Many home cooks and chefs insist on brining before cooking chicken, turkey, and other meats, but many of us don’t bother because we think it’s not worth the extra steps. I’m one of those people that puts together dinners quickly on the fly. So I was quite excited about trying out F.I.T. Brine. F.I.T Brine makes it super simple to make your meats juicy and full of flavor just like the experts do!
F.I.T. Brine makes a great addition to many veggies as well! And you don’t even have to brine with them. F.I.T. Brine can also be as a seasoning directly on meat and vegetables.
What Makes Brining So Tasty?
I’m sure we have all suffered the travesty of a dry, tasteless chicken breast or pork chop? Thankfully, it never has to happen again, just harness the power of science, and you can brine your way to consistently better meat. Brining infuses the meat with savory, finger-lickin’ flavors, all while tenderizing it to butter-soft texture.
Some meats benefit more from brining than others. Drier, leaner meats like poultry breasts, pork chops, shrimp, and turkey are all good candidates for brining. Racks of ribs are also begging for a briny dip, which will help them retain moisture through a long smoke.
How Does Brining Work?
When you place meat in a bath of salty, flavorful liquid, the solution will travel into the meat in order to equalize the salt levels. This means that, before even hitting the heat, your meat has a higher liquid content, so when you cook it, your meat ends up juicier.
While you brine, your meat is not only gaining liquid, it is also gaining salt, and the higher salt concentration will begin to break down its proteins. This yields more tender meat and less chewiness.
Meet F.I.T. Brine
F.I.T. BRINE is a gourmet spice blend that tenderizes meat, infuses it with flavor, and keeps meat juicy. Great for many meats and seafood! Simply mix F.I.T. Brine with meat & water and soak 6-12 hours.
I’ve tried out their top 3 spiciest flavors—Mango Habanero, Jamaican Jerk, and Savory Chipotle—and I must say, I really love the flavor and heat that these brines add. They offer 9 flavors ranging from no heat to very spicy. Below is their flavor heat guide.
Here’s my review of a couple of the hotter brines available.
Jamaican Jerk F.I.T. Brine:
I absolutely love the Jamaican Jerk brine. The flavor and heat couldn’t be more perfect. I marinated the 2 large chicken breasts for about 7 hours and I was pleasantly surprised by just how spicy it made the chicken, and I didn’t even marinate it overnight! After 6-7 hours in the brine, I popped them on the grill. The chicken breasts were super juicy, quite spicy, and loaded the delicious flavors of all spice and thyme. Nothing else needed to be added to the chicken. It had the perfect balance of heat and flavor after brining. Thyme, allspice, and heat from the peppers are most prevalent. Simply delicious!
The Jamaican Jerk Brine is a combination of salt, sugar, Allspice, garlic, thyme, chipotle, onion, scotch bonnet, cinnamon, clove and black pepper.
These brines make it super simple to create a delish meal!
Mango Habanero F.I.T. Brine:
Next I tried the Mango Habanero on pork chops. I marinated 4 pork chops in the brine for about 12 hours and popped them on the grill. Yet again, I was pleased with just how much heat and flavor it added to the chops. The pork chops were a beautiful orange color from the brine, loaded with spicy flavor, and most importantly for pork chops, they were juicy! I’d say the Mango Habanero is great for adding some good heat and favor to most meats.
I also brined raw, shell off shrimp in the Mango Habanero brine overnight, 17 hours total, and then popped the into a grill basket and onto the grill. Those babies were SPICY, loaded with flavor, and super delicious. I can see this one being great for most seafood.
The Mango Habanero Brine is a combination of habanero, salt, sugar, garlic, paprika, red pepper, and natural mango flavor.
Below is the suggested meat and veggies pairing for all the brines offered.
Visit the F.I.T Brine site to order some of these tasty brines.
