Brine

Brine is simply very salty water that is used to dehydrate the foods during conservation. Immersed in brine, meat, fish or cheese will lose its water quickly. It may seem curious to ""dry"" food by soaking it in water, but that is what happens and the phenomenon is very powerful! Under the effect of the osmotic pressure, the water comes out of the food to dilute the brine
... Obviously, the saltier the brine, the greater the osmotic pressure. And if you want to master the drying process in brine, you must know the amount of salt in the water.
The simplest method is to apply the recipe of 200g of salt per litre of water. But the recipes are usually given on a weight percentage (weight of water and salt weight) or density. This make the hydrometer a must ...
How It Works. You know Archimedes: ""a body immersed in a liquid... gets wet? It´s just a thought. At equal volume, salt is twice as heavy as water which is why it must be weighed, not measured. Also, salt water is heavier than fresh water. This is why we swim more easily at sea and in a lake and it is also why we can accurately measure the amount of salt in brine: by making a small graded glass unit resembling a fishing cork. The more it floats, the more the water is salty. Simple ! Salt is added to achieve the desired density. The device can also control if your brine is stable, if it did not get ""wet"".
With a default density meter, you can calculate: 1 litre of water 1 kg + 200 g = 1.2 kg salt. Your density is 1.2.
Why does dry salting in brine conserve food?
Meat contains just over 70% water. However, the micro-organisms responsible for the rot that makes it unfit for consumption need water to grow and reproduce. By immersing food in brine, cells quickly lose much of that water. Also a small part of the salt penetrates and makes it a hostile environment for bacteria.
A dried duck breast, for example, has lost 30% of its weight in water, but it will have absorbed less than 2% salt or 20 grammes per kilo, quite comparable to what is used in making sausages.
For information:
a 1 decimeter salt cube weighs 2.17 kg
357 g. is the maximum amount of salt that can be dissolved in 1 litre of water at 25 ° C.
Sugar may be added to brine. Sugar is heavier than water and it also works.
. Potato: If you do not have a density meter, you can evaluate the salt concentration of your brine using a potato. If the potato floats, your brine is about 20%
. On average, sea water does not contain more than 35 g of salt per kg of water. This is much less than brine.
Sources: Francois Deumier. href=A-10003885-barbecue-les-cotelettes-de-porcs-saumurees-fumees.aspx> See the recipe ""barbecue brine smoked pork chops""