Overheard at the Guardian reading, Tofu eating, Yoghurt weaving, Vegan Deli Counter

A brine can include other flavours that will then be pulled into the item being brined.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dry+brine+recipe&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari

This goes for wet or dry brines.

Key word here is 'can', a brine, by definition, is essentially just salty water.

My folks got their brine mix for salt beef/ox tongue from their butcher friend

Slightly off topic observation. I remember going through a brining fad some years ago, I was brining everything at one point, it's a messy business. I tried adding all kinds of aromatics and exciting ingredients and could detect very little, if any, difference from using just plain, cheap table salt.

But I obvs don't have a very cultured palette. 😋

Dry brining chicken with just salt is the best thing in the world.

brine mix for salt beef/ox tongue from their butcher friend

edit: too slow :(

Dry brining chicken with just salt

Implies that there are dry brines that may include other items than just salt. 👍

When is a brine not a brine? When James says so, obvs. 😴

Yep, some use koshering salt instead of table salt.

Wondering if Himalayan salt or sea salt would makes things different.

I don't eat meat

No not a rub, it was a bucket of water/strong brine using the correct salt.
(PDV with no anti caking agents.)

Sorry, and i really don't mean to be an arse, but how is it a dry brine if it uses water and, err, actual brine?

The salt gets the water out of the meat and then the meat reabsorbs the salt water mix.

No idea why this is different to a dry salt rub.

Sorry, it’s not a dry brine.
Got a bit salty and confused.

I think you are the one trying to limit what a brine is, my understanding is a lot more inclusive.

When is a brine not a brine? When Joe says so

ftfy

Does self awareness diminish with old age?

What constitutes a dry brine is an even better hill to die on than who owns which bit of a train station. I love this place.

👍🤣👍

Just to check what is the answer to the question, "what is a dry brine?"

Lots of salt mixed with zero or more other ingredients.

Not taking the piss by the way, love the passion!

This thread has got so meta

I did google it and pretty much every one of the top ten searches said a dry brine was just putting salt on the meat. Nothing else.

My initial confusion was because I had literally never heard of dry brine before. Brine is salt water, so a dry brine just didn't sound logical to me and that dry brine is surely just salt?

Can you brine dry or otherwise vegetables? Not taking the piss, just interested.

My understanding is brining is done with the intention of salt (and possibly other things) being pulled into the item. Seasoning is just a sprinkling of things on the outside. I believe the idea with a dry brine is the salt (and other things) is left on for a period of time, initially the salt pulls water out but there comes a point where the meat will pull back in the salty (and possibly other flavours) back into the meat. This will give deeper flavour to the item, and helps it retain moisture during the cooking process.

There are options for a wet brine (a solution the item is immersed in) or a dry brine where the meat is rubbed with the brine ingredients.

Try searching for dry brine recipe and you may well find more interesting brine options than simply just salt.

We're here to clear things up on that topic, so that nobody gets too salty

Google is your friend, and possibly less cunty than lfgss

https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-brine-vegetables-8663153#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20I%20found%20optimal,green%20beans%20can%20be%20transformative.

I didn’t want it too fuck up my algorithm ;)