Brines for preparing Fish and Game for cooking or smoking

Brining foods in a saltwater mixture before you cook them adds flavor, tenderness, and reduces cooking times. The brining of meats is an age-old process of food preservation. Heavy concentrations of salt preseved
meats for long ocean voyages and military campaigns before the advent of refrigeration. Now brining takes on a new purpose. By using smaller quantities of salt, mixed with other spices and herbs, brining can
permeate meat with flavor.

The chemistry behind brining is actually pretty simple. Meat already contains salt water. By immersing meats into a liquid with a higher concentration of salt, the brine is absorbed into the meat. Any flavoring added to the brine will be carried into the meat with the saltwater mixture. Because the meat is now loaded with extra moisture it will stay that way while it cooks.

Of course all of this pre preparation takes time so you need to expect to start preparations the day before and if you want your poultry to have a golden, crispy skin, it needs to sit in the refrigerator for several hours after you remove it from the brine so that the meat can absorb the moisture from the skin.

But believe me all your efforts will be rewarded with the best tasting meat or fish that you have ever tasted. Brining your meats can turn an average piece of Fish or Game into a masterpiece.

Click here for a Brining information Sheet