Did you just finish brining a chicken or turkey? You might be asking, can you freeze brine or not? Don’t worry, we’ll be answering this question in detail.
When you’re preparing a meal for an event, you need lots of meat. And sometimes it’s a good idea to freeze the meat and then prepare the meal. But there is extra pressure when you need to brine the meat after freezing.
So, you might be asking, can you freeze brine?
The answer is, yes, you can freeze brined meat. But there are some disadvantages such as losing moisture and overall quality. Also the more days the meat stays frozen after brining, the more spongier it gets. The salt in the brine helps to keep the meat better frozen through the freeze.
Besides that, there’s no reason that you can’t freeze brined meat. But there are some things that you should know.
Keep on reading this article. We’ve explained everything in detail here.
Let’s dive in-
What Is Brine?
Brining meat means you are seasoning the food in saltwater. By doing this, you can enhance meat tenderness and add additional flavors.
Brining time depends on what you are brining. For example, vegetables take less time than meat. On the other hand, turkey can take 24 hours to brine properly.
So, after we brine the meat, can we freeze it?
Let’s see how this works.
Can You Freeze Brine? [Explained]
Yes, you can freeze brined meat. But the meat gets spongier, when you freeze the brined meat for a long time. It loses some quality as well. But it’s a good practice to brine before freezing. Because the meat loses around 20% of moisture after cooking if you brine it after freezing.
But you should be careful about the salt level in the brine. It can make the meat salty if the salt level is too high.
Freezing after brining will definitely have an impact on the texture. But if you are shredding it, that’s not a concern.
Can You Store Brine Water?
In a scenario where you made too much brine. Now, you don’t want to waste it.
Or in another case, you want to make brine and use it for a week or two. Just make sure not to soak any meat in it.
Now, can you store it or freeze it?
Yes, you can store brine water in the fridge for a long time. Even leaving it at room temperature will not be a problem. But if you want to freeze it for more than a week, strain the seasoning ingredients out.
You can keep the brine water in the fridge and use it from time to time. Also, the effectiveness of the brine and the ingredients won’t be diminished.
But, it’s better not to reuse the brine.
If the brine has been in contact with any meat, don’t use the brine ever again. At this point, your health and food safety will be at risk.
Better make the brine fresh.
What Happens When You Freeze Brine Meats?
There are a few things that you need to know before freezing your brined meats. Such as if the meat will lose the texture or not. Or will it make any difference in the flavor or not.
Texture
When you freeze brined meat, the meat gets spongier. Most of the time, you lose some quality.
Slow-freezing the meat could very well tenderize from the inside.
Marinating is a surface-level treatment. So in most cases, the combination of margination and the tenderization by freezing shows a better result. Which does not usually happen with marinating alone.
The texture of the brined meat isn’t as firm as freshly brined. But it won’t be noticeable from the outside.
Flavor
Usually, when we brine, we think that we can add many flavors. But in reality, most of the time, flavors don’t penetrate the meat.
In the case of turkey, the molecules are too big. You can seep in some flavor but slightly and not very far.
When you brine and freeze it, it takes a longer time to process. So the meat can be somewhat mushier because of cellular damage.
Flavors only work as a surface treatment. On the other hand, salt can eventually work pretty deep. Even the salt absorption process continues in the freezer during the freezing and thawing.
So, you should keep these in mind while freezing a brined turkey.
Things to Remember Before Freezing a Brining Meat
There are a few things that you need to follow before freezing the meat. To keep the overall texture, flavor, and quality.
No Low-Salt
Salt is an important element in the whole brining process. It helps the meat to contain more ingredients.
You can use different types of salt such as table salt, diamond crystal kosher salt etc.
Don’t put too much salt in the water. It should be more than 8%. Besides, you do not want to use a low salt solution either. This is not good after freezing. As salt does most of the work brining in the flavor, you should carefully measure it.
Sometimes you can also use a substitute. It should contain a mix of potassium chloride and sodium chloride.
Time
There are some rules of thumb about time when it comes to brining. You need to understand which item you should brine for how many hours. Because if you over brine it, you might ruin the texture of the meat.
We created a table for you to understand it in a better way.
| Items | Hours |
| Chicken | 2 hours (Max) |
| Turkey | 12 to 24 hours |
| Piece of a chicken | 1 hour (Max) |
| Piece of a turkey | 5 hours |
| Port | 1 to 3 hours (Max) |
This is usually the go-to rule for brining different kinds of meat. You need to measure the time properly during the brining process.
Container
Before putting the meat into the fridge, you need to store it in something. There are a range of options where you can store the meat.
You can use;
- Food-safe HDPE buckets.
- Plastic bag with zip chain.
- Stainless pots.
Besides that, you can use any food grade bag or other options.
Never Reuse
Never ever use a brine which has been used before. It can ruin the meat and your health as well. Make fresh brine each time.
But only if the brine is never used, you can store it in the fridge. Or at room temperature.
So, before you use a brine, make sure it wasn’t used before. Your health and food sately come first.
FAQs
Can You Freeze and Reuse Brine?
If the brine has been in contact with any meat, do not use the brine ever again. Make fresh brine for your own good.
Can You Freeze Turkey After Brining?
Yes, you can freeze turkey after brining. But make sure you completed the whole brining process and the salt level was low. Unless you want to end up ruining the turkey.
Can You Brine a Frozen Bird?
You can brine a frozen bird unless it is not already injected with a solution. Check the package label if the bird is pre-basted or not. If yes, do not brine a frozen bird.
Conclusion
In this article, we tried to clear your doubts on “can you freeze brine”. Beside that, you also got to know some tips. Such as brining time, which container you should use etc.
You can also freeze the brine water if any meat hasn’t been soaked in the brine. Don’t reuse a brine for your health safety. Also, it’s better to make fresh brine every time.
Good luck!
