What is a Brine & How Does It Work? Part 1 of 4

[@JacobBurton]

For a better understanding on the difference between diffusion and osmosis, check out the Khan Academy video. He does a really good job of explaining it.

[@bertieb9510]

I have been brining for a number of years but have always been confused by all the different methods & recipes I have seen. Now I have found this series. Without doubt it is the best explanation of brining I have seen. I like the fact it covers both the theory and the practice, With its help I will be able to create my own recipes with confidence as well as convert any that I find. Thanks 👍

[@JacobBurton]

Over-brined meat dehydrates when the salinity goes above 6%. The salt causes muscle fibers to contract, squeezing out moisture, causing the meat to become dry. This is why dry salting and wet brines are both used in charcuterie (besides their other preservative qualities). Theoretically you could partially dehydrate a piece of meat by placing it in a water solution with large solute molecules, but if your protein contains more water after brining then before, it's because of diffusion.

[@alotan2acs]

In all my years of science, This is the best explanation of diffusion and osmosis I have encountered. And it came from a cooking show. Amazing work friend!

[@Kampbell300]

After maybe 30 videos this is the only one I’ve found that actually explained how it works, thank you

[@JacobBurton]

But when the salt is dissolved into the water, the negatively charged chloride ions diffuse into the protein filaments. The like charges cause the protein filaments to repel one another, creating larger gaps for water to diffuse into. The proteins are then modified by the sodium and chloride ions, allowing them to bind more tightly to water, up to 6% salinity, at which point the muscle fibers start to contract and squeeze moisture out, which begins the curing process.

[@JacobBurton]

It still amazes me how many restaurants still serve lean cuts of meat like pork tenderloin or chicken breast and don't brine them first. Whenever someone asks me about cooking chicken breast or a thanksgiving turkey, brining is always the first thing we go over.

[@javiermaillet]

I always keep a heavy brine in the fridge for my grill/skillet/charcoal grill. Once they are really hot, I use a metal brush to apply lots of brine on the grill until it becomes white. When I place a large steak, flank etc etc, it creates very very nice grill marks, and seasons it in a nice way where the external side is salty, but the interior of the meat keeps its softer flavor. I re apply brine on grills as needed. I make other flavored brines, fresh, on place, for other things.

[@mhrgall]

Wow! I've never heard of this technique before! How does it differ from just salting meat seconds before grilling? It sounds like you are literally ''branding'' the salt onto the meat...

[@mbigras]

I've been thinking this for years! It doesn't make sense that bringing works by osmosis, because then the water would flow out of the meat, not into the meat. Excellent video! Very excited to check out part 2.

[@matveyshishov]

Very surprised to find a correct explanation of osmosis on a culinary channel! Impressive!

[@matveyshishov]

@@mhrgall It's your perception playing tricks on you, to be insulted at nothing is difficult, I assume. I can only wish you luck, stay strong.

[@javiermaillet]

People confuses osmosis very often. When making salame, you need to use real intestins for the encasing, because you need the osmosis fenomenon of the tissue to dry/cure the interior of the salame, concentrating its flavors. as it's curing (in the dark, controlled temperature and moisture) you can see how the osmosis happens, because the salames are "sweating" the water. That water is not salted and barely flavored, almost pure water. Perfect case of osmosis.

[@shreyasahasrabudhe1038]

Wait...how is it vacuum if there is air in it?? Also osmosis and diffusion could be explained in simple versions...osmosis is movement of solvent particles from SEMIPERMEABLE membranes from high concentrated soln to low conc soln. and diffusion is when particles from higher concentration move towards the lower concentration...to equalize the effects... now it sounds the same n confusing but in OSMOSIS only solvent mols are free to move while in diffusion both solvent and solute are free to move...

[@JacobBurton]

Pickling is more of a preserving technique that can be done either with a brine, acidic liquid or an alkaline liquid. There usually isn't as much salt in pickling liquid as there is in a brine, but as you'll see in the next few videos, figuring out the difference between brines, pickling liquids and marinades is a little like nailing jello to a tree.

[@707Gforce]

Wow. This is great! I was just thinking about how osmosis as an explanation for how brines work didn't make any sense. Thanks for the clarification.

[@JacobBurton]

Thanks Eric. Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@GigaBoost]

Yes!! Another food science series from Jacob! I'm sure this series will be... STELLAR!

[@arun4urmoney]

If you are basing brining on a cellular level which by definition is the only way diffusion can take place then the idea is not plausable. Hypotonic solution will cause the cells to swell but explode, hypertonic solution will cause the cells to shrivel..isotonic solution well leave the cells the normal size. If you go base on a tissue level, because muscle fibers are made up of different layers and seperated by membranes surrounded by extracelluar and intercelluar fluid which is made up of water, amino acids, sugars, fatty acids, coenzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, salts, and cellular products..then the end result of water retention and flavoring through brining is only possible because of osmosis.

[@rodrob6285]

+arun4urmoney Watch Part 2

[@Conundric]

Great video. The line between osmosis and diffusion is so small, it is quite understandable people get them confused. I think you should mention however that osmosis is still at play in brining. It just isn't the main factor, but both are at play, at least from everything I have read. You should also mention that there is a lot of disagreement between food scientists about this entire process.

[@MagicBiscuitShow]

Jacob, You do a great job stepping through your explanations of the items covered in the video. I give you 3 Paws Up (since my dog has only 3 paws).

[@JacobBurton]

I'm sorry but that's incorrect, and it's not just me that says this, Modernist Cuisine has an extensive section that talks about how brining actually works through diffusion, not osmosis. But let's put that aside for a second; re-watch the last few minutes of the video. For osmosis to occur, the solute molecule CAN NOT pass through the semi-permeable membrane, only water can. Since the water AND the solute molecule (salt) pass through the membrane, it is diffusion, not osmosis. Cont...

[@jammin6816]

You're very analytical like me- refreshing to find your videos!

[@JacobBurton]

While it is easy to mix up diffusion and osmosis, osmosis is not at play during the brining process. This will come into play in future videos when we talk about how table salt dissolves into separate sodium and chloride ions when added to water and how it diffuses throughout a protein. I do my best to not step on any toes, but through pure deduction and understanding what the definition of osmosis is, anyone who says brining works through osmosis is wrong and is making a common mistake.

[@Conundric]

What about other molecules in the brine besides salt though? The solutes that get released by the meat have the potential for osmosis correct? And then how would it be possible to draw moisture out of meat when your solute content is high enough? For instance when you over brine something in a saturated solution the meat will actually dehydrate.

[@shawnnixon4071]

Osmosis: "a process by which molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a LESS concentrated solution into a MORE concentrated one... The video narrator has a misunderstanding of the definition of the word concentration. The more solute a solution has, the more concentrated it becomes... I just can't let that one go. Lol.

[@nsn27]

Can you explain how what he said was wrong?

[@MrGwarpy]

If only I found this interesting 12 years ago...

[@kevinportillo5751]

Good video chef!

[@Deepa0309]

The video on the website is not working please.

[@Chibblechabble]

This is such an informative vid. Thank you!

[@adrianthomas4163]

Please do more videos of these.

[@JacobBurton]

Adrian Thomas Thanks! Glad you enjoyed my geeky little video.

[@WhatThatify]

Jacob Burton I love geeky videos as it provides a strong background and consider it rooting basic techniques everyone should know.

[@JacobBurton]

The definition of osmosis is not debatable. Osmosis occurs when water flows from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration through a semi-permeable membrane. This "osmotic pressure" is caused by a solute molecule that cannot fit through the semi-permeable membrane. Since in this case the solute molecule is the salt, and it fits through the semi-permeable membrane, OSMOSIS IS NOT POSSIBLE. I've shown how osmosis is not at play, please explain to me why you think it is.

[@brycenwalker8580]

The problem is you are taking the muscle as a whole. the water and salt diffuses into the interstitial fluid but the salt causes osmosis on the cellular level. This extra salty water in the interstitial fluid is what causes the salty juiciness. If the water is left in the cells the cells have to burst through cooking to extract that water. With brining through the process of the salty water the juices are already present and have a greater concentration in the muscle fibers. Also salt ionizes when diffused in water. The sodium will actively diffuse across the cell membrane through sodium channels, but chlorine will not. It is just too massive to make it through, also it is too polar to do so. Sodium by itself is a metal and will give the meat a metallic taste, so only diffusing the sodium across would not be at play here. Osmosis would be the driving force in this situation, because the cells of the meat are still intact and most likely still have their semipermeable membranes intact, this is what gives the meat its striations and texture. You did a good job of showing the differences between osmosis and diffusion, but you were incorrect in this application because osmosis does not occur at the tissue level, but the cellular level where there is a semipermeable cellular membrane and the salt brine is able to penetrate to the interstitial fluid allowing the meat to become juicy but in effect drying out the individual muscle fibers. Sorry for the long reply on an old video but I felt like I had an adequate response.

[@nsn27]

@@brycenwalker8580 I don't understand how the movement of salt molecule be associated with osmosis? Isn't osmosis only the movement of water through membranes? I'm a total noob just trying to understand

[@GigaBoost]

Is a pickling just brining with acid?

[@gabrielteng2113]

What is the 5% shown on the above video? Is that based in gradient method or Equilibrium?

[@JacobBurton]

The 5% brine is based on the gradient method, especially since the most salt content you want your end product to contains is about 1%, and once a 5% brine reaches equilibrium, your product will contain 2.5% salt.

[@herbertmorrison730]

Does anyone know if the breakdown of the protein molecules causes a decrease in protein quality, ie. the presence of essential amino acids? Coming at it from an exercise perspective when trying to put on muscle.

[@JacobBurton]

From a nutritional standpoint, the "quality" of a protein is often gauged by its amino acid profile, particularly its content of essential amino acids-those amino acids that the human body cannot synthesize and must therefore obtain from the diet. Brining primarily impacts the physical structure of the proteins rather than their constituent amino acids. The amino acid sequences themselves are unlikely to be destroyed or altered to the point where essential amino acids are lost. Any changes that do occur are usually more about denaturation-unwinding the protein structure-which is not the same as breaking down the amino acids that make up the protein. Amino acid composition matters for muscle protein synthesis (MPS), but so does protein digestibility. Cooked and denatured proteins can sometimes be more easily digested and absorbed than their raw counterparts. A well-brined and cooked piece of meat might actually offer a superior amino acid availability for the purposes of MPS, compared to a poorly cooked or overly dry piece of meat. Also, in the last couple of years I've lost roughly 80lbs and put on some muscle. It took lots of exercise and lean protein like pork loin, chicken breast, and turkey. It was much easier for me to keep on track with my diet when I brined these lean proteins.

[@herbertmorrison730]

@@JacobBurton nice thanks for the info. I’m coming from the opposite end of the spectrum as I have been underweight my entire life until I started lifting a few years ago

[@JacobBurton]

TESTIFY!

[@Conundric]

No need to apologize. I still believe that both are at play here. And I don't think you, or anyone can say for certain that they both don't occur. I think it is clear that diffusion is the main factor, but according to everyone except modernist cuisine, it seems osmosis is still at play. Again, I think you should have included that this is a very debatable subject. Your point is completely valid and you might be correct. But maybe not. Regardless, it is really just semantics.

[@meatola1739]

Wonderfull

[@GigaBoost]

Great, thanks!

[@jackingber7154]

What is "air in a vacuum" doesn't make any sense.

[@JacobBurton]

I dropped it in there specifically to drive my pedantic OCD peeps crazy ... shhhh, it's our secret.

[@kally241]

Ha ha exactly , i was suprised he based his explaination on this lol

[@JacobBurton]

Were you unable to follow the video.

[@Seby276]

Yes...

[@chojaewon]

Is there another chef on youtube that you follow?

[@JacobBurton]

Christopher Cho Oh yeah. Lots of great people, but my personal favorites are ChefJohn of FoodWishes, the team over at ChefSteps, and FudeHouse. If you go to my main channel page, you'll see that I think to other KZbin channels in my side bar.

[@Conundric]

Osmosis is at work, at least according to everyone except you. As salt diffuses into the actual muscle cells, they break down some of the cells internal structure, releasing solutes into it. This can create a difference in osmotic pressure that will cause some water to actually migrate into the cells themselves instead of just into the protein sheaths surrounding them. If we leave the meat in the brine for extended periods of time, osmosis will become a major factor.

[@ignanttv3006]

Justin Bray ... False, water cannot just freely cross over the lipid bilayer cell membranes, which have nonpolar centers, by diffusion or osmosis.

[@kijijiallin]

simplify!

[@CaptTerrific]

Brining is the best thing to ever happen to my weekends' roasted chickens

[@reneuzars1106]

man is 9o% water and 100% bacteriaI believe that the bacteria in our body also determine how we live~!the taste on the tongue is the bacteria that causes the reaction!

[@Seby276]

DO YOU EVEN BRINE?