Never brined a chicken... Give me your best brine recipe

[TedW]

I was just on another Brethren thread where they are extolling the virtues of marinades and Italian Dressing.

It seems to me that we are running away from marinades and wet brines for maybe the wrong reason. I still marinade and wet brine because it flavors the meat.

Some threads and websites showing diffusion rates of brines and marinades adamantly assert that we are largely wasting time and $. Their points and experiments which are very compelling, and yet we have throngs of BBQ veterans who still marinade and wet brine.

So something's not quite lining up. Is it possible that folks that feel the meat is flavored deep with a marinade simply are imagining this? That the deep flavor is really in the outer 1/4" and when we bite we think the flavor is deeper?

If a 30 minute brine is as good as a 4 hour brine, why are we all still brining longer? Considering the resources it monopolizes, I would think that if 30 minutes was as good as 4 hours everyone would have figured it out by now. Word would have spread.

Just some thoughts...

 

[Bludawg]

I keep it simple to every gal of water add 1/2 cup pickle salt, 1/2 cup sugar & 1/4 cup garlic powder. Soak 1 hr per lb

 

[Big Swole]

Sub'd

 

[Big George's BBQ]

I use thirdeyes lite brine Check out his blog I use 2 TBS brown sugar, 2 Tbs Kosher salt, a tsp Old Bay Seasoning and a real good squirt of honey I make it up the night before-m bring to a boil and put in fridge so it is ice cold- oh this is with a quart of H2O
Smokin Okie and PatioDaddio have also been mentioned- both are excellent
Spatchcock it

 

[TuscaloosaQ]

Goodness gracious alive.... Thx to each and all of you for taking time to respond.. Whatever way I go do not think because I did not use your suggestion that I think it was wrong... There all good I am sure... I just don't know what I will do... I want to try them all....and I truly appreciate all the suggestions... I'm cooking way more than I need... I just wanted to cook... I will give a lot of it to neighbors and friends.. I don't get to cook a lot ..... I will be under a welding hood and cooking at the same time....... So we will see .. I have no doubt it will all turn out good.... I will just not be baby sitting the cooker... I never do...you all are great guys ... Thx for your input.......

 

[nmeyer414]

info right here

 

[SeaSalted]

I've been using this one lately and find that it does impart a wonderful flavor. Not sure I saw one on this thread with sage in it, but I have no doubt that they are all good if you take the time to do it.

 

[TedW]

Nice wet Brine!

 

[dadsr4]

When I brine, this is what I do.
Makes 1 gallon, enough for 6 pounds of meat. 2 gallons will handle most turkeys depending on the diameter of the container
Takes 10 minutes

Ingredients
1 cup hot water in a 2 cup measuring cup
1/2 pound salt, any type (but you don't need a scale)
1 cup table sugar
1 gallon cold water
Add one cup of hot water to a two cup measuring cup. Then pour in salt, any salt, until the water line reaches 1.5 cups. The water will swallow up almost exactly 1/2 pound regardless of whether you use table salt, kosher salt, pickling salt, or sea salt. Pour the slurry into a very clean non-reactive container large enough to hold the meat and 1 gallon of water. Then add the sugar.
About the salt. Any salt will do, table salt, Morton's kosher salt, "sea" salt.
However, if you like the way your chicken tastes without brining, this will change it. It will be saltier, giving it a more "hammy" flavor. i usually only use it when someone wants turkey legs that taste like the ones at fairs.

 

[robinfresno]

I too am a big fan of the game changer brine from oakridge, got 25lbs and vac'd it up into smaller portions, as well as Italian dressing. The gamechanger works great as an injection too. 1Tb of gamechanger to 1cup liquid for injecting if you don't have time to brine.

 

[SeaSalted]

Brining two nice birds in the recipe I posted earlier. Since the fridge is full, including a 14 1/2 lb packer brisket, I decided to use my Dometic cooler. Set it up for 40 degrees, added my chicken to the brine and placed it in the cooler for an overnighter. Will remove to fridge tomorrow to let it dry out a bit prior to hanging in the PBC.

 

[THoey1963]

Have tried brines, both wet and dry, they work well. I still like a simple nap in Italian Dressing. I guess I am just lazy and it tastes good...

 

[TedW]

A Dometic Cooler... I learned something today.

 

[dwfisk]

Hey Paul, it ain't gonna help for your cook tomorrow but OakRidge BBQ has a GREAT chicken/turkey brine. I just KISS, buy theirs and avoid all the controversy :becky:

 

[cowgirl]

I like brine cured birds but what ever you go with is going to be killer Paul. Just stopped by to say Good Luck and hope you take pics. :grin:

 

[BillN]

People should see this-

If your product is less than you desire with a wet rub, maybe you're not doing it right. Maybe. The video presents it as a standard culinary science. Very impressive.

It details how diffusion allows sugars, and flavors to get into the flesh

It describes the role of an acid or base in a brine - something that some avoid.

It details how a wet brine makes for a moister meat. If you're creating mush then your calculations are off. Too much salt for too long. You didn't rinse and then let it rest. Again, all very interesting.

Seems evident that a dry brine isn't allowing a much flavor to enter the flesh.

You create a brine a little like a sauce or bone stock. Heat it, let it simmer, stay hot /warm for a while to extract flavors. Then filter, cool and drop the meat.

A dry brine is fast. Both are great.

Agree.. The wet brined birds that I have eaten that were mushy seemed to have a high acid environment that went too long as the common problem. Properly brined birds are hard to beat.

 

[Ranchertex]

Tenderness and flavor

If you are judging BBQ, think about the simple test you will use. Don't overthink things.

 

[TuscaloosaQ]

Well I got a call from our buddy diesel Dave yesterday we had a nice long chat and I brought up the brining question to him.... He said oak ridge had a great brine called game changer... It doned on me.. I think someone sent me some oak ridge goodies... Well low and behold I looked up in the cabinet and hoop there it was hiding..... So I am going to use the game changer ... Hopefully this will allow me to even see if I like a wet brine.... Again thx to all of you.... I am putting this thread in my favorites and will be trying lots of yalls suggestions.... You all rock!!!!!!! Thx.... The cooker is fired up as I type.... Brisket and butts will go on in prolly 30 minutes.... 7:30 am Bama time... I should be complete by 5:00 pm hopefully... Beef ribs... Chicken... And pork ribs will go on later....

 

[Big George's BBQ]

looking forward to seeing the results

 

[Lordkifar]

My brine is very simple and works like a charm:
1 gallon cold water
1/2 cup kosher salt
2/3 cup brown sugar

Brine 8 hours or over night. After, rinse chicken and discard brine liquid....let chicken dry out in fridge over a cookie cooling rack for a couple of hours then rub as you like.