Brining is the secret technique behind many of your favorite restaurant meat dishes. A simple way to both season and prevent meat from drying out, the standard brine equation is a cup of kosher salt and a half-cup of sugar in a gallon of water. You can introduce a wide range of adjunct to that base – try herbs or hot peppers or change the sugar to molasses. Whatever flavor profile you try, the magic of osmosis will render your dish salted and succulent. Try out this technique with anything from green tomatoes to DIY pastrami:
• Recipe: Grilled Brined Shrimp
• Recipe: Brined Chicken Wings
• Recipe: Fried Green Tomatoes
Anne Marie and Dan Lodholz are longtime contributors to Sauce Magazine.
This article appears in November 2017.