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Alcohol in Meathead's bacon brine

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    Alcohol in Meathead's bacon brine

    I've just made about 9 lbs of bacon using Meathead's recipe. 👍
    I want to make a maple bourbon version if possible. My question: does alcohol do something bad to the brine? Can I just replace the water with alcohol? 🍺

    #2
    No - water and alcohol aren't interchangeable. The latter is hygroscopic - it absorbs water from the pork, changing the pork molecules in the process. Exactly the opposite of what water does for the brining.


    I would drain, remove from the cure, wash and dry, then marinate in maple and bourbon for a couple hours before smoking.

    Comment


      #3
      I agree with the above. Plus alcohol can make meat mushy. You really don't want to mess with established safe curing methods, if nothing else than simply for the safety aspect of it. I'd do what JGo suggests or brush on a mapley bourbon glaze once on the smoker.

      Comment


      • JGo37
        JGo37 commented
        Editing a comment
        I didn't really think about doing the glazing in the cooker, that's a good idea too. I think, both!
        Last edited by JGo37; November 13, 2018, 11:18 AM.

      #4
      I’ve glazed bacon on the kettle with maple sriracha and it works good. I might have to add bourbon to the glaze on my next batch!

      Comment


        #5
        I add 2 tablespoons of bourbon or rye to my brine. I don't substitute the whiskey for the water. It's enough to influence the bacon flavor without actually impacting the brine. This is derived from a Michael Ruhlman recipe and a Meathead recipe. That is, I use Meathead's standard brine, apply the curing calculator to it, then add a couple ideas from Ruhlman, including the 2 TBSP of whiskey. That is for a 3 lb slab of belly.

        Comment


          #6
          Thanks for the inputs. I ended up doing Meathead's maple brine, then, after curing and rinsing, applied a maple bourbon glaze (I cooked off the alcohol), and smoked. Result was very nice. The bourbon was muted - gonna use more of it in the next glazed batch, also plan to marinate the belly in the glaze for a few hours before smoking.

          Comment


            #7
            For what it's worth, Duke139, I am a convert to ecowper's approach. I've done it three times now to great results.

            Comment


            • ecowper
              ecowper commented
              Editing a comment
              I love that whiskey/maple flavor, glad I found Ruhlman’s recipe in the first place :-)

            • lemayp
              lemayp commented
              Editing a comment
              I've moved that way also. Last run, I did on slab with bourbon, maple, and rosemary in the brine. Turned out really good.

            #8
            As for me, I like to add red wine to meat. Especially when I cook BBQ and need in good marinade. Veal and pig meat become softer and more delicious. But if you have alcohol problems then I would advise excluding alcohol even for marinade. Nowadays drug and alcohol problems became so actual. My friend had problems with alcohol for 7 years. His family didn’t know how to help him. One day I found out about Promise and told his mother about it. The decision was made to send him there. In these rehabilitation centres people get help of high qualified specialists. After some time of treatment my friend has changed a lot. He is married and became father of 2 cute twins. So, if you don’t have alcohol problems then you can add wine to meat and enjoy it.
            Last edited by Esther; November 3, 2020, 08:25 AM.

            Comment


              #9
              I guess I'm different. I make the bacon without the bourbon and use the bourbon to glaze myself!

              Comment


                #10
                Interesting topic. Wonder if this would be worth trying.

                Bourbon Powder can be added to cakes, drinks, pies and seasonings. Serious barbecuers use it to add bourbon flavor to rubs and seasonings without the liquid.

                Comment

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