Does brining or injecting add cooking time?

Meat Burner

Meat Burner

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New to this fantastic site. This is my first new thread post ever. WHAT A GREAT PLACE TO LEARN!!!
Brined a whole chicken this weekend and I think it took longer to get cook and get to temp. Would really appreciate some comments.
 
Did you let it come up to room temp before you put it in the smoker?
 
Maybe it took longer because brined chicken has a higher water content and mass.
 
That is what I was thinking. It was really good but took longer....i think. This was the first cook on a Bandera that was given to me. I made the firegrate, basket, and heat shield mods first. Didn't do the fire management very well but have been looking at threads here since and learning. Damn, this beverage is good!
 
It should not take that much longer if at all. I usually brine all my poultry. At 300 or so, a chicken should take 1.5 to 2.0 hours.
 
I have never noticed a difference, but there are too many variables that can happen. Weather, you mentioned first cook on the Bandera, fire management....could have something to do with it.

Try a brined and unbrined bird at the same time (with the same cooking temp) and see what happens.
 
Sounds like you're doing great, MB, and having fun and learning and sharing.
That is pretty much what it is all about.
Keep up the good work.
 
Good idea about doing one brined and one not brined. I will do that. Thanks.
 
This is soooo much fun...it may become a habit. Oh, it already has. Ain't it cool!!!!
 
If you think about it, water is a better conductor of heat than meat. So if you brine or inject, the internal temp could come up faster than if no additional moisture had been added. For example, I don't own oven mitts or potholders because when I need to grab something hot I just use a kitchen towel. If the towel is dry, I can hold onto a hot pan for as long as I need to. If the towel's a little wet, the heat conducts right through and I have to move a lot quicker. The reason I bring this up is that I think the butts I've been injecting have been cooking faster and I attributed it to the increased moisture content of the meat. Maybe when I have time to fool with it I'll do a side by side comparison.
 
That make cents...I am not smarter than a 5th grater...but I are happy!
 
Kirk said:
If you think about it, water is a better conductor of heat than meat. So if you brine or inject, the internal temp could come up faster than if no additional moisture had been added. For example, I don't own oven mitts or potholders because when I need to grab something hot I just use a kitchen towel. If the towel is dry, I can hold onto a hot pan for as long as I need to. If the towel's a little wet, the heat conducts right through and I have to move a lot quicker. The reason I bring this up is that I think the butts I've been injecting have been cooking faster and I attributed it to the increased moisture content of the meat. Maybe when I have time to fool with it I'll do a side by side comparison.
Click to expand...

Profound explanation.

It seems that even "well marbled" butts and briskets cook quicker than those with large areas of "lean" and "fat".
They seem to finish off at a bit lower "internal temp", but I am not sure of that yet.

Just an area to explore for those who really care :lol:

In the end, it is "done when it is done".
But, it helps for planning purposes.

TIM
 
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