The 6% salt solution that makes lean pork and poultry juicy on purpose: salt restructures the proteins so they hold water through the heat.
60 g
🧂 Kosher Salt ›
6% of the water weight
1 l
💧 Sparkling Water ›
still water, to be precise — 1 liter
1 tbsp
⚫ Whole Black Peppercorns ›
Mise en place
Before you start
Yield: 1 liter — scale to submerge
Prep checklist
Kosher Salt — 6% of the water weight
Sparkling Water — still water, to be precise — 1 liter
Dissolve salt and sugar in a third of the water, warmed; add the rest cold with the aromatics. Cool fully before it touches meat.
💡
The ratio is the recipe: 6% salt by water weight. Everything else is perfume.
Submerge: pork chops 2–4 hours, chicken pieces 2–4, a whole chicken 8–12. Never longer — over-brined meat turns ham-like and spongy.
Rinse briefly, pat very dry, and cook as usual — expect noticeably juicier results and season sauces lightly (the meat brought its own salt).
Taste before serving and adjust salt and acid — the last 30 seconds of seasoning matter more than any single ingredient.
Afterwards
Keep, reheat & pair
Storage
Unused marinade keeps 5 days refrigerated. Once it touches raw protein, discard it — or boil 3 full minutes to serve as a sauce.
Freezing
Freeze protein IN the marinade: it seasons as it thaws. 2 months.
Reheating
Marinades aren't reheated — but boil any used marinade for 3 full minutes if you want to serve it as a sauce (it touched raw protein).
Make ahead
Mix up to 5 days ahead and refrigerate; marinate proteins in zip bags so cleanup is nothing.
Wine pairing
Follows the finished dish.
Beer pairing
Follows the finished dish.
On the plate
Serve it with
Sides
·
Applies to whatever you marinate
Garnish
Reserve a spoonful (before it touches raw meat) to finish the cooked dish
Wet brine or dry brine?
Wet = maximum juiciness, softer surface (harder to crisp). Dry = concentrated flavor and crackling skin. Lean pork chops love wet; roast chicken skin lovers choose dry.
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