A brine is salted water, or a highly concentrated solution of water and common salt, used in meat packing and pickling, as well as for curing and smoking fish. Brine hydrates the cells of the meat's muscle tissue before cooking, preventing the meat from dehydrating. This makes the cooked meat moister. All meats are fine for brine; while for fish, it is better to use a species that is high in fat, like salmon and trout.
Instructions
Fish
1. Select only fresh fish or a quickly frozen fish.
2. Clean and gut the fish, removing the tail, fins, head. Wash the cleaned fish in water.
3. Prepare the saltwater brine, mixing one cup water with 2 ½ tablespoons salt. To reduce the fishy smell, add one teaspoon of lemon juice per cup of brine. A quart of brine is needed for every pound of fish.
4. Put the fish in the brine solution. The fish need to be marinated for 15 minutes for every ½-inch thickness of fish flesh.
5. Remove the fish from the brine solution, rinse with cold water and prepare the smoker. Fish has to be smoked for a minimum of 3 hours. Add 30 minutes to the timer for every pound of fish.
6. Place the fish on an oiled smoker rack. The temperature has to be kept low, at around 90 degrees Fahrenheit for the first 2 hours and then increased to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Serve the fish. If the fish is not to be eaten immediately, refrigerate it or pack and seal it, affix a label, write a date on the package and put it in the freezer.
Meat and Poultry
8. Clean all meat types, making sure they are washed thoroughly. Poultry and turkey innards must be removed.
9. Prepare the saltwater brine, mixing one cup water with 2 ½ tablespoons salt. A quart of brine is needed for every four pork chops or half chicken. For meat, 5 percent salt is recommended. This means one cup of table salt, one cup brown sugar and one gallon of water for sweet brine. One gallon of brine will be enough for about six pounds of meat.
10. Put the meat in the brine solution. Marinating time for meat depends on the thickness of the meat, not the weight. A 12 pound turkey for example, need to be soaked overnight or 10-12 hours in the refrigerator. Half-inch thick meat takes half an hour in the refrigerator, one inch thick meat requires one hour, two-inch thick meat needs three hours and meat that is three-inches thick takes all of eight hours marinating in the refrigerator.
11. Remove the meat from the brine solution. Rinse with cold water and prepare the smoker. The cooking time for the meat will be between 12 and 24 hours.
12. Place the meat on an oiled smoker rack. The temperature has to be kept low, from 225 degrees to 250 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the type of meat and thickness of the slices.
13. Serve the meat, once fully smoked. If the meat is not to be eaten immediately, refrigerate it or pack and seal it, affix a label, write a date on the package and put it in the freezer.
Tags: brine solution, degrees Fahrenheit, thick meat, write date package, affix label