Brining is typically a process in which meat is soaked in a salt water solution similar to marination before cooking. Meat is soaked anywhere from 30 minutes to several days. Salmon brine amount of time needed to brine depends on the size of the meat: more time is needed for a large turkey compared to a broiler fryer chicken. Kitchen salt applied to chicken showing extracted moisture after one hour.
Brining can also be achieved by covering the meat in dry coarse salt and left to rest for several hours. 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. Food scientists have two theories about the brining effect, but which one is correct is still under debate. The brine surrounding the cells has a higher concentration of salt than the fluid within the cells, but the cell fluid has a higher concentration of other solutes. The salt introduced into the cell denatures its proteins. The proteins coagulate, forming a matrix that traps water molecules and holds them during cooking. As opposed to dry salting, fish brining or wet-salting is performed by immersion of fish into brine, or just sprinkling it with salt without draining the moisture.
Dry: Give That Bird a Bath”. The Science And Lore Of The Kitchen. Chefs Who Salt Early if Not Often”. The Science Behind Brining a Turkey”. The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.
Why Brining Keeps Turkey and Other Meat So Moist”. Antimicrobial effects of mustard flour and acetic acid against Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium”. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. A “lox and a schmear” refers to a bagel and cream cheese with lox. This dish is a part of American Jewish cuisine.