Brine Your Holiday Meats to Maximize the Flavor

Brining is the secret to moist, well seasoned meats with flavor throughout the serving. If you are not brining your meats before cooking, you have not been getting the most from your meals. Brining is an age old method of food preparation originally used to preserve meats. It is now one of the things most good cooks know and use to enhance the flavor of food.

Want to make sure your meat is tender and seasoned through and through? Brine it. Even a turkey can be brined. One of the secrets to Church's Fried Chickens million dollar flavor is that they brine their chicken overnight for the next days sale. Popeye's chicken, kentucky Fried chicken: they all have brined their meats to enhance the flavor. Cooking your meat before brining is just wasting the cut.

How To Brine Your Holiday Turkey

To make sure you get the most from your holiday turkey, brine it at least twelve hours before baking, frying or roasting. To brine your turkey, clean it well by placing it in warm water to cover. Allow the turkey to rest in the water for twenty minutes or more. Remove the turkey and wash it thoroughly with a meat brush or your hands using warm water. After cleaning the turkey, place it in a large pot of warm water with two tablespoons or more of salt. You can brine using other seasonings like Accent, Seasoned Salt, Garlic or whatever you like added to the salted water. Allow the turkey to remain in the mixture for two hours or more. Remove your turkey from the water, throw the brine water away, lightly season your turkey with any additional seasoning. Remember that brining has already allowed salt and other seasonings added to the water to penetrate and soak into the meat. If you do not like your meats too heavily seasoned, brining may be all that is needed to add the flavor you require. Bake your turkey as you normally do or according to the instructions normally followed. Be prepared for the most amazing flavor and the most tender, moist meat you may have ever eaten.

How To Brine Other Cuts of Meat

All meats will be moist and have an amazing flavor when brined before cooking. Before brining any cut of meat, make sure the meat has been cleaned thoroughly. You never know how your meat has been handled or the conditions in which it was prepared. To clean any meat, use warm water and wash thoroughly paying extra attention to any cuts, folds and under the skin. Place your clean meat in warm water with at least a tablespoon of salt added. Allow the meat to soak for at least one hour. After soaking, prepare the cut according to instructions or as normal.

The flavor and texture of the toughest cuts of meat will be enhanced by brining. For more information on brining meats, click here.