Let's talk brine.

There are 2 types of brine I know of and use.

1. Fresh meat brines;
I use these to help keep products that are easily overcooked from drying out, such as "center cut" pork chops, chicken (breasts especially, but whole chickens are quite easy and it is beneficial for them as well), and Turkey (once again mainly the breasts, but if you have the room it is good for the whole bird).

2. Curing brines;
These are used generally in preparation for smoking the product.

Brining makes cooked meat moister by hydrating the cells of its muscle tissue before cooking, via the process of osmosis, and by allowing the cells to hold on to the water while they are cooked, via the process of denaturation. The brine surrounding the cells has a higher concentration of salt than the fluid within the cells, but the cell fluid has a higher concentration of other solutes. This leads salt ions to diffuse into the cell, whilst the solutes in the cells cannot diffuse through the cell membranes into the brine. The increased salinity of the cell fluid causes the cell to absorb water from the brine via osmosis. The salt introduced into the cell also denatures its proteins. The proteins coagulate, forming a matrix that traps water molecules and holds them during cooking. This prevents the meat from dehydrating. (McGee, Harold (2004). ON FOOD AND COOKING)

Both brines can be simple or complex by adding different flavourings, and changing the quantities of the ingredients.
Here is a simple fresh meat brine that works really well for us;
1/8 cup salt
1/8 cup sugar
500 ml of boiling water
500 ml ice
(To total 1 litre of Brine, for 4-6 chops)

Dissolve the salt and sugar in the boiling water.  Add the ice to the solution to cool it down so as to not start the cooking process on the chops.  Cover the chops fully with the brine (an excellent method for this is to use a zip top bag with as much air as possible removed, much like marinating you want the brine to be in as much contact with the meat as possible.)

Let the chops sit in the brine, in the refrigerator, for 2-3 days (if you use the zip top method, be sure to put them in a bowl in case of leakage).  After the brining time, rinse and cook as desired.

A little spicy.

Obviously I have a thing for Chipotles, and nowadays you can find them as almost a staple ingredient on many menus.  I started off with the first recipe I posted on my main (recipes) page by making Chipotle Lime Butter for on top of steaks, then I started putting them into Mayo and BBQ sauces to give it that extra smoky, spicy kick.

Here's a picture of what I've been able to find in the store for Chipotles, they come in an "adobo" sauce, but I really like what the adobo adds to a dish.

I usually take seed them, which is a little more work, but removing the seeds reduces the heat level and enables you to taste more of the chipotle and adobo that can be masked by too much heat.

Enjoy!