Brining meat or poultry in a salt water solution with herbs and spices tenderizes and keeps it moist during slow cooking. Brining pork shoulder with a layer of fat and bone is recommended, while poultry is often brined due to low fat content. Brine recipes call for 1 cup of salt per gallon of water, with additional ingredients added as desired. Some chefs avoid brining due to saltiness, while others rinse the meat after brining. Experimentation is key to finding preferred results.
Brining is the process of soaking meat or poultry in a salt water solution, usually with other herbs, spices and flavorings to tenderize it and help keep it moist during long, slow cooking processes such as roasting or smoking . Many barbecue enthusiasts find that brining the pork shoulder before cooking results in a more flavorful and juicier pulled pork. When selecting a pork shoulder for brining, it’s important to choose one with a layer of fat on the bottom and a bone in the center, both of which will help keep the meat dry. The meat should be immersed completely in the saline solution and placed in a sealed container for at least a few hours and ideally overnight. Sometimes pickled pork shoulder can make the meat salty, so cooks may want to rinse off the brine before cooking and avoid adding extra salt while cooking.
Poultry, especially roasting turkeys, are often brined because they tend to dry out during roasting due to a relatively low fat content in the meat. Some cooks find that brining pork shoulder isn’t necessary because this type of roast already contains enough fat to keep it moist during slow roasting or smoking. Other pork aficionados, however, insist that the brine produces an even better result, with meat that falls off the bone and can be shredded with almost no effort. The best type of pork shoulder to use is the same whether the meat is to be salted or not – one with a generous layer of fat on the bottom and a bone running through the center, both of which help keep the meat moist as it cooks. .
Most brine recipes call for about 1 cup of salt for every gallon of water. Some chefs suggest using kosher or sea salt, while others have good results with regular table salt. Sometimes other ingredients, such as brown sugar, molasses, peppercorns, or bay leaves, are added to the mix when the pork shoulder is added. Other times, a dry rub or flavor injector is used to flavor the meat after it is removed from the brine. Regardless of the ingredients used, the pork shoulder should be soaked completely in the brine solution for up to 24 hours and should be refrigerated during this time. A large sealable plastic bag is a good container to use for this purpose.
Some chefs don’t like brining pork shoulder because it makes the meat salty. Others like the salty taste, but those who don’t find it can rinse the meat with water after the brine removes some of the salt while retaining the moisture. Cooks interested in brining pork shoulder can experiment with different options until they find their preferred result.
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