Brining Chicken Thighs...

[Cooper'sMom]

My husband and I are the only ones living here in the house so there are just the two of us. This morning, I found a recipe for chicken thighs. I have some in the freezer and would like to brine extra thighs for our picnic in two weeks' time. I have brined poultry before but only overnight for small cuts and 48 hours for turkey. I have not had any experience in brining small cuts (e.g., chicken thighs) longer than overnight. After brining what I want to do is remove the brine, dry the chicken thighs, put my sous vide ingredients (rosemary's leave and lemon, salt and pepper, etc.) then refreeze them. Then put them out night before we leave for our picnic (9 hours drive away to Oshkosh, Wisconsin), keep them in the cooler box with ice then cook it for dinner that night or perhaps the next day for lunch if we arrive too late for dinner.

Any thoughts about whether I should do this ?? meaning refreeze already defrosted chicken for another two weeks? Had anybody done this before? I really do not want the chicken police at my back for doing this so what I am really asking is that -- is it safe to do this?

Thanks for any advice...
Cooper's Mom

[pugger]

If it was me, I would cook them after you thaw them. You can't take a chance with poultry IMHO. I don't know of any meat I'd do that with.

After you cook them, then you can freeze them & re-thaw as necessary.

[Uncle Bob]

Start brining your thighs in a small cooler up to 24 (+ or -) hours prior to arriving in Oshkash...keep them at 40* or less. This will give you the best product for your dish....

Have Fun & Enjoy!!

[josh_swinehart]

Maybe I am missing the point of the question, but why brine them now at all? Why not make a half recipe now for just the two of you and then make it again in two weeks. I think defrosting and refreezing chicken is a generally bad idea. If you really want to you should defrost them in the fridge not on the counter/sink/microwave. Brine them and then refreeze. Don't let them come up to room temp. Personally, I would buy some fresh thighs brine them all freeze the picnic ones, cook the tonight ones and use the currently frozen ones for something else. See signature for disclaimer.

-Josh Swinehart

[Sedagive]

Everything I've read on brining says individual chicken pieces only require 1 to 2 hours in brine. I don't think I'd want to brine for much longer than that. Also, I'd be concerned that after brining and freezing, the added moisture within the chicken would all come out during the defrosting process.

[Cooper'sMom]

Originally Posted by josh_swinehart

Maybe I am missing the point of the question, but why brine them now at all? Why not make a half recipe now for just the two of you and then make it again in two weeks. I think defrosting and refreezing chicken is a generally bad idea. If you really want to you should defrost them in the fridge not on the counter/sink/microwave. Brine them and then refreeze. Don't let them come up to room temp. Personally, I would buy some fresh thighs brine them all freeze the picnic ones, cook the tonight ones and use the currently frozen ones for something else. See signature for disclaimer.

-Josh Swinehart

I just thought I might want to save time for the picnic preparation stuff since I am going to brine some chicken thighs for tonight's dinner then frying them. I do not defrost chicken in the counter. I do it in the fridge actually. As for buying more chicken thighs, I have my supplies already in the freezer and do not want to buy anymore. I am trying to save some money for petrol for the picnic and also for other things. As I had already said, we are driving to Wisconsin. We can fly our plane over there but we have friends coming over here to St. Louis going with us to the Airventure (Oshkosh), their first time. I cannot not go as I have an assignment for a flying magazine to cover the event. I am the only woman in our group so you can just imagine how busy I will be just preparing the menu and cooking, taking care of the men and our son and his friend and our dog. I was wanting to save time. Hence, I asked...I hope you understand...

Thanks for all your replies. I really appreciate it very much.

Cooper's Mom