My Fearless Kitchen

Quick tips and easy recipes to chase the fear out of your kitchen.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

  • mfk_utensils
  • Recipes
      • Quick and Easy
      • Slow Cooker
      • Grill
      • Freezer Friendly
      • Dips & Snacks
      • Breakfast & Breads
      • Dessert Recipes
      • Main Dish Recipes
      • Side Dish Recipes
      • Soups & Salads
  • Kitchen Tips, Tricks, & More
  • About Farming & Food
    • About GMOs
    • Antibiotics
    • Meat
    • Pigs
    • Eggs
    • Poultry
  • Disclosure, Disclaimers, & Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Holiday Tool Box / What’s the Difference Between a Brine and a Marinade?

What’s the Difference Between a Brine and a Marinade?

By Marybeth Feutz 6 Comments

Brines are a great way to add moisture to meats and marinades are a great way to add flavor. Find out even more about the difference between a brine and a marinade, and when to use each one.

What's the Difference Between a Brine and a Marinade? from My Fearless Kitchen. Brines and marinades should both be part of your cooking toolbox, but it's important to know when to use each one.

What’s the Difference Between a Brine and a Marinade?

{Referral links are used in this post.}

Brines and marinades both have a role in the kitchen, and very important roles at that! But you shouldn’t use them interchangeably. Here’s what they are, and when you need them.

Brine

A brine is a salt-based solution that is used to help make large pieces of meat juicier. Brines are very useful for meats that tend to dry out when cooking – think whole turkey, whole chicken, or pork roasts.

The simplest brine is simply salt and water. But it can also have sugar and other flavors (like peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, or other spices). Brines work on osmosis. All meat has water inside. The water is contained in little balloons, called cells. The cell walls (the outside of the balloon) will let water in and out of the cell.

When you soak meat in a brine, the first thing that happens is that water actually leaves the cells and goes out into the brine. As the brine gets less salty (because now it has more water), the water goes back into the cells. And when the water goes back inside, it takes salt (and some of the flavors) inside the cells with it. Since there is now “extra” salt inside the cells, the water stays there, even when you cook it. This keeps your long-cooking meats juicy and moist. This episode of Good Eats gives a great basic explanation of brines and how they work.

How to Brine Meat

You can brine meat simply by soaking your large cut of meat in a salty solution from a few hours to overnight. The meat should stay refrigerated during the brining. I use a large drink cooler like this one to keep everything chilled and to save on refrigerator space. If you have space in your refrigerator, large containers like these are perfect for brining.

Marinade

Marinades don’t add a lot of moisture to meat, but they can add lots of flavor, and make meat more tender (sort of). Marinades are sauces with an acidic base (like vinegar, citrus, or wine). The acid in a marinade breaks up the structure of the proteins in the meat. Water (from the marinade) gets caught between the proteins and makes the meat seem more tender.

Marinades only work on about the outside 1/4 inch of the meat. Not a lot of liquid will get into the meat, but a lot of flavor will be absorbed into the meat. Marinades are good for smaller, more tender pieces of meat like chicken breasts, steaks, and pork chops. Soaking meats too long in marinades can backfire on you – the meat can actually start to dry out and get very tough.

How to Marinate

To marinate, you need to soak a smaller cut of meat in a marinade for as short as an hour or two (for fish or chicken), up to 8-12 hours. The key with a marinade is to make sure that as much of the surface of the meat is in contact with the marinade as possible. Large Ziploc bags are perfect for marinating. Keep the sealed bag inside a container in your refrigerator in case of any leaks. This post has even more tips on marinating.

What's the Difference Between a Brine and a Marinade? from My Fearless Kitchen. Brines and marinades should both be part of your cooking toolbox, but it's important to know when to use each one.

I love brining larger pieces of meat before I cook them. And I have really started to embrace the marinade! What’s your favorite marinade to use?

Enjoy!

3 Ways to Take the Fear Out of Your Kitchen

  • Refrigerator & Freezer Temperatures
  • How to Marinate
  • How to Shred Meat in Your Mixer

3 Recipes to Try

  • 3 Steps to the Perfect Turkey
  • Citrus-Herb Marinated Chicken
  • Easy Marinated Strip Steak

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Holiday Tool Box, Kitchen Tips, Tricks, & More, Where is My Food From? Tagged With: brine, difference, different, kitchen tip, marinade, meat, tip

« Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Slow Cooked Short Ribs »

Trackbacks

  1. Fall-Off-The-Bone Roast Chicken - My Fearless Kitchen says:
    09/12/2017 at 1:26 pm

    […] to be that hard to make a fantastic roast chicken. It does take a little bit of prep ahead of time (brine, anyone?). And it does take a bit of time to cook. So this really isn’t your best recipe for […]

  2. What is the Best Seasoning for Chicken? - My Fearless Kitchen says:
    01/21/2018 at 10:38 pm

    […] What’s the Difference Between a Brine and a Marinade? […]

  3. For your grilling pleasure - Asian marinades and cooking styles to use this summer - ButcherBox says:
    05/11/2018 at 5:54 pm

    […] aqua marina, a language evolution that is connected to the long-used practice of brining meat. Brining involves salt or saltwater and was primarily used to preserve meat so that it would last longer. It […]

  4. Basic Grilled Chicken - My Fearless Kitchen says:
    05/21/2018 at 4:06 pm

    […] Chicken recipe is super simple. Mix three ingredients (vinegar, oil, and a seasoning) to make a marinade. Put the chicken in a Ziploc bag, pour the marinade over the chicken. Pop that whole thing in the […]

  5. Zesty Marinated Garden Salad - My Fearless Kitchen says:
    08/19/2018 at 3:51 pm

    […] up those veggies and let them soak in the marinade for a couple of hours before you’re ready to eat. The morning of or the night before is great […]

  6. Oven-Baked Lemon-Pepper Chicken - My Fearless Kitchen says:
    09/16/2018 at 1:17 pm

    […] usually brine my chickens before I cook them. It keeps them moist and gives them an extra punch of flavor. But, […]

Comment Policy

I welcome comments and conversation. All comments are moderated, and may not appear immediately. As long as you are respectful and courteous, your comment will be approved.
(Read my comment policy for more details.)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi! I'm Marybeth, the blogger behind My Fearless Kitchen! Jump in, and let me share what I'm learning about food, farming, quick kitchen tips, and easy recipes to chase the fear out of YOUR kitchen! Read more.
Follow Us On Pinterest

Popular Posts

Garlic-Parmesan Pretzels

Slow Cooker Honey-BBQ Meatballs

Subscribe via Email

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Comment Policy — Disclosures, Disclaimers, & Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2019 ยท My Fearless Kitchen