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Equilibrium Brine - Cons??

ashecorvin

I equilibrium brined some pork chops for dinner earlier this week. It was my first time using this technique and holy f*** I will never "traditional-brine" anything again.

When I read about this technique on this site I thought, "Gee, that makes perfect sense - why doesn't everyone do it?" After trying it and absolutely LOVING the results I can't imagine why this isn't a common practice (or maybe it is and I had just never heard of it).

So the question here is: Are there any significant cons to this type of brining?

The only one I could think of is time. Could that be it? There has to be more, otherwise I can't imagine why no one I know does this.

Maybe another one could be that scales aren't that common in the kitchen.

Thoughts?

By the way, I brined for about two days @ 2% salt to the weight of the chops and some maple syrup I added (eyeballed, didn't measure the syrup) with some rosemary, peppercorns, and a bay leaf. My girlfriend is not a huge fan of porkchops yet she absolutely destroyed these. The pork chops were cooked at 59C for 2.5 hours with a bit of rosemary and olive oil in the bag. I tasted for salt before searing because I was curious and they were perfect. Ended up making a quick glaze with syrup, whiskey, a little chicken broth, mustard, balsamic, and lots of coarse ground pepper. I was completely blown away by what was accomplished with the brine. The rosemary especially was prevalent in the final product throughout.

I will be preaching this technique to everyone I know.

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Comments

Brendan_Lee_56950

The time factor is the only thing I've run in to as well.

Chris_Young_80640

@Ashe_Corvin — Time is the biggest factor. The only other factor is, just like with heat, some people prefer the gradient of brined texture you get from surface to core with a higher strength brine. Other times, you really only want to brine the surface, and a brief dip in a high-strength brine is a reasonable approach in those situations (you'll see us do that from time to time in our recipes).

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Is it possible to use an alcohol base for an equilibrium brine solution?

Chris_Young_80640

The alcohol will dehydrate and slightly cure the meat. You'll also have a hard time getting salt to dissolve in a high-proof alcohol since salt is almost insoluble in ethanol (0.65 g salt per 1000 g of ethanol at room temperature).

coe

All. How long do you brine a piece of meat? I understand that a 2" thick slab of meat takes 4 times longer than a 1" piece of meat. What I don't know is a specific number for a specific thickness of meat. Also, Does the type of meat have an influence on this? (I.e., is the diffusion process affected by the type of meat?) Thanks in advance.

Lennard__34626

Not an equilibrium brine question per Se, but if I brine a piece of fish with the skin on and on plan to sear it after, does it get much harder to get the skin crisp?

Chris_Young_80640

@Lennard — Yes, a little bit. But it's still doable.