Brining frozen meat and poultry

[Henry Jr]

If you take pork tenderloin or chicken breasts/turkey out of the freezer to thaw, can you start brining them right away? Will the brining effect work as usual or is it inhibited while the meat is frozen?

 

[Shawn W]

If you were going to brine the thing for 4 hours thawed, then if starting from frozen brine it for 3 hours. Something like that ... a bit less than time from a thawed state. It needs to be thawed for brining to work.

 

[j biesinger]

It needs to be thawed for brining to work.

I would assume it would take longer. Are you saying 3 to thaw and 4 to brine, for 7 total?

I read your statement as 4 hours in brine if thawed, and 3 hours in brine if frozen.

 

[K Kruger]

You can start brining right away. The meat will thaw in the brine and the brining process will start as the meat thaws.

 

[Shawn W]

Originally posted by j biesinger:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">It needs to be thawed for brining to work.

I would assume it would take longer. Are you saying 3 to thaw and 4 to brine, for 7 total?

I read your statement as 4 hours in brine if thawed, and 3 hours in brine if frozen. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>That was at the end of a long day, I can see I wasn't real clear there. I meant 'if starting from frozen brine it for 3 hours after it's thawed through'. So yeah, I think 6-7 hours is reasonable in that scenario. I had in mind something like 1.5" pork chops.

As you know, it's not like it thaws all at once suddenly. The outer part has longer for the brine to take effect, but the inner part still needs some time for the brine to work once it's finally thawed.

I did an easter turkey last minute. I stuck it in a close fitting pot with 1 gallon of water for 15 hours on the counter with a towel over the pot and the lid on.

If I had used a brine I probably would have let it go at least another 12 hours, placing the pot in the fridge once the bird was thawed.