Brine using Liquid Malt Extract

[gatornutz]

I smoke a lot of pork shoulders (Boston Butt) and typically brine them with Molasses and Pickling Salt (and some spices). Well, I finished my 2nd homebrew yesterday (A New Belgium Fat Tire clone...one of my favorite beers and not available in Georgia) which used Alexander's Pale LME, and I thought, "hmm, I wonder what would happen if I used LME for my brine instead of Molasses."

So, has anyone out there used LME in a brine? If so, how is it? I'm thinking about using an Alexander's "Kicker" of Pale LME (1.4lbs) for a 6-8lb shoulder. Possibly trying some Dark Belgian Candi Syrup as well.

Thanks

 

[glued2it]

I done brine my Picnics, butts or shoulders. So I don't know how the outcome may be.

None the less Always feel free to experiment. I'm interested in the outcome though.

Try it and lets us know what happens.

 

[richtee]

MAlt extracts have been used in cooking for a LONG time. My G-ma would use it to glaze hams too. Maltose is a very flavorful sweetner. And not as sweet as the cane and beet sugars.

 

[gatornutz]

Awesome. Thanks for the info. I'll try it out this weekend.

 

[billyq]

Hey Gator. I'm gonna try a real cuabn style pork roast this weekend. Gonna inject it with Mojo, rub it with adobo, and roast it. Gonna make some black beans and plantains too. What does this have to do with your post? Well, the recipe calls for the roast to be basted with Malta. I thought.."whats malta?" Turns out, its a nonalcoholic, carbonated beverage big in the carribean. I went to my local Goya store and they had Malta Goya, and the most popular Malta Huatey. It tastes like watered down carbonated beer wort. Might wanna try it if you have a local goya store. Being a home brewer you can try making your own.

 

[walking dude]

gator.........i brine ALL my boston butts.........so this should turn out great........keep us informed and make sure to take plenty of pics.........

 

[payson]

As far as Malta Goya is concerned, for the homebrewers out there, it is basically unfermented wort as previously stated. For amusement I added yeast and an airlock to a bottle and it produced a pretty average porter. Smallest batch I've ever brewed! Another nice use in the homebrew arena is using it as a yeast starter in lieu of boiling LME/DME and water. Works very well. Sterilize the neck, pour it and your liquid yeast into a flask or suitable container and you're good to go.

 

[gatornutz]

I thought I posted a reply to this thread with the results...my apologies for forgetting!

I did try the LME in the brine and it came out pretty good, although I didn't get much "malt" flavor. So, the next time I added two cans, and it was MUCH better. I could definitely pick up hints of heavenly malt on the exterior pieces of the butt.

But I've experimented quite a bit since then and now have my "malt method" all worked out...I now use dark DRY malt extract (DME) in the brine and also use it in my rub (instead of brown sugar). DME stores better and keeps longer than LME and it's more versatile (dissolves in cold water for brines, milk for malted milk shakes, and can be used dry in rubs).

Brine for a pork butt (7-10 lbs):
- 1 Cup Pickling Salt
- 1 Cup Muntons Dark Dry Malt Extract
- 2 Qts Water
- whatever other spices you like to use

I brine overnight in a large Turkey Freezer bag, then I remove from the bag, dry with paper towels and let it air dry for an hour. I then coat it with my DME rub after it's nice and dry.

Rub:
- 1/2 Cup Muntons Dark Dry Malt Extract
- 1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
- 1/4 Cup Ground Pepper
- 1/4 Cup Granulated Garlic
- 2 Tbsp Paprika
- 2 Tbsp Chili Powder
- 2 Tbsp Cumin
- 2 Tbsp Onion Powder
- 1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper

Then it goes into the Bradley for a good 12 hours using Oak and Hickory.

The best part is enjoying the malt flavored pulled pork with a nice malty beer like Fat Tire, Bass, or Newcastle. It really brings the whole meal together nicely.

My buddy and I are going to try and figure out a good DME based BBQ sauce next weekend (in place of brown sugar). I'll post the recipe for our concoction once we get it worked out.

Cheers.

 

[bayoubear]

ive used DME in lieu of brown sugar in several recipes... sauces, cookies, etc with good results. ive used LME too as a baste, the liquid seems sweeter on the meat but tasty. i did try some pre-hopped LME once on some ribs, i liked it but no one else did. dogfish 90 minute IPA was about the only beer to stand up to it.

 

[gatornutz]

wow...never thought of using hopped lme. Interesting...I may need to try that. Love the 90 Minute, got some 120 aging in my wine cellar.