How to brine brisket at home: two simple recipes

What is brisket? This is the belly portion of a pork carcass. Sometimes it is called “underbelly”, “subperitoneum”, but the essence does not change. This part of the breast has approximately the same amount of fat and meat, which alternate layers, making the meat incredibly tender and juicy.

There are two simple ways to brine brisket. Dry brining is used to create a regular brined brisket. If smoking is intended, or the food is needed today, the brisket is salted in brine. Both methods are simple and do not require special skills.

Dry brining brisket

For salting, you only need fresh brisket that has not been frozen before. They don’t wash it, but scrape it a little with a knife and dry it with paper towels.

In order for the brisket to be salted well, it needs to be cut into small pieces. There is no need to chop it too much, and it is enough to cut a kilogram piece of brisket into 6-8 pieces.

For 1 kg of brisket you need:

• 100 gr. salt;
• 1 head of garlic;
• spices: black pepper, paprika, bay leaf, etc.

When salting brisket, you need to remember that it is better to add too little spices than too much. Too many aromatic herbs will overwhelm the taste of the meat, which is not good if you wanted a salty brisket.

Peel the garlic, cut it into thin slices, and mix the spices with salt. Coat each piece in this flavorful mixture and place the brisket in a container. It is advisable to use glassware, maybe even a jar.

Close the container with the brisket with a lid and put it in a cool place, maybe on the lowest shelf of the refrigerator.

The brisket must be salted for three days, and it is better not to look into it. The meat will release juice, and you will certainly want to drain it, but you shouldn’t do this.

On the third day, you need to pull out the brisket, and you can consider it ready. However, a few more touches need to be made. Dry the breast with a towel and sniff, maybe some more garlic? If you like the smell, wrap each piece of brisket in parchment paper and put it in the freezer for a day. The brisket should rest a little, which will make the meat denser, and cutting it into thin pieces will be much more convenient.

Brisket in brine

This is a way to quickly cure brisket, or if you like juicier meat. For this method, the brisket can be washed if it needs it, and cut only so that the pieces of meat fit into the pan.

Prepare the brine:

• 1 l. water;
• 100 gr. salt;
• spices.

After the water boils, pour salt and spices into it and dip the pieces of brisket into it. Immediately after this, remove the pan from the stove and cover the pan with a lid.

Cover the pan and leave the brisket to steep and salt for 3-4 hours. After that, drain the brine and place the brisket pieces on paper towels.Dry the pieces with napkins.

Grate the garlic on a fine grater and coat each piece of meat with this “gruel”. If you don't like garlic, you can season the brisket with black pepper or paprika.

Wrap the brisket in parchment paper, then wrap it in cling film and put the meat in the freezer for a couple of hours. In the cold, the layers of fat will stabilize and become a little denser, but the meat will remain juicy and tender.

Both of these methods of salting brisket are good, and the meat turns out uniquely tasty.

Watch the video on how to salt brisket at home: