About brining pork roasts . . . I plan to make the Pork Brined in Rum and Cider with Apples. http://www.food52.com/recipes..., but notice in the comments some difficulties with one (very good) cook ending up with an oversalted roast. Are there rules of thumb for the dilution and/or length of time to soak a pork roast in a cider/rum brine like this? Thanks so much, everyone. ;o)
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"at best this would be about a 9% solution."
The concentration of the solution plus the duration of the soak will affect the saltiness of the final product (i.e. a more concentrated solution should soak a shorter time than a less concentrated solution - the CI instructions for brining turkey rec. a 6% solution if you're brining for 4-6 hours, and a 3% solution if you're brining for 12-24 hours) There are other factors like pH and temperature that come into play with brining as well. (more acidic = slower brine penetration which should be helpful in this case as apple juice is acidic.)
I guess if I were going to make this, I'd cut the salt back to 1/4 cup of Diamond Kosher or 2 T of table salt (or about 1.25 oz per quart.) In theory you would be able to brine for the recommended time at this level. It would be infinitely better to err on the side of too little salt than too much (at least in my mind.) Best of luck & happy holidays to you.