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Dry Brining Pork

12 years ago

I have dry brined poultry for years, and will do it no other way. I want to do a Pork Loin Roast for Christmas Eve and am wondering if I can dry brine that. I have wet brined pork in the past and don't like the texture of the roast, seems wet and soft. I thought if I finely chopped some Garlic, Rosemary, Thyme and used Kosher Salt to create a rub and put it in the fridge for 24 hours, rinse and roast as usual. Any thoughts? Will I be successful? My family are freaks if things are too salty. TYIA

Steve

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Comments (6)

teresa_nc7
12 years ago
They do this all the time on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.
Look up "dry rubs" (they don't call it a dry brine) on Google, find one that has less salt, don't rinse the meat - just use less salt - they never rinse.

Teresa
User
12 years ago
I always presalt pork. There is no need to rinse the meat after presalting, whether presalting pork, chicken, beef or lamb. There is no visual salt left on the surface.

~Ann
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Well it turned out great. Tuesday night I took a 11 pound turkey, and combined two two tablespoons of salt, with some ground pepper and thyme, and rubbed all over the inside and out of the turkey with the mixture, put in a two gallon ziplock bag, squeezed as much air out as possible, then into the fridge breast side up. Wednesday morning I turned it breast side down, there was about a quarter cup of liquid in the bag. Wednesday night right before bed I took the turkey out of the bag and let it sit in the pan in the fridge uncovered. There was about a half cup or more of juice, I was really worried I just sucked all the juice out and made turkey jerkey. Thursday, I took it out about an hour before cooking, and cut the backbone out (which I commonly do to poultry, because it cooks so much more evenly and faster). I put some butter under the skin, I used salted butter because that was all I had and I was worried it would be too salty. I cooked it at 400 on convection roast on the very bottomost of the oven. I did consider the caution about fithifying my oven, but, the oven was very dirty to begin with. After 45 minutes I was suprised to find the breast meat was already 122 degrees, so I knocked it down to 375 and let it finish that way. I guess it was a small bird. I pulled it out when done and let it rest for 15 minutes before carving. The skin was brown and crispy. There was very very little drippings in the pan, but they were concentrated, (and oddly, very little fat) and while the drippings were way salty, the gravy was perfect (I use homemade unsalted broth). The turkey turned out great. Neither the meat nor the skin was salty, but nicely flavored, and the meat was firm but juicy.
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Yup, the cooking times are overkill. I usually brine overnight in the fridge. But no brine will help moisture if cooked so long. I'm guessing you might end up with falling off the bone dry shreads in a wet broth. (if baking covered like a braise). Smoking one day, serving the next?. Smoke day one, chill, re-heat to serve. Shave some hours off. And they know this will be very different than the typical grocery spiral ham? Have they had fresh smoked ham before? I know it is hard for some, the first time, to wrap their heads around the outcome, convinced it will be a 'fresh' home smoked cooked ham, just much better than store bought spiral. It is not at all similar to the salty firm pink cured grocery spiral hams. Ask me how i know, haha. I knew i would not get a 'cured' ham the first time i smoked one, but i sorta expected slightly on the way to the BlackForest ham you get in a deli slice.
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We adjust our brine to our taste. A fresh pork shoulder gets more spices but less salt than most recipes. I don't find the salt gets much time to penetrate much of the interior. More exterior. Adjust next time. We learned the hard way years ago when DH followed a recipe to the 't' and i could not eat it at all. It was bone-in chicken thighs in a rich brine. Not so much the spices but the soy and salt. Now a favorite by cutting waaay back on the salt and the soy. More spice. Not spicy spice but the herb spices. I think of a brine as a cleansing of the exterior of meats. Some flavor and tenderizing but not a thick salty edge. And hope you are talking about fresh ham and not a smoked spiral ham. A fresh ham is a pork shoulder like a pork loin or chop.
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scole250
12 years ago
I wonder if pork would start to cure and taste hammy if a salt rub were applied too long before it was cooked?
User
12 years ago
I think that there is more to "curing" a ham than just salting it for a day or two. I've been using this method for years and the only thing that happens is you get wonderfully moist, tender and delicious pork.

~Ann
skeip
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks Ann! That's what I've been hoping to hear!

Steve
sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
12 years ago
I've always brined and dry brined. There is a loose rule of thumb that a salt dry brine 2-4hrs is equivalent to 10-14 wet brine. Salt is a preservative but also draws out moisture as it starts that cure. It starts to dissolve with that moisture, creating a slurry, then returns into the meat.
It doesn't go far. Depending on how much salt and how much time. A dry brine creates a nice dry skin/film/crust? don't know what to call it, but the surface of the meat firms as it has lost that moisture. That is where the heat while cooking comes into the most contact. Basically a salt cured surface.
A dry rub that has some spice and salt will do a similar thing, depending also, on the amount of salt in the mix. And why i make my own if i dry rub overnight.
A wet brine for pork is just a mess. It gets wet and mealy looking. Probably salvaged with a dry pat p-towel and another dry salting for a hour? Don't know. Did it once. Still fine but a dry brine is better.

I did not understand brining/salting until i started salting my own fish. I do a 1hr, 6hr, 12hr and a 3-5 day 'pickle' depending on how i use it. Referring to elder neighbors for assistance.
Especially when it came to air cured salt fish.

A good read to understanding is in a few links i have in my files.

"Rules of thumb
For thick cuts like beef prime rib. 1 teaspoon of table salt per pound, refrigerate for 2 to 12 hours
For medium thick cuts like pork loin or turkey breast. 1/2 teaspoon of table salt per pound, refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours
For thinner cuts like steaks & chops. 1/3 teaspoon of table salt per pound, refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours
For Morton's Kosher Salt. Double the quantity.
You do not need to rinse off excess salt.

Here is a link that might be useful: dry brining

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