The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 1082

allowing dissolved proteins to cross-link with each
other.Thisisthemainprinciplebehindsausagemaking—
dissolved proteins can bond with each other, creating a
pleasantly bouncy, tender texture. By brining a chicken
breast or a pork chop, you’re in effect giving it a very
lightcure—thesameprocessthatconvertsarawhaminto
asuppleprosciutto.
•Third,asthebrineslowlyworksitswayintothemeat,it
seasons it beyond just the very surface. An overnight
brinewillpenetrateafewmillimetersintothemeat,giving
youbuilt-inseasoningbeforeyouevergettothebreading.
Brines also improve juiciness by increasing the muscles’
ability to retain moisture. My normal brining for chicken
breast is anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. In this
case, however, a much, much longer brining time was
necessary in order to completely mitigate the effects of
high-temperature frying, delivering a uniquely smooth,
juicytexturetothemeat.
Afull6hourssubmergedinsalt/sugarwaterproducedthe
beauty below. Weighing the meat confirmed that an
overnight-brined-then-fried bird loses about 9 percent less
moisture than an unbrined bird does and is significantly
tastier.


Unbrinedchickenontheleftversusbrinedchickenonthe
right.
I’ve experimented with tossing certain animal
preparationswithamixtureofbakingpowderandsaltaday
inadvanceinordertoimprovetheircrispness(seeAll-Belly
Porchetta,here).The salt acts as a brine, while the baking

powderraisesthepHoftheskin,causingittobrownmore
efficiently and the thin film of protein-rich liquid around it
to form microbubbles that can add crispness. I tried this
methodonmyfriedchicken,butitendedupdryingtheskin
outtoomuch,makingittoughtogetthebreadingtoremain
attacheddowntheline.
KnowingthatI’dbesoakingmychickeninbuttermilkthe
nextdayanyway,IwonderedifI’dbeabletokilltwobirds
with one stone by replacing the water in the brine with