Brine pork chops?

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Angie, save your buttermilk for some yummy cornbread. I have a great recipe. I'll post it tomorrow because I'm about to fall asleep in my soup right now. If you don't want to eat the cornbread right away, you can freeze it for later.
 
GB said:
Buttermilk would be a marinade, not a brine. A brine must contain salt.

Sooo..shoud I brine them in salt water?

I'm sorry, I've never done pork before. Hubby has bad memories of fatty, gristly chops so I've always stayed away.
 
Katie E said:
Angie, save your buttermilk for some yummy cornbread. I have a great recipe. I'll post it tomorrow because I'm about to fall asleep in my soup right now. If you don't want to eat the cornbread right away, you can freeze it for later.

Please do! I love corn bread!
 
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Thank you! I am actully Googling crockpot pork chops recipes as we speak!
 
My basic brine is to every qt. of water add 1/4 cup kosher salt, 2 T. granulated sugar, & 2 T. brown sugar. To this you can add whatever herb/spice you'd like or not add anything else.

Mix all together, submerge your chops in the brine for 4-6 hours, drain, rinse and go on with your recipe.
 
After brining the meat, you can cook it the usual way. The meat will be juicier and more forgiving in case you overcook it. Brining is easy and people will definitely notice the difference. Good luck!
 
I like to take a fraction of the liquid used for the brine (usually one cup of water), bring it to a boil, add ALL of the salt for the brine, plus herbs/spices for flavoring. I usually use garlic, pepper, thyme, and rosemary for pork (chicken will get the same thing, plus sage). Once it hits a boil, I immediately remove it from the heat, and stir for a minute or so to dissolve the salt, then let it sit and steep for a few minutes. After that, I'll add the remaining water (usually, 3 c), cold, to chill the brine down, stir well, then pour over the meat, and let it brine for a few hours.

I usually grill chops and chicken that I've brined.
 
AllenOK said:
IAfter that, I'll add the remaining water (usually, 3 c), cold, to chill the brine down, stir well, then pour over the meat, and let it brine for a few hours.

It's important in terms of food safety that the meat is very cold upon meeting the brine.

I do either of two things:

1. I prepare the brine the night before and leave in the fridge while I also thaw the frozen meat in the fridge. Brine the next day in the fridge.

or

2. Do as Allenok does, ie.e. heat up a portion of the liquid but add all ingredients, then add ice to approximate the volume of the remaining water to be aded to the brine. Then add the cold meat and leave in the fridge.
 
Thanks for catching that. Usually when I do this, my chops are still half-frozen. This helps me not only brine the chops, but thaw them as well.

Usually, once I combine the hot "super" brine with the remainging balance of cold water, then pour that over my half-frozen chops, I'll place the whole thing in the fridge for a couple of hours.
 
That is true, but I like to infuse herbal flavors into my brine. That's best done with simmering water, like brewing tea.
 
I always dissolve my salt and sugar in a little bit of heated H20 as well. Sometimes I add herbs and seasoning, sometimes not. Just depends. My basic recipe is 1 quart liquid, 1/4 cup kosher salt and 2 tab. brown sugar.
 
Brining is not a good technique for anything that will be braised, including braising in a crockpot.

It's a technique much better suited to dry heat cooking. Or frying, like fried chicken.
 
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