Hello, Food Lovers. I, like many of you, love pork chops. I love them grilled, braised, oven roasted, reverse-seared, etc. With chops, I almost always brine them. Nearly every brine I’ve seen and used for pork has a certain amount of sugar in the brine, along with the usual salt and aromatics. I brined some 1 1/2" chops this weekend that turned out mostly fantastic, but I had a bit of a problem with a slight burning on the outside as I cooked them. I’m positive it was burning the sugar that was in the brine. I almost always (and did this time) rinse my brined chops off thoroughly and perhaps I didn’t do a good enough job this time. With that said, it made me wonder whether sugar is really necessary in a brine like this, and what purpose it serves.
Does sugar, like salt (which, let’s face it, is the one actual critical part of a brine), actually penetrate the meat in the same way? I’m no scientist, but the salt helps denature some of the proteins inside the meat, but I’d imagine sugar doesn’t do anything like that. Does it penetrate in the same manner, but just adds flavor? I’m wondering if I need to keep using sugar in my brines for hot, direct cooking methods and deal with the occasional burn, or if I should just omit it altogether.
I say take it out. I don’t think you need it. I rarely brine pork chops, which we eat at least once a week, but I do brine roasts and never put in any sugar. I don’t know anything about the science, only that our pork chops and roasts come out amazingly flavorful and tender without any sugar involved and we eat a LOT of pork.
Can’t answer any of your questions but I have eliminated any sugar from my pork chop brine and don’t notice any negative impact. Pork chops are the only thing that I still consistently wet brine as I have gone to dry brining most things these days and generally don’t add sugar to dry brine either.
I don’t brine with sugar but per America’s Test Kitchen I brine with salt water. Right before grilling I add a paste of: honey, oil, anchovy paste and pepper to the outside. Gives them an incredible flavor and great color on the grill.
I’ll add sugar to a brine when I’m smoking low and slow as it helps create a nice bark but not for a regular cook or roasting.
I did Flannery chops the other night, 2 rib thick, and the brine was a simple S&P mixed with Cumin and Chili Powder and it was turned out nicely. Roasted at 250° in a convection for about 40 minutes then finished by glazing in a pan.
Not sure of any official difference. I think of a dry rub as just salt or a salt heavy seasoning applied prior to cooking, generally many hours up to a few days. I think of rubs as seasonings that may include salt applied shortly before cooking or smoking.
I never use sugar if it’s going over flames. If it’s smoke only I might use some apple juice, especially with some types of fish, but it’s usually salt and aromatics in a wet brine.
I don’t think the issue is the sugar since you’ve removed it from the surface. An inch and a half is a pretty thick chop to cook through over an open flame if you want to control the amount of caramelization. I usually sear on the grill or in cast iron until I get the desired color and then finish on a sizzle plate in the oven.
Yeah, Jeff, I did a reverse sear on cast iron. I brought them up to about 130 before searing. I suspect some of the liquid leached back out in the process of the sear (I dried them after they came out of the oven, pre-sear), and it would have clearly contained sugar from my brine. No more sugar for me! Thanks, All!
the short answer is, yes sugar penetrates the meat as it disolves on the surface. but that’s not necessarily why sugar is added to brine, which is flavor. and by flavor, it’s not limited to sweet. when sugars cook, they get super complex through the caramelzation process. bitter, sweet, umami, etc. - all things that are generally desirable when browning meats and veg. i mean, think of glazed carrots. carrots have a lot of natural sugar, but glazed carrots when done properly can be transcendent and that’s not because you’re dumping suger on top, you’re cooking it, and developing those flavors. and the type of sugar can matter; honey, maple syrup, etc. If the goal is complexity and depth of flavor, sugar is a cheap and easy way to add it.
I brine pork chops all the time but only included sugar once and then never again - it made the chops taste like hormel ham to me. My brine is fennel seed, rosemary from my yard, peppercorns, garlic cloves, water and kosher salt. When i grill them i dust them with fennel pollen. Yum.
