PrintSaving the Brine?
I recently picked up The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson, and was reading through it. In it, he has a recipe for a brine that you'd use to make meats like pork, chicken, shellfish taste better. I'm well aware of brining, and how it's become quite a popular technique around Thanksgiving, due mostly to the efforts of Cooks Illustrated. But here's the thing that threw me. Fergus talks about nurturing the brine like an old friend, using it over and over. "a nurtured friend, whose character should improve with time and should give delicious results." (He does take a bow to fears of bacteria by suggesting it be kept cold in the back of the fridge, as opposed to keeping it anywhere else. And he recommends using a non-corrosive bucket.) Still, I'm afraid of the perishable stuff that comes out of the meat, like blood and other stuff. So, what do you think? Do you use it once and toss your brine, or do you think it'd be ok to use and reuse it?
(His recipe contains 1 part superfine sugar to 1.25 parts sea salt, plus herbs and seasoning, like juniper berries, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, but not much else besides water.)
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8 Comments:
I'm not an expert on these things, but I'd imagine that the salt would probably kill the nasties. I suppose, as a cautionary measure, you could bring the brine to a boil, let it cool and then store it.
Amandarama at 2:37PM on 03/31/08
I'm also no expert on this, but I'd agree about the salt likely killing any bacteria in the "old" brine. That said, I make a new batch of brine every time I need it since I make slightly different types of brine for different foods - for instance, I may use just "plain" brine (1:1 ratio of sugar to sea salt) for shrimp, brown sugar plus honey or maple syrup instead of white sugar for chicken or turkey (and perhaps, some herbs to go with it), "plain" brine plus spices & herbs for beef, etc. So to me it wouldn't be really practical to keep various (and various-sized) batches of brine in the fridge (I only have one:-)) - if I may need the same kind of brine in two months, I'll just make a new batch.
brooke29 at 3:18PM on 03/31/08
If i was going to bring it to a boil, I'd let it boil for ten minutes or so. But frankly, I'm not crazy about keeping it, considering the bacteria that have been found on raw chicken. I am way not a food safety nut, but my bacteriology class taught me a few things.
lemons at 4:18PM on 03/31/08
I usually pooh-pooh what seem to be overly cautious sanitary measures, but my first reaction to this idea is ARE YOU NUTS?
Brine is cheap. Dump it!
srhcb at 11:49PM on 03/31/08
Brine is cheap -- it's mostly water. And I don't have the space to store a container of salty water in my fridge. I suppose if you were brining every day or a few days a week, even, maybe it would make sense. But otherwise, it's just more sensible to make a fresh, clean batch and not worry about what might be in the brine that I don't want to know about.
dbcurrie at 12:21AM on 04/01/08
Here's my problem...I'd be so paranoid that there was something living in the brine, I'd hold onto it and then never use it. I agree with dbcurrie - it's pretty cheap. Not putting truffles in my brine...LOL. The most expensive thing I can think of that I put in my brine is pure maple syrup. If I'm brining a big bird or birds to serve a crowd, the paranoia would far outweigh the savings for me.
Down the drain it goes after it has outlived its usefulness - and that's only one use in my book.
chiff0nade at 10:25AM on 04/01/08
Does anyone have a big enough refrigerator to actually store something like this?? Throw it out and make a new batch.
huney_bumper at 10:43AM on 04/01/08
Chuck it. Brine is not wine.
HunterAnglerGardenerCook at 11:39AM on 04/01/08