Dry brine in Sous vide?

[BBQ97229]

Is there a reason why you would or wouldn’t dry brine before Sous vide?

[pkadare]

I always do so, the dry brining process works the same way regardless of the cooking method. One thing to be aware of is that the purge maybe somewhat saltier than you're used to.

[Jfrosty27]

What he said 👆

[barelfly]

If I remember correctly, the salt will change the texture during the SV cook. I’ve tried a side by side comparison with steak before and preferred non-dry brined.

but, that’s just my thought. I could be off on this. So, really, just something you could try out and see what you prefer.

[BBQ97229]

Thanks all!

[rickgregory]

Depends what cut. I can see salt affecting texture in very long cooks. Steaks etc? Meh, go for it.

[T-bone]

I do it all the time, but typically reduce the amount of salt by approximately 25% because I think the SV concentrates the salty taste in the meat.

[drobinson003]

I always dry brine regardless of the cooking method. Meat mavens like Aaron Franklin and Meathead Goldwyn both recommend dry brining at least a few hours before cooking. If it's good enough for them it's good enough for me. I sprinkle with kosher salt and put uncovered in the fridge the night before cooking. That's just me.

[fzxdoc]

I found this article interesting, and it gives the following conclusion:

Summary

At any rate, the decision to pre- or post-salt is one more variable to keep in mind as you cook sous vide meals. When cooking red meats for long periods of time or using the cook, chill, and hold process we now recommend not salting until after the meat comes out of the pouches and is ready for searing.

This Chef Steps (creators of the Joule) recommendation changed over the years. At first, they recommended no salt before sous vide. I was an early Joule adopter and followed that advice for years. Now they have this new recommendation:

Salt and meat texture: A quick note

You may have heard talk about holding off on adding salt to your food toward the beginning of the cooking process, and it’s true that over time, salt will interact with proteins to alter a meat’s texture. This is a function of time—the longer the meat and salt interact, the more the texture will be altered. In the case of sous vide steak, we ran tests to see whether salting impacted the texture in any discernibly negative way. It didn’t! So go on and season that stuff before you cook. It’s all gonna work out great.

That said, I still don't salt or season meat I intend to sous vide until after it comes out of the pouch, except for QVQ cooks, for fear of a hammy texture. Works for me.

Kathryn