Bar BQ Grills

I am a bigfan of brining meats before smoking or grilling. But when Sweetwater Spice Company approached me about sampling their brine concentrates,I have to admit that my first thought was, “Why wouldn't peoplejust make their own?”

Brines areeasy and inexpensive to make. It's water, salt (30-75 grams perquart of water), sugar (equal or lesser amount than salt), andwhatever aromatics you chose. Bring a fourth of the water to simmer,add the ingredients and let steep for 30 minutes. Add remainingwater and cool down to 40f before using.

When Ireceived my free sample set of the BBQ and Fajita baths, I wasimmediately impressed with the packaging. 

I know thathas nothing to do with taste but it does say something about thequality the company has put into the product. Alexis immediatelysaid that they looked like something from Bath and Body Works, whichaccording to her debit card, is one of her favorite stores.

The labelshows that the concentrates are preservative, gluten, fat, and MSGfree. The list of ingredients contains all natural things like applejuice and things you'd find in your kitchen.

Theconcentrates have a thick texture and are visibly packed withseasonings.

I used thison some chicken leg quarters according to directions. I thenseasoned them with my usual poultry rub and smoked them on my SmokeHollow gas grill/charcoal grill/smoker combo at 250f using a mix ofKingsford blue bag and cherry wood (I was out of apple wood). 

About halfway through I started mopping with my usual chicken mop (1 cup cidervinegar, ½ cup lager beer, ½ cup sweet BBQ sauce, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsppepper, 1 tsp hot sauce).

It tookabout 4 hours to get them to an internal temp of 175f which is longerthan usual but that has nothing to do with the brine. In fact, brined meats generallycook faster than non-brined meats. 

I used thison leg quarters according to the directions. Next I seasoned themwith a chile lime rub and grilled them on my Big Green Egg at 350fusing direct heat. I used a “raised grid” which means the meatwas further away from the heat than usual.

Abouthalfway through I made a modified mop of lime juice, white vinegar,beer, sweet bbq sauce, and a serrano lime hot sauce. I mopped ittwice in the last 30 minutes. 

It took alittle over an hour to hit an internal temp of 175f. This was asimple lunch so we just ate them with tortilla chips and a sweetpickled corn salsa.

I wanted totry this one with beef, so I mixed it with beer and “brined” ascored flank steak, a sliced green pepper, and sliced red onion init. I fired my Big Green Egg to 450f and added the vegetable wokinsert for my Craycort cast iron grate system. I grilled the steakuntil it reached 125-130f (depending which end you checked) whichtook almost exactly 4 minutes per side.

I sliced thesteak thin and served it with the veggies and Three Chile Rice that I made specifically to pair with the Tres Chiles Fajita Bath. 

First, Iwouldn't say these are just a brine. They are more like a “powermarinade with brining effects”. They are more flavorful than anysimple brine I have used, that is why I call them more of a marinade.

The biggestadvantage to these brines is time. The recommended soaking time forthese brines is about the same amount of time it takes to MAKE asimple brine as I described above. And my usual homemade brine needs4-6 hours of soak time. They are a huge time savings.

Thedisadvantage to these is simple....cost. A homemade brine costs meabout $1-2 for 6lbs of chicken while these commercial ones costalmost $9.

So theflavor is there in a hurry but is it worth the cost? That depends onwhether or not you have the time. If you are pressed for time, theseare absolutely a good option for you.

SweetwaterSpice Company products are available online and at select retailerssuch as Fresh Market.