Brining meat for the BBQ

[milesthemeat]

Hi all.....

Just read this article on brining meat, not for the preservative value but for flavour! Sounds good to me, has anyone tried it or got any recipes/suggestions.

http://bbq.about.com/cs/barbecuetips/a/aa112000b.htm

Also note the inclusion of saltpetre on the last page. Does this sound like a safe dose to all you pro's?

MTM

[johnfb]

I think 1 gram of saltpetre per kilo of meat is an accepted level these days.

[TJ Buffalo]

I have brined pork chops quite successfully before, but I haven't used any preservatives since I only brine the chops for an hour or so.

[lemonD]

I been brining for the last year or so, the results speak for themselves, try it.
I use 1/2cup salt, 1/2cup sugar and approx 4litres water.
Length of time in the brine is dependant on the meat.
Never had a dried up piece of meat off the grill since I've been doing it.
I don't use saltpetre.

LD

[saucisson]

I always brine my turkeys overnight nowadays, usually from frozen so the brining is part of the thawing process. I don't use any nitite/nitrate cure for that at all but I certainly wouldn't put a tablespoon of saltpetre in a gallon of liquid Having said that, when Mike Robinson dry cured venison for a couple of hours before BBQing it he seemed to sprinkle on pink salt quite liberally. I suppose the arguement is that not much will be absorbed if you are curing for a couple of hours only but in a brine a lot more might get in. I would stick with John's figure which is a happy medium between FDA and UK recommendations for an immersion cure or better yet don't use any unless you are doing a proper timed cure as opposed to a quick brining.

Dave

[Bad Flynch]

I think that you would be quite pleased with the recipes. However, I would change them to use a sodium nitrite based cure, rather than saltpetre. The reason being is the relatively short cure time and for that, nitrite is arguably better.