Brining

In food processing, brining (to brine) is treating something with brine or steeping it in brine. ^[1]

Cooking

Brining is a process similar to marination in which meat or poultry is soaked in brine before cooking.^[2] Salt is added to cold water in a container, where the meat is soaked anywhere from 30 minutes to a few days. The amount of time needed to brine depends on the size of the meat. More time is needed for a large turkey compared to a broiler fryer chicken. Similarly with a large roast versus a thin cut of meat.

Brining makes cooked meat moister by hydrating the cells of its muscle tissue before cooking, via the process of osmosis, and by allowing the cells to hold on to the water while they are cooked, via the process of denaturation.^[2] The brine surrounding the cells has a higher concentration of salt than the fluid within the cells, but the cell fluid has a higher concentration of other solutes.^[2] This leads salt ions to diffuse into the cell, whilst the solutes in the cells cannot diffuse through the cell membranes into the brine. The increased salinity of the cell fluid causes the cell to absorb water from the brine via osmosis.^[2] The salt introduced into the cell also denatures its proteins.^[2] The proteins coagulate, forming a matrix that traps water molecules and holds them during cooking. This prevents the meat from dehydrating.

In many foods the additional salt is also desirable as a preservative.

Cheese brining

Some cheeses are periodically washed in brine during their ripening. Not only does the brine carry flavors into the cheese (it might be seasoned with spices or wine), but the salty environment may nurture the growth of the Brevibacterium linens bacteria, which can impart a very pronounced odor (Limburger) and interesting flavor. The same bacteria can also have some effect on cheeses that are simply ripened in humid conditions, like Camembert. Large populations of these "smear bacteria" show up as a sticky orange-red layer on some brine-washed cheeses.

References

↑ "Brine" Collins English Dictionary
1 2 3 4 5 McGee, Harold (2004). ON FOOD AND COOKING, The science and lore of the kitchen. Scribner. pp. 155–156. ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1.

External links

Brining on Cooking For Engineers - a discussion on what happens to meat as it brines (with reader comments)

Food preparation

Mechanical	Dicing Julienning Kneading Mincing Purée

Chemical/biological	Brining Drying Fermenting Marinating Pickling Salting Smoking Souring Sprouting Sugaring

Salt

History	History of salt In the American Civil War International Salt Co. v. United States In Middlewich Old Salt Route In Chinese history Salt March Salt road

Types	List of edible salts Alaea Bittern Black lava Butter Celery Curing Cyclic Dairy Flake Fleur de sel Garlic Himalayan Iodised Kala Namak Kosher LoSalt Calcium chloride Pickling Potassium chloride Potassium nitrate Sodium nitrate Onion RealSalt Rock Sea salt Seasoned Sel gris Smoked Truffle

Food usage	Brine Cheese brining Salted foods Salt-cured meat Health effects Salt and cardiovascular disease

Commerce and industry	Salt Industry Commission Evaporation pond Production Salt mining Open-pan salt making List of countries by salt production

By region	In Cheshire In Ghana In Syracuse, New York

Culture	Salt in the Bible Salting the earth

Miscellaneous	Mineral lick Smelling salts

Category

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Brining

Cooking

Cheese brining

See also

References

External links