Nowadays the pork produced can be very dry and tough. Brining results in a wonderful tender and moist meat.
Here is a very basic brine that you can add any seasoning/herbs that you desire - most of the time, I just use the basic and the seasonings and flavors are added in the dish I make.
Place the pork you are working with in a deep container; add cold water to cover the meat. Remove the meat to a plate and eyeball the amount of water left in the container.
If you have approx. 1 qt. of water, add 1/4 cup kosher salt + 2 T. granulated sugar and 2 T. brown sugar. Whisk until dissolved (don't worry if there are a few small lumps left) Put the meat back in the brine, cover and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours. Remove from brine and rinse the meat well (this is important so you don't have an overly salted product).
Proceed with your dish using the pork.
Note: if it looks like you only need 2 cups of water to cover the pork, just half the salt and sugars and proceed.
The above has become the easiest method I have found for brining pork, chicken or whatever you want. A lot of methods used to call for starting with hot water and whisking the salt and sugars and wasting time by allowing the hot brine to cool before adding the meat. This step is really not necessary.
Good luck and I think you will see a very big difference in your pork dishes if you try brining.
