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All Purpose Basic Brine Recipe

Back to basics.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Course: Sauces
Cuisine: American
Keyword: brine
Servings: 2 quarts

Ingredients

  • 2 quarts water
  • ½ cup kosher salt or other coarse-grain salt
  • ½ cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

Instructions

  • In a large pan over medium high heat, add the water, salt and brown sugar. Give a stir to mix together. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Remove from heat and let the liquid cook down to room temperature.
  • After the liquid cools down, I put the brine into one of those plastic containers with a tight fitting lid and cool down to 40°F in the refrigerator. You want the meat and the brine to be close to the same temperature while brining. This helps with the infusion of flavor.
  • Add your meat or poultry to the container and brine together in the refrigerator for the allotted time. Simple. You just have to plan to do it before hand.