Best Brine For Whole Pig Recipes

BASIC PORK BRINE

Steps:

• Mix water, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl until sugar is dissolved. Stir in garlic and ginger.

WHOLE SMOKED PIG (THE GUY)

Steps:

• Use a mortar and pestle to pound cilantro stems and roots, ginger, garlic, and shallots, to a paste, pounding each ingredient thoroughly before adding the next. Then add the fish sauce to create a thin paste. You'll probably need to work in batches. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the coconut milk. Grind the dried chilies and peppercorns together in a spice grinder. Add the lime zest and kaffir leaf pieces, and grind them all together until the mixture is fine and slightly moist. Stir the spice mixture into the coconut milk mixture. Rub the pig down and up (put it in a giant garbage bag or large plastic bin), inside and out with the kosher salt. Then rub the coconut mixture all over the salted pig, inside and out. Put the pig, belly up, in a large heavy-duty trash bag and pour any remaining marinade inside the cavity. Squeeze out as much air as possible from the bag and tie it. Let sit for 2 to 3 days in a large refrigerator.
• Get a large smoker up to 200 degrees F. Remove the pig from the bag, saving as much of the marinade as possible. Put the pig in the smoker, belly up, and pour the marinade into the belly cavity. While it's cooking, focus on stoking your fire, maintaining the temperature, and drinking. The piggy is ready when the internal temperature of the thickest part of the shoulder is at 170 degrees F. Any pig over 140 pounds or so will take the full 24 hours. If you're working with 50-pounders, though, it'll take closer to 12 hours.
• Remove the pig from the smoker and transfer it to a large table covered with a plastic tablecloth or tarp. Let it rest for about 20 minutes, but pork-mad people will undoubtedly start ripping into the fatty flesh before you can get it to the table. I know because I'm one of them. Use a heavy-duty, sharp knife to remove the primals, peel the skin, and chop the meat. Be sure to have a catch basin for the juice and fat that will be spilling out from the smoky carcass. Toss the reserved cilantro leaves over the chopped meat.

PERFECT CHICKEN BRINE

Steps:

• Mix water, kosher salt, white sugar, garlic, sage, basil, peppercorns, and bay leaf in a large pot over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the salt and sugar are dissolved completely, about 20 minutes.
• Remove pot from heat and cover with a lid. Cool brine at room temperature for 2 hours before refrigerating to cool completely.

CLASSIC BRINE FOR POULTRY, SHELLFISH AND PORK

Steps:

• Bring water to a boil and add the salt and sugar and allow both to completely dissolve. If you are going to add herbs or seasonings add them now so the hot water will cause them to release their essence. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Place the meat (except for whole birds) into a one-gallon zip-lock bag. Add the cooled brine and press baggie to remove excess air and seal. Place in fridge for recommended time.
• Use 1 quart of brine solution per pound of food, not to exceed 2 gallons of brine. Brine for 1 hour per pound, but not for less than 30 minutes or for more than 8 hours.
• HOW LONG TO BRINE.
• The thickness of the muscle, the strength of the brine.
• and your own taste determine how long to brine an item. For a moderately strong brine (1 cup salt to 1 gallon water), the following brining times are rough guidelines. If you aren't ready to cook at the end of the brining time, remove the meat from the brine, but keep the meat refrigerated.
• Shrimp: 30 minutes.
• Whole chicken (4 pounds): 8 to 12 hours.
• Chicken parts: 1 1/2 hours.
• Cornish game hens: 2 hours.
• Turkey (12 to 14 pounds): 24 hours.
• Pork chops (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch thick): 1 to 2 days.
• Whole pork tenderloin: 12 hours.
• Whole pork loin: 4 hours.