Hummm, love to brine meat, but what about the sugar??

The Benefits of Brining

Nothing's worse than eating dried-out and flavorless chicken breast or pork chops. Unfortunately, these cuts of meat are prone to being bland. Why? Pork loin (where pork chops and tenderloin come from) and chicken breast are very low in fat, and fat adds moisture and flavor. Another flavor factor is muscle: The more exercise a muscle gets, the more flavor it has, while less exercise makes the meat more tender. That’s why chicken thighs and pork shoulder are more flavorful, yet less tender, than breast and loin (the muscle running along the animal’s backbone). So what’s the key to getting great flavor and retaining moisture in your favorite low-fat, tender cuts? Soak them in a salt and sugar-water solution called a "brine." Place meat in a pot or ziplock bag with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup kosher salt dissolved in two quarts of water. Allow meat to brine for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

Rowan, you're turning me right back into a vegetarian, hon.
BLAH!!

ell-
I'm sorry there just copies of the daily dish!!!!!

rb!

I'm teasing you, Rowan.

Lay off, Ellis! I've seen you eat meat.

Rowan, what a sweet picture of your dog all dressed up for halloween What is his/her name?

Rowan: Your four legged cutie looks a lot like our Cuddles. Our baby is a cockapoo. What is your baby?

In the brineing, I suspect the sugar is rinsed off so there is not a big residue in the meat. What do you think? Have you tried it?

Lizzie

May I butt in? I haven't tried it.. but don't you think it's all in how you cook things? I bought some pork loin chops the other day and just popped them in the freezer... when I went to get them I noticed a note on top saying they had been injected with some solution. I cooked them anyway but was not happy with the taste. I don't even like to buy turkey that is self basting.. Am I wierd?

Thanks everyone,
My baby is a mix, mom was a shih-tzu and daddy was a pomerian poodle, I call him a "Sha-pom-poo". His name is Bailey, that is where I get my last name for onscreen!!

He is 5 years old, and the light of my life....he is actually the focus of my new business, which I will be posting soon for everyone, I got the backing !!!! YEAH!!!

I brined a full turkey for Thanksgiving a few years back. I had a California Thanksgiving. I didn't use sugar, but I used slices of citrus fruits, salt and more it was great. I had an alternative menu because we were all watching our weight. The turkey was amazing, moist, tender and probably some of the best turkey that I ever made. It didn't had a very strong flavor Jenny, but it added moisture, so the white meat was melting in your mouth.

I am thinking of doing an alternative Thanksgiving again this year... I will have to change some things around for SBD, but I am working on it!!!

This was my menu for that day....
Brined Turkey
Roasted Red Potatos, onions and we called is Finouk in Italian. It is the celery like anise tasting vegetable.
Mashed Yams with Carrots with cinnamon and fresh oranges
Fresh Cranberries cooked with port wine and orange juice
Spinach Salad with Fresh Strawberry slices, walnuts and Feta Cheese

Desert was Sugar Free Pumpkin Mousse, and baked apples with brandy and cloves. I also had lowfat cool whip and I served Bailey's and Coffee with desert.

It was not traditional, but very very good. Everyone was really resistant to the choices, but ended up loving it and have wanted more!!!

I have several brine recipes, if your all interested, I will look them up and post them in the recipes section!!!

Thanks Rowan!! I brined my turkey last year, and JUST used salt and water. Even that helped with moisture, but i know it is better if there is something sweet in the brine.

Gosh Rowan, that sounds good! I'm going to try and make cranberry sauce this year with Cranberries and Splenda. Hopefully it will be good. I don't think we have a single thing at my family Thanksgiving that is low carb or low glycemic, except the turkey. Oh, the deviled eggs. Ok, there's my Thanksgiving!

Hmmmmm - I'm cooking a turkey for a dinner on Thursday. Maybe I'll brine it.
Rowan, is that celery tasting veggie finnochio? I have a Susan Somers recipe for it - yummy! I may make it for dinner.

I have never in my life brined a turkey, in fact I've never heard of it till I read it on this board... I would love to have the recipe. Citrus sounds wonderful..

I made a gelatin with splenda sweetened cranberry drink.. it's very low carb.. I added orange zest and one grated apple.. and a few chopped walnuts. It's delicious. I'm sort of a cook who throws things together without measuring but now that I'm doing this way of eating I'm trying to get some more ideas on how to make yummy stuff low carb. I like this place.. and I think I'm learning how to get around this site.

One more question... where is the recipe section? Is it a thread with a specific name? Thanks for putting up with me and my silly questions..

Jenny,
The recipe thread is when you enter this area....

Ruth, yes it is the Italian celery thing... I just toss it in olive oil, salt and pepper and I either roast it in the oven or in a basket on the rotisserie!!

I brined my turkey for 13 hours, the longer the better. I will track down one of the recipes later tonight and post it. You can also brine a chicken.....yummy --brining works well with the drier meats, like poultry and pork from my memory

Jenny, brining meats is wonderful.....

rb