To Brine Or Not To Brine
I used to be a fan of brining meat: immersing it into a salty liquid and letting osmosis carry the salt deep into the flesh. Cook's Illustrated has championed the technique for years—they may still—and that's where I first learned of it.
But I've debarked from the brining boat. Brining is useful because industrial producers have stripped the fat and flavor from their animals, breeding instead for lean meat and animals that handle stress better. Put the meat in salty water, however, and you add back flavor and moisture.
But you're not bringing out the natural flavor of the meat; you're adding an "artificial" taste of kosher salt and water. I first moved away from brining when I ordered heritage turkeys in 2002. Marian Burros's famous 2001 New York Times article, the one that brought these birds into the public light, mentioned that the heritage birds had an actual taste, and I thought of a scene in The Soul of a Chef where a cook gets a good piece of meat and says, in effect, "Why would I get rid of that flavor with a brine?" As I bought more quality meat, brining seemed like an unnecessary insult. Of course, Bay Area shoppers have the choice to buy this kind of meat. If I lived elsewhere, I might still brine the meat I could easily get.
As I moved away from brining, I noticed that brined meat was almost too juicy. Chicken, for instance, has a slippery, jelly-like consistency that doesn't feel quite right. Brined pork doesn't suffer from this, but you're still adding juice because commercial pork is too lean and doesn't contribute its own. I've heard cooks complain that the salty juices can't be used for a sauce, but I've never had this problem.
I do season my meat before I cook it. I rub salt on it 24 hours—ideally—in advance, a technique that I first saw in The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, but which I've since seen in other places. The "perfect roast chicken" mentioned a few issues ago in The Art of Eating uses this technique, and of course pre-salting is nothing more than a dry rub, something that grillers and barbecuers do right now.
Do you brine? Pre-salt? None of the above? I wonder if brining is still alive and well, or if it's beginning to die out.
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