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Brines
Brines are generally used on white meats such as fish or poultry and are used to
produce a juicier and more flavourful end product. The brining process will enhance
food that is to be either "Hot" or "Cold" smoked. Before you start brining, there are
a couple of basic rules to follow.
6.
Containers: as a brine is basically a salt solution, the containers need to be
clean and made from a nonreactive material. Plastic tubs or stainless steel
or glass containers are fine.
7.
Before putting your meat into the brine, the temperature of the brine
must be about 3-4 °C (38-40 °F) this temperature needs to be maintained
throughout the process. The best way to achieve these temperatures is
to either refrigerate, or by adding ice cubes to the brine mixture. A good
quality digital thermometer will help with monitoring this.
8.
Make sure the meat is fully covered by the brine.
9.
Brines can NOT be reused.
Basic Brine Recipe
60 mL (1/4 Cup) of Kosher salt
60 mL (1/4 Cup) Cup of brown sugar
1 L (4 Cups) of water
In a medium bowl, combine the salt, sugar and water. Stir vigorously until all the
salt and sugar has dissolved. Then pour this mixture over the meat, poultry, or
fish that you are preparing. Soak for several hours, or overnight. You may need to
increase the quantities in order to ensure that the meat is fully submerged.
* You may wish to add some herbs or spices to the basic recipe.
11.
Smoked Cheese
Smoked cheese is easy to do on your Apollo
superior to the smoked cheese you buy from your supermarket.
Set up your smoker for cold smoking, as described on previous pages, put the
cheese on the cooking grills, pop the lid on and away you go... simple.
Cheese absorbs smoke quickly and is generally smoked for between 1 and 2
hours. Start at the lower end of the time scale for your first attempt. The cheese
won't change colour much; this is a good thing, store bought cheeses are usually
darker, due to not being naturally smoked, but rather having had some "liquid
smoke" sprayed on. Mild woods are good for cheese. use apple, maple or alder.
Smoker and the end result is far
®
12.
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