Mini-Recipe: All-Purpose Smoking Brine

For this mini-recipe, I'm sharing my all-purpose brine for smoking meats and cheeses. Don't have a smoker? No problem; this brine works well for simply roasting foods as well!

All-Purpose Smoking Brine

Makes enough brine for 2 kg of fish, 1 large chicken, 1 pork butt, or 4 baseball-sized pieces of fresh-pressed mozzarella or other light cheese.

1/2 cup (or 125 ml) of pure soy sauce

1/2 cup (or 125 ml) of pure maple syrup

1/2 cup (or 125 ml) of packed brown sugar, optional (makes a sweeter brine)

1/2 cup (or 125 ml) of sea salt or pickling salt

5 garlic cloves, finely minced

1/2 onion, minced, or 1 tbsp (15 ml) of onion powder

1 tsp (or 5 ml) of dijon mustard

12 black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp (or 15 ml) of chili flakes, optional

1) Bring all ingredients to a boil. Remove from the heat, and add enough cold water to fill up the pot about 1/3 full. Submerge the item to be brined (such as chicken, pork, fish, cheese, etc), and top up the pot with more cold water until the items are just covered. Place a plate upside down on top, then cover and refrigerate. Refer to the brining times below:

Whole chicken, chicken pieces, duck, turkey, or other poultry/fowl: Brine for up to two weeks, turning the meat every day or so.

Pork butt, roast, hocks, etc: Brine for up to 2 weeks, making sure to turn the meat every day. Glaze the ham with either maple syrup or honey every couple hours while smoking.

Fish, salmon, cod, sole, haddock, etc: Brine for up to two days, turning every day and checking the meat. If it is firm and lightly coloured, the fish is ready to be smoked. Glaze the fish with maple syrup every couple hours while smoking.

Cheese, fresh mozzarella, firm vegetables (peppers, eggplant, etc): Brine for up to 2 days.

Refer to your smoker's instructions for cooking times and temperatures. I have an older smoker that doesn't get hot enough to cook the food, so I generally smoke for 2-4 hours, then bake the meat in the oven or finish on the barbecue.