Preparing a Brine Before Smoking Keeps the Meat Moist

Making a brine before smoking is a good idea. Brining is the process of marinating food in a salt/sugar solution to add moisture. Heat from cooking on the smoker (or grill for that matter) drives moisture out.

The result is dry, chewy meat that no one finds appetizing. Brining fixes that problem.

Now stay with me…but this is how it works….(I don’t get many opportunities to put on my old science teacher hat). Technically, areas containing solutions of high concentration in contact with areas of low solution concentration will seek equilibrium by naturally flowing from high to low.

Thus the brine (high concentration) will flow to cells in the meat (low concentration). Now you know :).

Food that’s susceptible to drying out (chicken, turkey, salmon and pork tenderloin) are the prime candidates for brining.

Many cooks like to flavor their brine by adding different spices to kick it up a notch. So please experiment to find the one most pleasing to you.

Pay special attention on the amount of time the food is immersed in brine. Your food should be immersed in brine at a rate of 1 hour per pound and not more than 8 hours in solution.

Use any type of seal-able plastic bag or container to completely immerse your food. Make sure it stays in the liquid and weigh it down if you need. For large items like turkeys it’s perfectly acceptable to use a cooler. The cooler also pays extra dividends because your brine solution should stay cold (40 degrees).

Use ice packs, sealed bags of ice, or your refrigerator to keep brine cold.

For turkeys and chicken let them air dry a couple of hours in the refrigerator. The skin picks up moisture in the brine and will get soft if you don’t let it dry. To ensure crisp skin let it dry.
Return from the Brining page to Backyard Smoker Barbeque Chef home page