I’m revising my lesson on eggplant and the old salt-and-drain step, which made sense for the bitter cultivars common before the 1970s. In class I now use a quick 8% brine for 15 minutes to control browning and texture — faster than the classic 30-minute dry salt on a rack — anyone getting better results with another method?
I’ve switched to a 3% salt + 0.5% calcium chloride brine for 10 minutes, then pat dry and hard sear — firmer cells, way less oil uptake than the 8%/15‑min soak, @OP. The oil‑sponge thing drives me nuts, and this hits texture without extra bitterness; decent explainer on the oil bit: https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-cook-eggplant-with-less-oil. If you hit truly bitter types I still do a brief dry salt, rinse, then the Ca brine — have you tried calcium yet?