rubs I have used see: Wet Marinades or Rubs.

In both cases the meat should be in a lidded container and in the fridge. If wet, make sure the meat is completely submerged and turned daily, or every 12 hours, to assure even marinading. But remember that marinading enters meat only a little bit, while salt and soy sauce will enter further into the meat.

Marinade Components

In general, here are the components of a good marinade:

• Fat
• Salt
• Acid or Enzymes
• Seasoning or Herbs
• Optional: Sugars

Marinade Intent

The intent of a wet rub is to change the texture and flavor of the meat. The process of soaking meat in a salty, flavored liquid in the fridge is marinating, resulting in a flavorful final dish. The acid (wine, citris, vinegar) in marinades break down the meat and allows the flavor of the other ingredients in the marinade to seep in.

But it is possible to marinate too long and to break the meat down too much; you will be left with a mushy mess. How long should be specified in the recipe you are using, but the rule of thumb is the smaller the cut of meat, the less of time needed. So small cuts may sit ~1 hour while larger cuts can be longer.

When I make Sauerbraten, it sits in the marinade for ~7 days and produces melty meat with a great sour taste.

Gravy or Sauce

Toss the used marinade and do not reuse for it is now contaminated. If you want to use the marinade for basting or gravy, just make more initially and keep some in the fridge for that purpose.

Dry Rub

A dry marinate has no liquid and is usually a combination of certain spices, sugars, and salts that are rubbed all over the meat prior to cooking. A dry rub can also be added and the meat “marinate” for ~1 hour.

Dry rubs work on a meat-replacement Tempeh to impart flavor and the tempeh can be grilled as well.

Pickling Technique

What is Pickling

Pickling is, according to Wikipedia, a process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically and significantly affects the food’s texture and flavor. To me pickling is mainly a vinegar process and there are two types:

• Quick-pickling
• Salt-brine pickling

I stick with pickling salt, but really the question is what kind of vinegar. My Mutti used distilled white vinegar, as it had the 5% acidity level she wanted and was neutral in its flavor and color. Others that I have seen used are Apple Cider Vinegar, Malt Vinegar, and Red Wine Vinegar, just avoid concentrated vinegars like balsamic or malt vinegar for pickling.

Quick Pickles

The basic method is to clean the veggies well. Then pack either fresh and raw or fresh and blanched veggies, and any herbs or spices, into a sterilized non-reactive container with a tight lid.

• Asparagus is blanched
• Beats are cooked and cooled
• Carrots, cauliflower, peppers, onions are cleaned and peeled.

Pour a vinegar-based pickling brine into the container, submerging the veggies completely. If making a large container, which we would do in Kitchen on Fire, we would add a clean kitchen towel on top making sure all the veggies stay totally soaked. Add flavor elements, such as:

• Fresh herbs: dill, thyme, oregano, rosemary
• Dried herbs: thyme, dill, rosemary, oregano, majoram 
• Garlic cloves: whole, smashed or sliced
• Fresh ginger: peeled and thinly sliced 
• Whole spices: mustard seed, peppercorns, red pepper flakes
• Ground spices: turmeric or smoked paprika

Then label and put the container in the fridge to soak for at least a day before eating, ~3-7 days is best.

Curing Technique

CAUTION: Do not try curing meat on your own the first time, get someone you trust to teach you so that you follow all the steps and not make yourself (or others) sick with improperly prepared meats. Additionally, cured food is often high in salt.

• I have seen pork hanging in dry sheds in Italy. The only equipment I saw being used was a good knife to cut away certain parts of the meat.
• For Parma, it takes at least 12 months for the pork, salt, craft, skill, and the right environmental conditions to cure, then dry the leg of pork (1).

Nitrites + Nitrates

Why Cure

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—Patty

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