Re: BRINING - A Complete Article (Mikey Lulejian , 7:16)
To: 
    Gary Wiviott <gwiv@enteract.com>


>

This is hopefully the most complete factual info
available about BRINING.  We start off with our
questions, and the respective responses from
experienced people.

We then go on to FURTHER information after SALTINESS
was encountered on our first go-around.

We also offer some excellent brining recipes.

And we finish this with a wonderful article that
details BRINING in all aspects.

Please be CAREFUL with what you put into your brine
solution.  Acidic foodstuffs, such as apple juice,
beer, orange juice should NEVER be used on POULTRY.


Hope y'all enjoy this !


          PART 1 - GENERAL QUESTIONS

                 ***********

==> 1) Do people smoke other than WHOLE chickens ?
I would really like to smoke breasts, but the one time
I tried breasts, they really did not turn out all that
good.

Dan Martin (DM): I have smoked boneless, skinless
breast's with good result's. I rub them with my regular
rub I use  on butt's, smoke at 300o for about an hour
or an hour and a half. I use a polder probe in the thickest
part horizontally.  I go to about 150o internal, I know that
sounds low but by the time I let them sit for a bit they
are up to 175o.  I than put a light coat of sauce on
them and sometime roll them on the grill just to crisp
up a bit.

Bob In GA: Yes, I believe so. In fact people have actually
been heard saying they "smoked" barbecue also, so I
guess anything is game :)

Kit Anderson (Kit): Yes. I prefer cutting them in half and
keeping the backs for stock.

              ************************

==> 2) Is the Beer can approach the BEST way to do chicken ?

DM - I have done it also. I still like to roll on the
grill to crisp up.

Billy In Texas (Belly): Not for me.

Kit: "Chicken On A Throne" is a "presentation" recipe.
Meaning folks laugh when they see the chicken propped
up with a beer can. You put spices in a beer can, stuff
it in the chicken and smoke it. The problems are:

1. Waste of spices. There is no resulting flavor from
putting spices in the beer.
2. The chicken falls over a lot.
3. It doesn't get hot enough to evaporate the beer so
it adds nothing to the moistness.
4. You have to buy beer in cans. The only good beer
in cans is Guinness and the IRA will put a nail bomb
in your smoker for wasting it. So you are stuck buying
swill beer which only encourages them to make more.
5. The can keeps smoke from getting inside the chicken.

The result is good but not due to the beer.
Use the rub and forget the can.

                 **********************

==> 3) How do you do (ie, smoke) chicken wings ?

DM: 2 hours at 250o, with a lot of hickory. I than
dip in a "buffalo wing" sauce and finish on the grill.

Belly: Soak them in Oil,Beer and Dr pepper, La. hot
sauce for an hour or three. Then smoke for about
one and 1/2 hours, or till done.

Kit: Like the rest of the chicken.

           **********************

==> 4) How do you get the skin done, so that it
is not like 'rubber' like and yet not dry out the
chicken at the same time ?

DM - Cook at a hotter temp., and finish on grill.

Bob In Ga: I think this is where your term "smoking"
and "grilling"  come into play. With pieces, I can
get the skin very crisp and edible, almost as good
as hog skin by grilling it  very fast on my 8" grill.
It more resembles fried chicken than slow cooked chicken.
My only guess to have the best  of both worlds would
be to slow cook first and then finish the skin as you
would a pork bbq cut. But this may prove to require a
lot of judgement in knowing when to switch methods.
You could easily overcook your chicken trying to blister
the skin. I think it's basically like cooking pork bbq
but there may not be as much room for error in judgement
because of the lack of fat in chicken.

Belly: Cover with tin foil after smoke gets to
your liking.

Kit: Move it to the hot spot or increase the temp to
350 degrees for the last 30 minutes.

             **************************

==> 5) Any suggestions for both TIME and
TEMPERATURES for:
a) Breasts ?
b) Whole Chickens
c) Wings ?

Bob In GA: Time will obviously depend on the size
of the meat in relation to temperature. As for
temperature, throw away your thermometer when
cooking the skin.

Belly: Breasts - 250/300 45 min to an hour
          Whole Chickens 250, Three hours
          Wings 45 min

Kit: A 4 lb bird will take about 4 hours at 250.
Start breast down for one hour. Pull it off when
the breast temp is 170.

             ********************

==> 6) What about seasonings ?

Bob In GA: Avoid any finishing sauce that contains
ketchup/tomato products. You may as well have
oven-cooked it if you go that route. Salt and pepper
works good as do most ethnic spice schemes.

Belly: Any thing you like, Sweet Suzy Rub.

Kit: Peanut oil, pepper, sage, thyme, lemon pepper...
... the sky is the limit.

              ****************************

==> 7) What does brining do to the chicken meat ?

DM - Helps retain moisture, add's flavor
if you spice the brine.

Belly: Makes it better, lots more moist.

Kit: It draws water into the meat and starts
crosslinking (coagulation, cooking) of the
cellular proteins. This raises the temp at
which the cells breakdown losing their moisture.
Hence, jucier meat. The flavor is also enhanced.

              ***************************

==> 8) Is brining a neccesity ?  I have heard TWO
conflicting opinions to brining: One that it is
the ONLY way to go, and Two, that it was just TOO
salty for people's tastes.

IMPORTANT NOTE; Please read both the below part,
as well as Part #2.


DM - Rinse REALLY WELL.

Belly: You MUST wash chicken a good two times after
brining and dry good; then put your seasonings on.

Kit: If it is too salty, you brined too heavily or
too long.

             ****************************

==> 9) If we were to brine, would you brine chicken
breasts and wings also ?

DM - Absolutely.

Belly:  YES, YES

Kit: Yep.

             ***************************

==> 10) And lastly, while we are on brining, I have read
several places that people bring more than just poultry.
Any comments ?

DM - Have only tried chicken.

Belly: Just Chicken for me.

Kit:  When making pastrami or corned beef.
The flavor from brining is not desirable in pork
or beef BBQ. They will taste like SPAM.

           ***************************

==> 11) Seasonings you might suggest for poultry
smoking ?

Belly: Sweet Suzy Chicken Rub ( makes out of sight
Chickens) While you're at it, use Belly's BBQ Rub or
Paluxy Valley BBQ Rub,
For pork Ribs try Jack's Rib Rub

Kit: See above. Just don't salt the meat if you brined.

            *******************************

         PART II - MORE QUESTIONS AFTER 1st "BRINE"

Well .... We did our first brine this weekend.  The results
were rather incredible.  Very juicy and tender meat.

There was, however, too much salt for the breasts, and almost
right for the full-sized hen.  We did use Kosher salt, and
we did let the solution cool completely before we added the
poultry. We also did wash the poultry twice before we let it
dry - smoked 9 hours later.


===> a) Would using sea salt, which supposedly has less
sodium, be as good as using regular or Kosher salt ?

KIT:  No. Use kosher (doesn't have to be capitalized) or
pickling salt. Save sea salt for baking bread. To reduce
the sodium use less salt.

Someone Else:  No, it would just be a lot more expensive.
Don't use regular salt either. Stick with Kosher salt.

===> b) Can the percentage of salt used in the solution
(1 cup per gallon) be reduced without affecting the
brining process substantially ?

KIT: Oooo !..... 3/4 cup per gallon is the upper end !!!
Add 1/2 cup brown sugar. It will reduce the salt flavor.

S.E. : Yes.  The starter for my brine has 3/4 cup of
Kosher salt and 2/3 cup of white sugar.  The sugar seems
to reduce the salty taste.

===> c) Can Dr. Pepper be substituted for 1/2 of the
water ?  Example: 1/2 gal water, 1/2 gal Dr. Pepper,
3/4 cup sea salt, other spices as desired. (And the "Dr.
Pepper" could also include orange juice, beer, apple juice,
etc.).

KIT: Keep away from acids in the brine. It will cause
the meat's exterior to get mushy. Dr Pepper is loaded
with phosphoric acid.

S.E.: Well, I don't know about Dr. Pepper.  Belly swears
by it.  You want to increase the sugar level in your
brine, and Dr. Pepper might just work. Stay away from
any acidic liquid such as orange juice or vinegar when
brining tender cuts of meat.

===> d) Any further comments.

KIT: Yeah...What's wrong with Glavine?

                ************************

              PART III - EXCELLENT RECIPES

Jim Minion:

Here are a couple of different recipes to try:


          Honey Brine for Poultry

1 gallon water
1 cup salt ( sea or kosher)
1 oz tender quick (2 tbsp)
1 cup honey
3 bay leaves
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp pickle spice
Mix ingredients and bring to boil, allow to to
cool to room temp and brine recomended times
in the brine post.

          Here is a second recipe

1 gallon water
3/4 cup salt( sea or kosher)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup molasses
2 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp oregano
bring mix to boil and allow to cool to room temp.

You can do your own other ingredients like maple syrup,
garlic, onion, allspice,ginger, or spices you like can
be used.

                 *****************

             *** Zippy Smoked Chicken***

Here's a little hopped-up brine that I did for 6
chickens yesterday. Smoked at 230 for 3 1/2 hr ....
was scrumptious. Did with hickory. Fishing time is here
now and the boy and his friend caught a few brookys
threw them in the brine after the chickens came out.
Grilled them ...and they were outstanding. Brined the
chickens 14 hrs.

                Chicken Brine

5 gal water
4 cups salt
4 heaping tsp garlic powder
4 heaping tsp onion powder
3/4 bottle liquid smoke (just do it)
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbl oregano
4 heaping tsp black pepper
1 tsp caynenne
1/2 cup olive oil
5 bay leaves
4 heaping tbl pickling spice
1/2  26oz can of whole jalepeno plus juice
(snaped jalepenos in half)
3 tsp celery salt
All the dry spices put in warm water for half hour
or so then dumped chicken in brine.

Smokin in Montana
Don


            ONE LAST RECIPE

Karen Green wrote:
*I think* that (other than the smoking, if course)
the big flavor enhancer is injecting the chicke
with spiced beer the night before.  Whaddaya
think?

kg

Now you're talking. But consider this; A marinade onl
penetrates 1/4" into meat. So that means a lot of
poking. If marinaded too long, the acid makes the
texture mushy. A marinade, BTW, has oil, acid, and
spices. The way to get the flavor into the meat is
brining because the as the salt is absobed, it brings
in the falvors from the brine.

A brine is salt, water, and spices.

Funny. As a beer judge and homebrewer, I am not big
on beer marinades. They end up reminding me of a
garbage can. (I think that may be acetaldehyde, but
that's another story.) Dan Gill's turkey brine is
superb. My favorite brine follows. I have used it
on chicken, turkey, duck, and venison. Just brine
for a few hours if smoking. The pastrami is excellent,
BTW. Plain old water (1 gal) and salt (3/4 cup) is
also excellent.



      *  Exported from  MasterCook  *

              Duck Pastrami

Recipe By     : Emeril Lagasse
Serving Size  : 1    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Meats                            Poultry

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   1      tablespoon    black peppercorns
   3      teaspoons     dried thyme
   3                    bay leaves -- crushed
   1      teaspoon      whole cloves
   2      tablespoons   garlic -- minced
   1      teaspoon      whole juniper berries
     1/3  cup           crushed juniper berries
   4      cups          water
     1/2  cup           light brown sugar -- packed
     1/2  cup           kosher salt
   1                    duck breast, boneless, split ~2.25 lbs
     1/4  cup           coarsely ground pepper

In a small mixing bowl, combine the peppercorns, thyme,
bay leaves, cloves, garlic, and whole juniper berries.
In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine the water, brown
sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the
sugar and salt. Remove from the heat and add dry spice
mixture and steep for 1 hour. Place the duck breast in a
glass or plastic container. Pour the seasoned brine to
cover the breasts completely.
Cover and refrigerate for 48 hours, turning the breasts
a couple of times. Remove the duck breasts from the
brine and rinse thoroughly with cool water.
Pat dry with a towel. Preheat the oven (smoker) to 250
degrees. Combine the crushed juniper berries and ground
black pepper in a small bowl. Using the palm and heel
of your hands, press 2/3 of the berry and pepper mixture
into the underside of the breasts. Press the remaining
mixture onto the skin side. Place the breasts, skin side
down, on a rack in a roasting pan in smoker) and roast
for 1 hour. Remove and let cool for 30 minutes. Wrap
the breasts tightly in plastic wrap and place in an
airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for at
least 1 week before using. To serve, remove the meat
and slice thin.

He serves this on french bread with provolone, mustard
and onion marmalade.

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    *  Exported from  MasterCook  *

        Dan's Chicken Marinade

Recipe By     : Dan Gill
Serving Size  : 1    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Sauces And Rubs       February97

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
                        ginger ale
                        vinegar
                        ginger
                        garlic powder
                        salt
                        turmeric
                        hot sauce
                        cayenne powder
                        Old Bay seasoning

 For chicken, I use a marinade and mop based on
ginger ale and  vinegar with ginger, garlic powder,
salt, tumeric, hot sauce, cayenne powder,  and Old
Bay for flavor. These are my standard and favorite
spices but I also  look through the cabinet to see
if anything else sounds good at the time. No
measurements - I just pour in what I think is right
for the amount of chicken. When the mixture passes
the smell and taste test, I dump in the  chicken.
After the chicken has marinated, I boil the liguid
(for safety) and  use it as a mop.

              *********************

That's it, Gang.  Now go enjoy BRINING !

             *********************

      PART 4 - IMPORTANT BRINING ARTICLE

      This includes RECIPES FRom FAMOUS Restaurants !

Terry Light: Long IMPORTANT Ed Powlowski Post About Brining:

"I've copied below a post from Ed Pawlowski about brining.
I tried the 42 Degree Cider Cured Pork Chops recipe but
used a tenderloin instead of chops.  It was excellent!

I'm kinda sold on the whole brining idea.  For sure, I won't
ever cook a turkey again without brining it first.  I once
"over" brined some wings (got called out of town and they
were in the brine 72 hours!!) which tasted a lot like ham
but otherwise have had good success doing it.

Hope the article is of some value!
Terry Light
Oak Hill, Virginia

                <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

This article is from the March 25, 1998 San Francisco
Chronicle. I  have not tried any of the recipes in
this article.


                READY FOR BRINE TIME

Salt and spices put old-fashioned flavor back into
modern meats.
Janet Fletcher, Chronicle Staff Writer

Have you had it with tasteless, juiceless pork chops and
sawdust chicken breasts? Many professional cooks have, too,
which is why they're turning to an age-old technique to
restore the flavor and moistness that many meats used to
have naturally.

In a growing number of restaurant and home kitchens, brining
is putting the juice back into pork chops and at least some
taste back into factory-raised chickens. By soaking the meat
for hours or days in a seasoned salt-water solution, cooks
find that they can transform lean pork and poultry with
minimal cost and effort.

"This brining, it's become an urban legend," says Pam
Anderson, Cook's Illustrated executive editor who has
written about brining for the magazine and jokingly calls
herself "the brine queen." Anderson once roasted more
than 30 turkeys to find the best cooking method, settling
on an overnight brine as an essential first step. "Every
time we do a poultry story now," says Anderson, "we find
that salt is the answer."

With brines, cooks like Anderson are trying to compensate
for the shortcomings of modern animal husbandry. Chickens
raised to market weight quickly on carefully formulated
feed don't have the flavor of those old-time barnyard
hunt-and-peckers. Nor does pork have the taste appeal it
used to. Bred for leanness to accommodate contemporary
concerns about fat, American pigs are 50 to 70 percent
leaner than they were 20 years ago, says East Bay sausage
maker Bruce Aidells. Fat, whatever its other failings,
contributes moisture and flavor.

"When they decided to market pork as the new lean white
meat, they completely ruined the product," complains
Nancy Oakes, chef at Boulevard in San Francisco
(and Aidells' wife). "If you cook pork loin at home,
you end up with this hard, dry, very lean white meat."

In response, Oakes began brining pork several years ago
at L'Avenue, her former San Francisco restaurant. At
Boulevard, a spit-roasted pork loin, brined for four days,
is a menu fixture, and brined turkey breast with
applesauce is a favorite staff meal.

Aidells, too, is a brining convert. His forthcoming book
on meat, due this fall from Chapters Publishing, will
include a small treatise on the practice. "To be honest
with you," says the meat maven, "unless you're really
careful, it's damn near impossible to produce a decent
pork chop without brine."

The succulent cider-cured pork chop at San Francisco's
42 Degrees testifies to brining's merits. Chef Jim
Moffatt swears by the technique, not only because it
infuses the meat with flavor but because it gives the
kitchen a larger margin of error. A brined chop will
stay moist even if it's cooked a little too long.

By what mechanism does a little salt water work such
magic? "It's our old friend osmosis," says Harold
McGee, the Palo Alto specialist in the science of
cooking. "If there's more of a diffusable chemical
in one place than another, it tries to even itself
out."

Because there's more salt in the brine than in the meat,
the muscle absorbs the salt water. There, the salt
denatures the meat proteins, causing them to unwind and
form a matrix that traps the water. And if the brine
includes herbs, garlic, juniper berries or peppercorns,
those flavors are trapped in the meat, too. Instead of
seasoning on the surface only, as most cooks do,
brining carries the seasonings throughout.

Aidells calls this technique "flavor brining" -- done
not for preservation (which would require a saltier
solution and longer immersion) but for enhancing texture
and taste. Even a couple of hours in a brine will
improve bland Cornish game hens, says Anderson, or
give chicken parts a flavor boost before deep-frying
or grilling.

Brines vary considerably from chef to chef, as do
recommended brining times. But generally speaking, the
saltier the brine, the shorter the required stay.
And, logically, the brine will penetrate a Cornish
game hen or duck breast much faster than it will
penetrate a thick muscle like a whole pork loin or
turkey breast. Meat left too long in a brine tastes
overseasoned and the texture is compromised, producing
a soggy or mushy quality.

Most cooks start their brine with hot water, which
dissolves the salt and draws out the flavor in the
herbs and spices. But they caution that the brine
should be completely cold before adding the meat or
it will absorb too much salt.

By playing around with the liquid base and the
seasonings, chefs give their brine personality. Some
use apple juice or beer for some or all of the water.
The smoked turkey that Jeff Starr of Stags' Leap
Winery produced for a food editors' conference in
Napa Valley last year was brined in orange juice,
rice wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar; some who
tasted it swore they would never cook a turkey any
other way again.

Seasonings can run the gamut from thyme, rosemary,
bay leaf and garlic to cinnamon stick, star anise
or vanilla. Many cooks put some sugar in their brine
to sweeten the meat and make it brown better when
cooked. Others avoid sugar, arguing that it makes
everything taste like ham.

Whatever their recipe, brining advocates keep looking
for other uses for their favorite technique. Anderson
says some people brine shrimp for half an hour; she
herself has begun soaking chicken parts in salted
buttermilk before frying to get the benefits of brine
with the tenderizing effect of the buttermilk. If
cooks like Anderson and Aidells continue to preach
the gospel of brining, diners can kiss sawdust
chicken goodbye.

WHAT THE PROS KNOW

Here are some tips to start you in the brining business:

--A heavy-duty plastic tub, earthenware crock,
stainless-steel bowl or even a re-sealable plastic bag
can work as a brining container as long as the meat is
fully submerged. Weight with a plate if necessary to
keep the meat fully covered by brine.

--To determine how much brine you'll need, place the
meat to be brined in your chosen container. Add water
to cover. Remove the meat and measure the water.

--Start your brine with hot water to dissolve the salt
(and sugar if using) and to draw the flavor out of
any herbs and spices. Chill brine completely in the
refrigerator before adding meat.

--Although some cooks prefer lighter or heavier brines,
1 cup of salt per gallon of water is a happy medium.
Use kosher salt that has no additives.

WATCH THIS !!!!!!!  Try LESS Kosher salt. Maybe 3/4 to
2/3 cup per gallon.  Do  NOT try and use sea salt.

--Experiment with seasonings. Salt is essential, but
everything else is optional. Consider garlic, ginger,
fresh herbs, juniper berries, clove, cinnamon stick,
vanilla bean, mustard seed, coriander seed, star anise,
hot pepper flakes or Sichuan peppercorns. To give pork
a sweet edge and encourage browning, add 1/2 cup sugar
to each 2 quarts of water.

--Rinse meat twice after removing it from the brine
solution.

--Don't salt brined meat before cooking; it is
already salted throughout.

--Don't reuse brine.

              HOW LONG TO BRINE

The thickness of the muscle, the strength of the brine
and your own taste determine how long to brine an item.
For a moderately strong brine (1 cup salt to 1 gallon
water), the following brining times are rough guidelines.
If you aren't ready to cook at the end of the brining
time, remove the meat from the brine, but keep the meat
refrigerated.

--Shrimp: 30 minutes
-- Whole chicken (4 pounds): 8 to 12 hours
-- Chicken parts: 1 1/2 hours
-- Cornish game hens: 2 hours
-- Turkey (12 to 14 pounds): 24 hours
-- Pork chops (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch thick): 1 to 2 days
-- Whole pork tenderloin: 12 hours
-- Whole pork loin: 2 to 4 days



        SUPER-JUICY ROAST CHICKEN WITH GARLIC & THYME

Even the breast meat is moist in this simple roast chicken,
which spends half a day in brine. If desired, brine it
overnight,  then remove it from the brine in the morning
but keep refrigerated until dinner time.

INGREDIENTS:

-- 1 chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 pounds
-- 1 lemon, halved Brine
-- 1 gallon boiling water
-- 1 cup kosher salt
-- 1/2 bunch fresh thyme
-- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
-- 1 tablespoon coarsely cracked peppercorns

INSTRUCTIONS: To make the brine: Combine all brine
ingredients in a bowl, small crock or heavy-duty
plastic container just large enough to hold the chicken.
Stir to dissolve the salt. Cool, then refrigerate until
completely cold. Place the chicken breast-side down in
the brine. Weight with a plate if necessary to keep the
chicken completely submerged. Refrigerate for 12 hours.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Remove chicken from brine and allow to air-dry at room
temperature.

Squeeze 1 of the lemon halves in the cavity, squeeze the
other over the skin, then put both halves in the cavity.
Truss the bird with string.

Place breast-side down on a rack in a roasting pan; roast
for 30 minutes. Turn breast-side up and continue roasting
until the juices run clear, about 30 minutes longer.
Transfer the chicken breast-side down to a platter and
let cool for 30 minutes. Remove the string and discard the
lemons. Carve the chicken into serving pieces and spoon
any collected juices over them.

Serves 3 or 4.



             42 DEGREES' CIDER-CURED PORK CHOPS

INGREDIENTS:

-- 4 center-cut pork loin chops, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick
-- Olive oil

Brine
-- 4 cups water
-- 2 cups hard cider
-- 1/2 cup salt
-- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
-- 10 whole peppercorns
-- 4 bay leaves
-- 1/2 bunch fresh thyme
-- 1 onion, chopped
-- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
-- 1 celery rib, chopped
-- 1 apple, peeled and chopped

INSTRUCTIONS: To make the brine: Combine all brine
ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high
heat, then remove from heat and let cool. When cool,
refrigerate until cold.

Add the pork chops to the cold brine. Weight with a
plate if necessary to keep the chops completely
submerged. Refrigerate for at least 1 day or up to 2 days.

To cook: Remove the chops from the brine and pat them dry.
Heat 2 skillets over moderately high heat. Add just enough
oil to coat the bottom of each skillet. When the skillets
are hot, add the chops and reduce heat to moderately low.
Cook for 10 minutes, then turn and cook until the chops
are no longer pink at the bone, about 10 minutes longer.

Serves 4. The calories and other nutrients absorbed from
brines vary and are difficult to estimate. Variables
include the type of food, brining time and amount of
surface area. Therefore, these recipes contain no
analysis.

        NANCY OAKES' VANILLA BRINE

This recipe makes enough brine for a 4- to 6-pound
boneless pork loin, or six 1 3/8- to 1 1/2-inch-thick
center-cut pork loin chops, or 4 pork tenderloins,
1 to 1 1/4 pounds each. The recipe is from a forthcoming
cookbook on meat by Bruce Aidells.

INGREDIENTS:

-- 9 cups boiling water
-- 1/2 cup sugar
-- 1/2 cup kosher salt
-- 2 tablespoons coarsely cracked black pepper
-- 2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS: Combine all brine ingredients in a bowl,
small crock or heavy-duty plastic container; stir to
dissolve the salt and sugar. Let cool, then chill
thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Add pork of choice (see headnote). Weight with a plate
if necessary to keep the meat completely submerged.

Refrigerate 3 days for pork loin, 1 to 2 days for chops
and 12 hours for tenderloin. Stir the brine each day
and turn the pork occasionally.

Roast or grill pork loin or tenderloins. Grill chops
or pan-fry according to directions in Cider-Cured
Pork Chops.

          BOULEVARD'S STAFF TURKEY

If you're feeling flush, says Boulevard chef Nancy Oakes,
substitute apple juice or cider for the water, and
reduce the honey to 1/2 cup.

INGREDIENTS:

-- 1 bone-in turkey breast half, 3 to 3 1/2 pounds
-- 1 tablespoon olive oil Honey Brine
-- 2 quarts water
-- 3/4 cup honey
-- 1/2 cup kosher salt
-- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
-- 1 1/2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
-- 1 rosemary sprig, about 4 inches long

INSTRUCTIONS: To make the brine: Bring water to a boil,
then pour into a container just large enough to hold
the turkey breast; cool for 5 minutes. Add honey, salt,
mustard and pepper; whisk until honey dissolves. Add
rosemary. Refrigerate until well chilled.

Add turkey breast to the chilled brine. Weight with a
plate if necessary to keep it completely submerged.
Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days.

Remove the turkey breast from the brine, place in a
roasting pan and bring to room temperature. Preheat
the oven to 350 degrees.

Roast the turkey for 30 minutes, then brush with the
olive oil. Continue roasting until the internal
temperature reaches 150 degrees on an instant-read
thermometer, about 30 minutes longer, basting
occasionally with the drippings. Remove from
the oven and let rest for 30 minutes before
carving.

Serves 6.

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