Shelf · Salt, smoke & time · No heat
Brining
Soaking meat in salted water for hours before cooking it.
- The temperature band
- In the fridge · 2 to 5 °C
- The time
- About 480 min
Why it works
Salt reaches deep into the muscle where a surface sprinkle never goes, and it changes the proteins so they hold on to water instead of squeezing it out when they contract in the heat. A brined bird loses noticeably less weight in the oven than an unbrined one.
The tell
The meat feels heavier and firmer coming out than going in, and cooked slices stay moist right through rather than only near the surface.
- Salt on top
- Water drawn out
- Drawn back in
How it fails
Too long in the brine turns the texture spongy and the meat too salty to fix — and pre-salted or kosher supermarket birds are already brined, so brining again ruins them. Always rinse and dry the surface afterwards, or nothing browns.
In the app, the card opens on the recipe step that names it, with the tell drawn.
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