Each Thanksgiving, Americans flood online culinary discussion boards with different versions of the same questions — does brining my turkey actually make it juicier? The answer to this question is absolutely. When it comes to cooking succulent and delicious proteins, brining is the most effective way to rescue drier meats like pork chops and turkey. However, if you’ve ever bitten into a moist and tender turkey breast only to find it disappointingly flavorless, the brine might actually be to blame.
Though water-based brines are incredibly effective at infusing your meat with moisture, they’re much less effective at imparting flavor, mainly due to the water itself. While marinades use acid and fat to build moisture and flavor, wet brines are mainly water, salt, and a little sugar. The fat in marinades helps extract flavor from aromatics in the recipe and carry it into the meat, while water simply isn’t capable of doing that. That means wet-brined protein may be succulent and salty, but any other seasonings you add will taste weak and diluted at best.
Another issue with water-based brines is that your protein may become waterlogged, making it difficult — if not impossible — to achieve a beautifully golden finish. Excess water in your meat may cause it to steam instead of sear, so you’ll either have to settle for a lackluster crust or risk overcooking your main dish. Fortunately, dry brining offers an easy alternative curing method that produces juicy and flavorful results without using a single drop of water.
How dry-brining protein locks in moisture
Whereas wet brining involves fully submerging your meat into a saltwater solution for a number of hours, dry brining takes advantage of the moisture in your meat using osmosis. Dry brining involves using a blend of salt (kosher salt is preferable), black pepper, and various dried herbs and spices to coat the outside of your meat, forming a temporary crust. You then allow the meat to rest and develop flavor in the refrigerator for a few hours — or even a few days, if you’re prepping a large turkey or big cut of meat.
As the meat rests, the salt will naturally draw moisture from it, which will then dissolve the salt and mingle with the black pepper and other seasonings. Once the salt is fully dissolved and the protein is relatively dry, the brine created on the meat’s surface will sink back in, drawing flavor in with it. Since this process only uses water already present within the meat, there’s no risk of it becoming mushy. The moisture inside of meat also contains fat, which will help pull flavor molecules from the seasonings into your protein.
After the moisture is fully reabsorbed, it’s essentially locked in to your protein, creating a beautifully dry outer surface perfect for searing, and a luscious and moist inner texture full of layers of delicious flavor. This brining technique might require some planning, but it’s worth the wait for near-perfect results almost every time.
