concentration of brining solutions

[Morgan Sziraki]

hi guys
long time no post for me!

I have wondered for quite a while why the brining process has never been quantified properly.
Frequently, the measurements are bases on cups (of a given salt: table, kosher etc) per gallon) plus a conversion factor per salt type, perhaps we should consider looking at a more transportable measurement of grams/liter.
Generally, seawater has a salinity of about 35grams/liter of dissolved salts (most of which is sodium chloride) the pH is generally in the range of 7.5 - 8.4.
So I will consider 2 brining solutions:
1) 100 g / liter
2) 50 g / liter
using a skinned boneless chicken breast brined for 4 hours I will then bbq these and give my non-scientific/orqanoleptic assessment of the the two.
wish me luck (today is a bank holiday over here, y'all have another week before you get your long weekend, i'm taking advantage of mine by doing this humble test, perhaps the results will be useful)

all the best
morgan
PS I'm also brining some chicken wings but primarily using the fussy chicken breast as the bellweather.

 

[j biesinger]

Morgan, it sounds like we're after the same goal. I was recently considering trying to get my brine into a percent solution so I could work from that.

I'd like to see what kind of effects different percents of sodium salts, phosophorous salts and sugars have on my bbq.

My early atttemps at shooting up meat with a basic brine have shown some potential and I'm eager to continue experimenting.

Feel free to email me at 5centsmoker@gmail.com regarding this topic.