Brining is treating food withbrine orcoarse salt^[1] whichpreserves andseasons the food while enhancingtenderness.Flavor can be further developed with additions such asherbs,spices,sugar,caramel orvinegar.Meat andfish are typically brined for less than twenty-four hours whilevegetables,cheeses andfruit are brined in a much longer process known aspickling. Brining is similar tomarination, except that a marinade usually includes a significant amount of acid, such as vinegar orcitrus juice. Brining is also similar tocuring, which usually involves significantly drying the food, and is done over a much longer time period.

Brining is afood processing technique in which meat is soaked in a salt water solution – a brine – similar tomarination before cooking.^[2] The brine may beseasoned withspices andherbs. Duration varies from 30 minutes to several days depending on the cut's size, thickness, and desired effect.

Brining can also be achieved by covering the meat in drycoarse salt and left to rest for several hours.^[1] The salt draws moisture from the interior of the meat to the surface, where it mixes with the salt and is then reabsorbed with the salt essentially brining the meat in its own juices. The salt rub is then rinsed off and discarded before cooking.^[3]

Food scientists have two theories about the brining effect, but which one is correct is still under debate.^[4][5]

• Thebrine surrounding the cells has a higher concentration of salt than the fluid within the cells, but the cell fluid has a higher concentration of othersolutes.^[2] This leads saltions todiffuse into the cell, while the solutes in the cells cannot diffuse through the cell membranes into the brine. The increased salinity of the cell fluid causes the cell to absorb water from the brine viaosmosis.^[2]
• The salt introduced into the celldenatures itsproteins.^[2] The proteins coagulate, forming a matrix that traps water molecules and holds them during cooking.^[6] This prevents the meat fromdehydrating.

As opposed todry salting, fish brining or wet-salting is performed by immersion of fish into brine, or just sprinkling it with salt without draining the moisture. To ensure long-term preservation, the solution has to contain at least 20% of salt, a process called "heavy salting" in fisheries; heavy-salted fish must be desalted in cold water or milk before consumption. If less salt is used, the fish is suited for immediate consumption, but additional refrigeration is necessary for longer preservation.^[7]

Wet-salting is used for preparation of:^[7]

• Saltedherring, non-gutted, with hard or soft roe and heavily salted (20% NaCl brine, with final product containing around 12% salt),
• Soused herring which isgutted and lightly salted (2–3% NaCl), withoutroe,
• Anchovies, which can be immersed in brine or wet-salted. After several years, the fish liquefies and can be processed into paste or anchovy butter,
• Caviar and other types ofroe.

Vegetables are immersed in brine,vinegar orvinaigrette for extended periods of time in the process ofpickling, where they undergo anaerobicfermentation which affects their texture and flavor. Pickling can preserve perishable foods for months. Antimicrobial herbs and spices, such asmustard seed,garlic,cinnamon orcloves, are often added.^[8] Unlike thecanning process, pickling (which includes fermentation) does not require that the food be completelysterile before it is sealed. The acidity or salinity of the solution, the temperature of fermentation, and the exclusion of oxygen determine which microorganisms dominate, and determine the flavor of the end product.^[9]

Brine is used in two ways in cheese production:

• Brined cheeses, such ashalloumi andfeta, are pickled in brine.
• Washed-rind cheeses, such asMunster, are washed with brine during the production process.

• Kosher salt – Coarse additive-free edible salt
• Pickling salt – Fine-grained salt used for manufacturing pickles
• Curing (food preservation) – Food preservation and flavouring processes based on drawing moisture out of the food by osmosis

• Brining on Cooking For Engineers - a discussion on what happens to meat as it brines (with reader comments)

• Food preparation
• Cooking techniques
• Food preparation techniques
• Salted foods
• Culinary terminology

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