Do you dry brine your meats?


 
H

Howard V

TVWBB Member
I have been reading about dry brine for your meats to enhance tenderness and flavor. A lot of folks swear by it.....they recommend putting kosher salt on your meat and leave in fridge for 24 hrs or more. This is supposed to allow the salt to penetrate the meat and break down muscle fibers. They do this for steaks, briskets, pork butts and chicken.

I have never intentionally done it myself. I have done it by accident when I put Montreal steak seasoning on my beef ribs the night before and left it in fridge to be ready for an early morning cook. It came out very salty...maybe I over seasoned the rub or the salt penetrated deeper into my meat.

What was your experience? Any tips/advice? Light on the salt?
 
Poultry & pork I frequently wet brine, dry brining is something I've been meaning to try. Brisket always gets a Dalmatian rub 12-24 hours before the smoker.
 
J Hasselberger said:
Dry brining is definitely worth it for steaks. The advice I got was to use about as much salt as you would normally use to season the steak after it was cooked. I use coarse kosher salt on all sides and put the meat uncovered on a rack in the fridge so that air can circulate around it. -- Jeff

DryBrineRibeye by Jeff Hasselberger, on Flickr
Click to expand...


Thanks, Jeff. How long do you dry brine your steak for? 24 hours? 48 hours?

Does this process makes a Choice steak taste like Prime steak?
 
Last edited:
Howard V said:
Thanks, Jeff. How long do you dry brine your steak for? 24 hours? 48 hours?

Does this process makes a Choice steak taste like Prime steak?
Click to expand...

I'm not that obsessive about it, but 24 hours is a good target. The salt has done its work and the steak is usually dry to the touch at that point.

I think the process makes the steak taste as good as it can. Those two in the photo were dry-aged prime. It's a once-every-two-years treat with a nice bottle of wine. -Jeff
 
I use a rub or brine everything I use, I make up the rub by looking at different recipes and then trying it. I do not use any sugar and I cut the salt by at least half and use tender quick. Once rubbed, wrap in plastic wrap and put into refig for at least 24 hours. then smoke until bone is loose and internal temp is 215 to 220 degrees, finger licking good.
 
Dry brining poultry can help get the skin to crisp up better. Make a mixture of 2 tablespoons & 1 teaspoon of baking powder. This should be enough for a 3-4 pond chicken. Liberally apply to the chicken skin. place chicken on a drying rack over a rimmed sheet pan or other shallow dish. Place in the fridge and let air dry a minimum of 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Do not cover.

When you're ready to cook pull chicken out, season (omit salt) and cook.
 
Ditto what Case said above on the salt / baking powder mixture for poultry. I always do it if I plan enough ahead of time. I also always dry brine beef.

Here are some drums after an overnight dry brine. I think it really improves the skin.

CEA40FED-EB96-4F3A-8119-42F7A446EB5E.jpeg

ETA After Pic. Modified Dougherty’s wings recipe using a pickle juice mop sauce.

64A18550-2CAB-4E72-B5E7-F07BD73820C5.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I do it all the time. Wet brining never appealed to me.

This accomplishes the same thing and is way less hassle. Meathead from Amazing Ribs advocates the same thing.
 
I agree on the dry brining process for beef, and pork. I think pork "doesn't care" when it comes to wet vs dry brine. Either one seems to work well on pork. Beef (just about any cut) seems to benefit greatly from dry brind. I have not tried dry brine on chicken or turkey yet. I have made some pretty awesome wet-brined chicken, but I can't say that my skin is perfect "every time" so I may need to give the dry brine a go with the salt/baking powder combo and see what happens.
 
An interesting experiment in wet vs. dry brining on chicken and brisket:
amazingribs.com

Wet Brining vs. Dry Brining

Salt helps protein hang onto water during cooking so brining is a great technique to make food moist. But which is better, wet brining or dry brining? It all depends on which meat you're cooking and the results you want. Get the details.
amazingribs.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top