Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: fishy on November 04, 2010, 08:51 PM
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Hi all
Has anybody tried this and what do you think, the link below claims that western resturants soak there chicken in brine to make the chicken retain its moisture, there's other stages also to achieve that tenderness, take a look its very interesting.
http://www.indiacurry.com/faqhints/tenderchickencurry.htm (http://www.indiacurry.com/faqhints/tenderchickencurry.htm)
i visited a new BIR recently and the chicken tikka had so much moisture in it, it was amost slimey but it melted in your mouth best ive tasted yet so is it brining?
atb fishy
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Hi all
Has anybody tried this and what do you think, the link below claims that western resturants soak there chicken in brine to make the chicken retain its moisture...
We had a big discussion about this when Heston Blumenthal did his take on tandoori chicken. He soaked his chicken pieces in brine for quite some time (from memory). I think the discussion centred on brining for tandoori though rather than brining in general.
I think that juiciness you describe though may more likely be from the BIR using water injected chicken which tends to be much cheaper than quality stuff.
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Take a look, it's very interesting.
http://www.indiacurry.com/faqhints/tenderchickencurry.htm (http://www.indiacurry.com/faqhints/tenderchickencurry.htm)
I agree, it is very interesting : thank you for drawing it to our attention. What I particularly liked about it (quite apart from all the useful tips for improving flavour and/or texture) was that the author justified his assertions by referring back to culinary science. On that basis alone, I am inclined to value this document more highly than those that make assertions without any accompanying evidence other than anecdotal.
But one other point comes to mind : when he writes "The chicken absorbs the water make it juicy and flavored with salt.", we had a roast chicken yesterday that was juicy, tender and full of flavour, yet had not been marinaded at all. It was a Leckford bird, which I have long wanted to try but which have always seemed very expensive; however, on this occasion, my local Waitrose were remaindering a few, so I took the opportunity to try one and I shall now be keen to do so again ! The remaining half of the bird is now destined for currying, so I shall report back once that is complete.
** Phil.
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Has anybody tried this ?http://www.indiacurry.com/faqhints/tenderchickencurry.htm (http://www.indiacurry.com/faqhints/tenderchickencurry.htm)
Following my earlier reply, I looked more closely at the site, and read at the bottom, to my horror : "Submit bid to buy this website and domain name FOR SALE by owner". So I think that in the interests of posterity I will have to clone all of its content, just in case Mr Gupta receives an offer that he can't refuse ...
Cloning complete : a total of 21,693,160 bytes in 2181 files
** Phil.
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The remaining half of the bird is now destined for currying
Jeez, if these supposedly 'superior' chickens are all they're cracked up to be, it seems a terrible waste to throw it into a curry.
As for brining, I've tried it several times, when the chicken has been roasted afterwards. I can't make my mind up which I prefer (brined or left alone) , but it certainly alters the character of the meat. Don't speculate - try it - all you need is a bucket and a bit of salt.
If BIRs used this technique I think word would have got out by now. They'd have a lot of chickens stored somewhere in buckets of brine. Somehow, I doubt it.
The 'undercover' delivery driver didn't mention it in his book. I wonder if the plumber saw anything. I see that's the latest person trying to sell revealed recipes on eBay. I guess everyone needs a good cover story, whether it's true or total fiction.
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Hi
With just a quick view at that page, it looks like a USA site, with the measurements and temperatures?
Just had a longer look, thanks fishy. Interesting indeed.
Regards
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This brining stuff for meat doesn't make any sense to me. I've just read a web page where the author claims that due to osmosis, the water moves from the salty water solution into the chicken, thus making it juicier.
By my reckoning and understanding of osmosis, the exact opposite would happen and the salt solution would draw water from the chicken making it drier.
For the same (this time correct) reason many cooks recommend sprinkling salt on your onions. In this case the salt will draw water from the onions making them cook faster.
Paul
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By my reckoning and understanding of osmosis, the exact opposite would happen and the salt solution would draw water from the chicken making it drier.
Doesn't this require that there be a semi-permeable membrane which is permeable to water but not to salt between the flesh of the hen and the saline in which it is placed ? Now I am no biologist, and it may well be that there is such a membrane (the skin, for example, if the bird has not already been skinned) but from a physics perspective there does need to be such a membrane for the osmosis to take place as you describe.
** Phil.
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I can confirm that brining makes the chicken 'softer' and more succulent (difficult to describe, but try it) and certainly not drier. I got the idea from Heston B originally and he wouldn't make that sort of error.
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from a physics perspective there does need to be such a membrane for the osmosis to take place as you describe.
I doubt that very much. Do try it, rather than hypothesize. Just drop a chicken into a bucket full of water with lots (ascertain quantity) of salt added - no membrane required!
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The membrane in this case is that of the chicken cells themselves.
I might give it a go, however despite my misgivings.
It does remind me a bit of the myth about putting a piece of potato into a liquid dish that tastes too salty. There is no way the spud can absorb the excess salt.
The spud actually shrinks as the water in it is drawn out.
Paul
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I might give it a go, however despite my misgivings.
It does remind me a bit of the myth about putting a piece of potato into a liquid dish that tastes too salty.
This is no myth. Heston B prides himself on his scientific approach. In his book, I think he explains the science behind brining.
Of course, whether you prefer the taste and texture is down to personal preference. I can't decide, especially as brining costs cash for salt, and is quite a lot of effort. I've got no idea whether brined chicken would go well with a BIR curry.
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from a physics perspective there does need to be such a membrane for the osmosis to take place as you describe.
I doubt that very much. Do try it, rather than hypothesize. Just drop a chicken into a bucket full of water with lots (ascertain quantity) of salt added - no membrane required!
No hypothesising, George, just pure science. Osmosis can take place only when two solutions of differing concentrations are separated by a semi-permeable membrane; the solvent (water in this case) will then pass through the membrane from the less concentrated side to the more concentrated side, tending thereby to equalise the osmotic pressure acting on each side of the membrane. But the membrane doesn't have to be a third party; it may well be that the skin of the bird acts as the membrane, or the flesh itself (which isn't, of course, homogeneous but rather highly differentiated).
And it may even be that osmosis isn't involved in the process under discussion at all; but if it is, there has to be a semi-permeable membrane involved, otherwise it is not osmosis !
** Phil.
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No hypothesising, George, just pure science.
As far as brining is concerned, I'm simply not interested in the science. It either works or it doesn't. I'm telling you it works to change the character of the chicken markedly. Whether you prefer it like that, or not, is a different matter, of course.
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This link may be useful:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/70/Brining (http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/70/Brining)
It does kind of dispel the pure osmosis theory.
I may give it a go but I wouldn't like it if the chicken became too salty.
Science and cooking do go together to a degree, IMO.
Cheers,
Paul
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I wouldn't like it if the chicken became too salty.
That's not my finding. It doesn't taste salty, perhaps because it's given a good rinse. It just alters the texture.
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That's not my finding. It doesn't taste salty, perhaps because it's given a good rinse. It just alters the texture.
Well, one man's "salty" is another man's "tasteless". I don't regard my coffee as sweet, with two heaped coffee spoons of sugar crystals, but for anyone who normally drinks coffee without sugar, it would probably taste disgusting. I personally find a great deal of modern food sadly lacking in salt (for which I blame John Major), and to compensate I probably add a great deal more than the manufacturers have taken out in the first place.
** Phil.
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Well, one man's "salty" is another man's "tasteless".
You are right but it's easier to try for yourself than to continue hypothesizing.
It may increase the level of salt up to 'well seasoned' but the two chickens and one turkey I cooked after brining did not strike me as having too much salt, the way they tasted.