Synchronistic Experiments

I recently received a free copy of Cook's Illustrated magazine. Out of the blue. A direct-mail solicitation that, in this case, might net them a sale. I'm thinking about getting a subscription for my sister for her birthday (shhh... don't tell!). The publication is slim and beautifully printed, with lovely illustrations -- as you'd expect -- and NO ADVERTISING!

More to the point, there is a lot of wonderful writing about cooking methods, processes, tools, techniques and ingredients. One of the more interesting articles in the Number I received was on using pre-salting techniques for barbequed chicken, based on a technique developed by San Francisco's Judi Rodgers, of Zuni Cafe fame.

I'm always interested in techniques for making meats more tender and moist. Salting is something I'd never considered. I thought that salting meat made it tough. Turns out this is a common misconception.

Since reading the article, I've thought about trying the method. Raising the sodium level in my food isn't something I'd ever take lightly. Still, I was intrigued. I wanted to try it just to see the difference for myself.

So I'd had this in the back of my mind for a couple of weeks when I picked up the Food section from today's Los Angeles Times. There was an article on the front page [Salt of the earth -- can you believe it, they couldn't think of a more original title] about Judi Rodgers, focusing on her techniques for pre-salting meats. Again, I was intrigued by the descriptions of the results obtained by salting the meat as compared with not salting it.

Now, how is it that I've lived and cooked for over 50 years and never heard about pre-salting, and then suddenly twice in one month I read two articles about the doyenne apparent of briners? I took this little coincidence as a sign.

One of my kitchen's staple dishes is lean pork loin. It's hard to get it consistently tender. I usually bake it in a covered dish in a moderate oven for 20-25 minutes, and then expose it to the broiler for 5 minutes more before pulling it out to rest before slicing. This works most of the time, but isn't foolproof. It has a narrow margin of error, so if I misjudge the moment to switch on the broiler, the difference can be noticeable. Even the type of marinade or glaze I use seems to have an effect.

So I've decided to try the pre-salting method. Fortunately, I haven't been advised to avoid salt in my diet, so before I started dinner this evening, I pulled out a small pork loin, coated it with salt, put it into the refrigerator, and then got on with making tonight's meal.

Tomorrow I will add a glaze before cooking -- probably chutney-based, because I've been playing around with it for awhile and it will give me a good basis for comparison.

Both articles stressed the importance of timing. For chicken, the Cook's article recommended pre-salting at least six hours but not more than 24 hours before cooking. Now that's what I call a margin of error!

I don't think a day will be too long. The Times article states, "...the time spent curing...varies, from a couple of hours to several days. This depends on the type of meat -- chicken and pork are denser than beef or lamb so they take longer -- and the size of the cut." My first pork-salting experiment will be about 24-hours before cooking. If this timing works, it makes a very convenient window for someone who usually gets into the kitchen just once a day.

For tomorrow I will invite a guest to help me judge, and I will let you know the results of my experiment.