Brined Pork Roast Alton Brown Food

PICKLED PORK

Steps:

• Combine all of the ingredients except the ice and the pork in a 2-quart nonreactive saucepan, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and maintain a simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the ice and stir. Place the pork into a 1-gallon zip top bag and add the cooled pickling liquid. Remove as much air as possible; seal the bag and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 days, turning the bag occasionally. Use within 2 weeks or remove from the pork from the brine and freeze.

POT ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 190-200 degrees F. Place a wide, heavy skillet or fry pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, rub both sides of meat with the salt and cumin. When the pan is hot (really hot) brown meat on both sides and remove from pan. Add just enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan then add the onion and garlic. Stir constantly until onion is softened. Add the tomato juice, vinegar, olives, and raisins. Bring to a boil and reduce the liquid by half. Create a pouch with wide, heavy duty aluminum foil. Place half the reduced liquid/chunk mixture on the foil, add the roast, and then top with the remaining mixture. Close the pouch, and wrap tightly in another complete layer of foil. Cook for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until a fork pushes easily into the meat. Remove from oven and rest (still wrapped) for at least 1/2 hour. Snip off 1 corner of the foil pouch and drain the liquid into a bowl or measuring cup. Add some of the "chunkies" and puree with an immersion blender. Slice meat thinly, or pull apart with a fork. Serve with sauce.

ALTON BROWN'S 2-HOUR MUSTARD BRINE FOR PORK CHOPS OR ROAST

Steps:

• In a large plastic container with a lid, put the salt, Brown Sugar, peppercorns and mustard powder; add in the HOT vinegar and swirl to dissolve the sugar and salt completely.
• Let the mixture stand for 20 minutes at room temperature to develop flavor.
• Add in the ice cubes and shake to melt most of the ice.
• Add in the pork chops, making certain that the meat is completely covered with the brine.
• Cover with lid and refrigerate for 2 hours (NO MORE than 2 hours!).
• Rinse the pork well under cold water before cooking.
• Cook as desired.

BRINED PORK ROAST

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
• Cool to room temperature.
• Immerse pork roast of your choice in the cooled brine mixture, and refrigerate for 12 hours or overnight (up to 24 hours) turning occasionally if necessary for even brining.
• Remove roast from brine, rinse, and pat dry with paper towels, and roast (on a rack or grill pan) according to your favorite recipe until a thermometer, inserted in the center of the roast, reads 155 degrees.
• Allow the roast to rest for 20 minutes before carving.
• (Roast may be coated with mustard, breadcrumbs or glaze of your choice before or during roasting, if desired.) NOTE: Smaller cuts of pork, such as pork tenderloins, may also be brined in this way- but should be immersed in the brine solution for proportionately less time, to avoid over-salting.

PULLED PORK

Steps:

• Video: Watch Alton make this recipe
• Combine molasses, pickling salt, and water in 6-quart Lexan. Add Boston butt making sure it is completely submerged in brine, cover, and let sit in refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours. 12 hours is ideal.
• Place cumin seed, fennel seed, and coriander in food grinder and grind fine. Transfer to a small mixing bowl and stir in chili powder, onion powder, and paprika.
• Remove Boston butt from brine and pat dry. Sift the rub evenly over the shoulder and then pat onto the meat making sure as much of the rub as possible adheres. More rub will adhere to the meat if you are wearing latex gloves during the application.
• Preheat smoker to 210 degrees F. Place butt in smoker and cook for 10 to12 hours, maintaining a temperature of 210 degrees F. Begin checking meat for doneness after 10 hours of cooking time. Use fork to check for doneness. Meat is done when it falls apart easily when pulling with a fork. Once done, remove from pot and set aside to rest for at least 1 hour. Pull meat apart with 2 forks and serve as sandwich with coleslaw and dressing as desired.

GRILLED PORK TENDERLOIN

Steps:

• Trim the pork tenderloin of any excess fat and silver skin.
• Place the lime zest, lime juice, honey, salt, and garlic powder in a small, lidded jar and shake to combine. Pour half of the marinade mixture into a 1-gallon resealable bag, add the chipotle pepper, and move around to combine. Add the pork tenderloin to the bag and seal, removing as much air as possible and place in a container to catch any leaks. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours, rotating the bag halfway through the time. Place the remaining marinade in a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Remove the tenderloin from the bag and allow to sit at room temperature while preparing the grill. Remove the reserved marinade from the refrigerator.
• Fill a large chimney starter with natural lump charcoal and light. Once the charcoal is ashy and white, approximately 30 minutes, dump the hot charcoal onto the lowest grate of the grill and spread into an even layer using extra-long tongs. Place the cooking grate back on the grill and cover with the lid; heat the grate to medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Brush the grill with vegetable oil. Remove the tenderloin from the bag and place in the center of grate. Discard bag with marinade. Cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, turning every 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until the tenderloin reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees F.
• Remove the tenderloin from the grill and place on a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil folded at the edges to create a basket, and pour on the reserved marinade. Wrap tightly and rest for 10 minutes. Remove to a cutting board and slice. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

BRINED PORK LOIN ROAST

Steps:

• Bring water, salt and sugar to boil.
• Add bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon stick, peppercorns and garlic.
• Simmer 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let cool to room temp.
• Pour over pork roast and marinate a minimum of 8 hours or overnight.
• Drain.
• Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees.
• Season meat with salt and pepper.
• Place in a roasting pan with meat side down.
• Drape bacon slices over the roast so the top and sides are covered with the bacon.
• Bake in pre-heated oven until internal temperature of the meat is 140 degrees.
• (Approx. 2 hours+ depending on roast size.) Let roast rest about 20 minutes before slicing.
• I've found it easiest to cut with an electric knife with the meat down and ribs up- slicing between the rib bones.

BASIC PORK BRINE

Steps:

• Mix water, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl until sugar is dissolved. Stir in garlic and ginger.

ALTON BROWN'S BRINED TURKEY

Steps:

• 2 to 3 days before roasting:.
• Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.
• Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
• The night before you'd like to eat:.
• Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
• Place the bird on rack of roasting pan and pat dry with paper towels.
• Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.
• Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and cover the breast with a foil triangle. Then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.