Charcuterie_ The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing - Michael Ruhlman [27]
Yield: 1 gallon/4 liters
Basic Fish Brine
2 sliced lemons
1⁄2 cup/60 grams coarsely chopped fresh dill
1⁄4 cup/6 cloves coarsely chopped garlic
Follow the All-Purpose Brine recipe (above), adding the lemons, dill, and garlic along with the salt and sugar.
Optional Brine Seasonings
For most brines, any combination of aromatic vegetables—onion, carrot, and celery, roughly chopped or sliced—are a good idea, and the more of them the better. Garlic and peppercorns are excellent additions to most brines, as are the standard herbs, parsley, thyme, and chives, and bay leaf. It’s hard to use too many of these ingredients.
Optional Seasonings for Pork
Sage and garlic are excellent (see the recipe on page 65), as are other traditional pork pairings such as juniper berries. Bay leaves and coriander seeds (toasted, of course), as well as brown sugar, also enhance pork. If you are brining the pork to cure it, such as a loin for Canadian bacon, a fresh ham, or even pork belly for bacon, add 11⁄2 ounces/42 grams of pink salt (8 teaspoons) for each gallon of brine.
Optional Seasonings for Poultry
In addition to the standard aromatics mentioned above, tarragon is excellent with chicken. So are lemons; halve and give them a squeeze before plunking them in (see the recipe on page 63).
Optional Seasonings for Fish
Dill and garlic go well with fish, as do lemons; see the variation.
Brine Times
The time you leave a piece of meat in the brine is critical. If you leave it in too long, it can become unpleasantly salty; it’s always better to err on the not-long-enough side. Smaller items need only a matter of hours, big items sometimes require a matter of days. Again, brine the item well ahead of cooking it so that it can rest to allow the salt remaining in the flesh to distribute itself evenly, from 2 hours to a day.
Boneless chicken breasts (8 ounces/225 grams): 2 hours
Pork chops, 11⁄2 inches/3.5 centimeters thick: 2 hours
A 2-pound/1-kilogram chicken: 4 to 6 hours
A 3- to 4-pound/1.5- to 2-kilogram chicken: 8 to 12 hours
A boneless turkey breast, 4 inches/10 centimeters thick: 12 to 18 hours
A 4-pound/2-kilogram pork loin: 12 hours
A 10 to 15-pound/4- to 7-kilogram turkey: 24 hours
A turkey over 15 pounds/7 kilograms: 24 to 36 hours
Fish: 1 hour for thin fillets, 6 to 8 hours for fillets or steaks 1 inch/2.5 centimeters thick or more
Recommended Finished Temperatures for Meats
Remember that meat will continue to cook after it’s out of the oven (this is called carry-over cooking), and its internal temperature will rise five to ten degrees. All meats should be allowed to rest. Roast chicken should rest for at least 15 minutes before serving, and turkey for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Pork: Federal guidelines recommend cooking all pork to 160 degrees F./71 degrees C. We prefer pork medium-rare to medium, 130 to 140 degrees F./54 to 60 degrees C., for a finished temperature of 140 to 145 degrees F./60 to 63 degrees C.
• Poultry: Poultry should be cooked until the thigh registers 160 degrees F./70 degrees C., for a final temperature of 170 degrees F./76 degrees C. A good way to check if a chicken is done is to tilt it to allow the juices in the cavity to run out. If they are clear, and free of blood, the chicken is done.
HERB-BRINED ROASTED CHICKEN OR TURKEY
Brining a chicken or a turkey is a foolproof way to ensure juicy white meat and completely cooked dark meat. That’s especially valuable with a turkey, but it also gives you a little leeway when cooking a chicken. The following recipe will work for a chicken, a boneless turkey breast, or a whole turkey. You may need to double all amounts for the brine ingredients if you’re cooking a large turkey, 18 pounds/8 kilograms or more, depending on your brining container. You need a container large enough to contain the turkey completely submerged (check beforehand), but if your vessel is too big, you may need to make more brine to submerge the turkey.
For the brine, it’s fine