Can you brine Pork to long

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wayneboian

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 30, 2008
20
10
Lexington, KY
Wednesday I had some pork loin cut 1 inch thick into chops. Put them into a simple salt and sugar brine and put them in the fringe. A few hours later the wife and kids changed plans and me and we went out start partying for my son's wedding this weekend. Now it looks like we wont be able to grill them until Sunday night. Is there a problem if I leave them in the brine that long or should I just pull them and put them in a baggie in the fringe.

Thanks

Wayne
 
Brines work by osmosis. Basically, the salt moves into the meat until it reaches equilibrium with the salt in the water. Most brines are salt heavy to speed the process up so you have shorter brine times. If you are making ham, or any cured product, this is a good thing. However, with pork chops this might cause problems. You could add water to the brine to dilute the salt, but I would remove from the brine and keep cold or freeze until ready to use.

Flip
 
With all due respect to Bfilipiwski, I'm gonna play Devil's advocate here and say leave them in the brine. Just offering an alternative, so the OP has a couple options. Depending on the strength of the brine they may be a bit salty, so take a thin slice and do a fry test before you cook them. If they're too salty just soak in fresh water for a couple hours, changing the water every 20-30 minutes. The brine will keep them from going bad, and it will also cure them to some extent. The result will be kind of hammy in flavor and texture, and they'll likely be really moist and tender.
 
Brine ratio was 1/4 cup of salt and 1/4 cup of brown sugar  with Famous Dave's rub added in to 1/2 to 3/4 gallon of water. There was only 5 one inch chops in the brine. Tonight (Friday) is the rehearsal dinner. Tomorrow is the wedding in a barn in Georgetown, KY( horse country). I guess that is what kids are doing now a day.. Since her family is from Hawaii, there will be a Hawaiian cookout at the barn afterwards. That will be real interesting. Sunday is the first chance to grill the chops.
 
That doesn't sound like it will be too salty at all. I'd still do the fry test. And some of those "horse barns" in Kentucky are nicer than a lot of homes. They take their stables pretty seriously down there.
 
The pork will not have a hammy flavor as there is no curing salt in the brine, it will be juicy roast pork flavor.  Are you grilling or smoking them?  No danger of over-brining them for that short of a time.
 
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