Brine / Brining for Chicken

[bknox]

I found out about brining last year. A memeber of this forum had discussed it with me and then our daughter was born and I had to get serious for a while. Anyway, I have seen a couple of brine recipes for pork chops. Does anybody use this technique on a regular basis with chicken? Also, I realize brining helps retain moisture, I assume because of the use of the salt, but are there brine recipes that are like a marinade that flavor chicken.

We are staring at tempuratures in the 70's in the next couple of days and I want to try brining chicken for grilling. If anybody has a tested recipe it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[GB]

I always brine my chicken now. I can't imagine not brining now that I have been doing it. A brine in it's most basic form is salt and water. One step up from that is salt, sugar, and water. You can add any flavorings that you like after that though. I like to use soy sauce (Jennyema's suggestion) as part of the salt in my brine. I also like to throw some fresh herbs in there as well. peppercorns are a good addition also. Use your imagination and get creative. Brining is a GREAT way to introduce flavor into chicken.

I don't ever use an actual recipe. I just look around to see what would complement the dish I am making and go from there.

 

[bknox]

I am thinking to make a brine with hot peppers. Its been a while since we spiced up dinner.

Do you brine over night or just prior to cooking? Do you have a ratio for the brine?

 

[GB]

I actually don't ever measure when I make a brine so I don't have a ratio, but the way I describe it is that it should be pleasantly salty. What I mean by that is that if you taste some of the brine you should not want to spit it out right away because of the amount of salt. I would say it should be about as salty (maybe a little less salty) then the ocean (Atlantic that is).

As for how long, that would depend on the size of the meat. I usually just do boneless skinless breasts and for those I brine them for 2 hours. 3 would be my max, but I find 2 is perfect for me. If you go too long then the texture really suffers badly. For a whole chicken I would say 4 or 5 hours.

 

[htc]

Hey, great minds must think alike, I also am going to brine my chicken this weekend!

GB, do you heat up the water so the salt dissolves? I'm going to dump almost everything in the brine, salt, sugar, black pepper, ginger, garlic & onion. For the onion, garlic and ginger I plan on blending it so it becomes sort of purree'd. After the bring, I'll put it on a rack and cook in my Weber Q. Not sure how it'll turn out.

 

[GB]

Nope I keep it cold. I used table salt (one of the few times I don't use kosher salt). I don't find I have a problem with the salt disolving this way. If you do decide to heat it up make sure the water is very cold again befor you put the chicken in.

I have used ginger in my brine before. There was no need to puree it. I just crushed it a little and the flavor was very pronounced.

 

[Andy M.]

GB:

I add the seasonings/flavorings to half the water I'm going to use and bring it to a boil to dissolve the salt and infuse the flavors from the seasonings/flavorings into the water. I then make up the other half of the water with ice cubes. By the time they dissolve, the water is cold and I have the right mix.

 

[GB]

Yep that is another gret way to do it. I have done that when I brine pork. I think it all depends on what you are putting in the brine. If you need to really extract flavors then heat helps. If the flavors are already prominent (powdered spices, garlic sloves, ginger, etc) then the heat is not needed. It won't hurt anything to heat it up, unless you forget to cool it down before putting the meat in.

 

[Gretchen]

I am by far in the minority but I think brining poultry makes it mushy. I get a perfectly moist roast chicken or turkey without it. I do brine frozen raw shrimp for about a half hour. Vastly improves them.

 

[Alix]

I think brining is a necessity for turkey, especially the large ones. BUT, Gretchen, I have to agree with you. I noticed very little difference in the chicken I brined this week.

 

[GB]

I find it gets mushy if brined too long. If you find it mushy then try cutting the brining time and see if that helps.

 

[bknox]

I am going to give it a shot. It sounds good to me and I am jonesing to grill something different. I will write down what I did and if it turns out I will post it for you guys.

Brining Shrimp sounds good also. Thanks for all the insight.

 

[htc]

I'm glad I saw the time you all brine. I was going to brine my chicken overnight. Sounds like I don't need to do that. I was planning to prepare the brine tonight and add the chicken to the brine tomorrow morning and then cook the chicken late tomorrow. Thanks!!

 

[jpmcgrew]

What do you guys think about brining some cornish game hens I bought 6 today[frozen] that I will make in about 1 1/2 week for some friends.
Any input would be helpful.I have brined turkeys before.

 

[Andy M.]

I'd brine them. They tend to be quite lean so brining will held keep them moist. An hour or two should be enough.

 

[jpmcgrew]

Thanks Andy,I will do that.

 

[Claire]

Hmmm. I was thinking of cornish game hens for Sunday, and this is a perfect time to experiment. bknox, I know the feeling --- spring is finally going to hit, and we're dying for it! Today is to be our first cook-out of the season. We're hoping it warms up as predicted (we'll do it anyway, but it would be nice!).

 

[jpmcgrew]

Claire let me know how they turn out and what you did

 

[bknox]

I did not have the opportunity to brine anything this weekend and I will be out of town on business next weekend. Maybe I will bring the dry parts of the recipe I found with me and try it out on the road. We will see.

 

[Claire]

Nothing this weekend wound up to be what I expected. Our first cookout fizzled for some reason and I wound up making an Asian soup instead. Then the cornish game hens would up being a spontaneous pork schnitzel dinner for a bunch of us who get together occasionally to drive out in the country and visit other small towns in the area. So maybe I'll try brining .... oh, heck, who knows? Next weekend is Easter, and a freind is "doing" dinner. After that it is time for our biannual trip to visit family in Florida, so it'll be a month before I get to try brining!