Brine or not to brine, that is the question


 

Jeff Riddle

New member
I'm going to be smoking two beer can chickens for the first time tomorrow. I was wondering if it's best to brine the chicken or just use a dry rub. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Brine it , baby! It's totally worth it. Then pat the chicken almost dry and rub it up. Seriously....it's worth it. :wsm:
 
Brining is worth it, but you might want to to pat dry the poultry and then dry further in the fridge for a while before cooking. This helps make the skin more crispy. Also, coat the skin with oil before rubbing if your version of the recipe doesn't call for it.
 
I have cut back on Brine time but it definitely is the way to go. Dry down then add rub.
 
We've been having really good luck with Butcher's Bird Booster injections. I think the birds are moister and more flavorful than what we've had with brining in the past.
 
I have never brined but seems that I have been missing out in some good beer can chicken. Will have to brine next time. Thanks to everyone's input. :)
 
Another vote for brining, it makes a huge difference. Try brining whole chickens with buttermilk sometime too, you won't believe it!
 
Jimmy E, do you add anything else to the butter milk?

Nope, just put a whole chicken in a gallon ziplock bag, add buttermilk and in the fridge for 4-5 hours. Remove and put the bird in a colander and let drip for a few minutes and either put on the rotisserie or right on the grate and cook indirect till done. You can also do pork loins this way. Try it! I add a little sauce to the loins after cooking a bit.
 
I love brining chicken before cooking it. Some of my more adventurous brines have included fresh fruit & vegetable puree plus jerk seasoning. I much prefer cutting the birds into halves or quarters so the flavor really has a chance to work its way in.
 
If I have the time for a cook I'd brine. Love to use buttermilk with chicken.
 
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I'll go against the flow here: I think brining has its place, but it seems like in practice it's often both overdone and overrated. Ever eat at a Boston Market? Ever have their turkey? What a juicy, succulent...ehhhh, it's like rubbery mush swimming in saline solution. And that's the result you'll get if you follow many brining recommendations. I'm not a fan, myself, but it's definitely worth trying to see if you like the results.
 
Mary M- I agree, too much is too much. Even when it comes to brining. Poultry can be fantastic after a short period in brine. But on the other hand, a properly dry salted canard de confit is out of this world.. :)

Both brining and dry salting has its place. If you are going to cure meat, dry salt, if not, brine.

Chickens and turkeys, as well as whale, I prefer to brine. Pork, duck, moose and cow I prefer to salt dry.
 
If you've got time, use the brine...

Though I'll agree with Mary and Geir and say it can be overdone, a quick brine on lean cuts can work wonders. Beer can chicken comes out pretty juicy, so I wouldn't brine too long. If you've got two birds, brine one and not the other and see what works better for you.
 
I know this is an old thread, but didn't want to create a new thread if there was one already on this subject.

Yesterday I grilled up some chicken thighs using a chicken brine recipe from Alton Brown's Good Eats: 1 quart water, 3/4 cup kosher salt, and 1/2 cup honey for a batch of about 8 thighs.

Let brine in cold water for 1 1/2 hours, pat the skin dry (do NOT rinse the chicken), let the thighs drip on a rack, sprinkle with seasoning, rest for 30 minutes, and then grill.

Everyone thought that the thighs were WAY too salty. 3/4 cup salt is ALOT, imo.

We hardly cook with salt, and if we do, only sparingly.

My question is - for salt based brines is a strong salt taste 'par for the course'?
 
I did a quick search and found an Alton Brown recipe that looked similar, though it was for a cut-up chicken, not just thighs. With all due respect to AB, that sounds like a quick brine that probably shouldn't go for more than an hour. That aside, did you use kosher salt and did you measure it by volume or weigh it? If you weigh it, salt is salt, more or less. If you go by volume, you need to be careful because densities vary. According to an article at Serious Eats, table salt weighs 10 oz. per cup, Morton kosher salt weighs 8 oz. per cup, and Diamond Crystal kosher salt weighs 5 oz. per cup. Given the volume and weight in the recipe I found, it was designed for Diamond Crystal. If you measured by volume and used Morton kosher salt you ended up with 6 oz. of salt rather than the intended 3.5 oz. If you used table salt, you got 7.5 oz. Either of these would explain why it seemed so salty.

Should you do it again, I would suggest weighing the salt to be sure you get the right brine concentration. I would also cut the brining time to no more than one hour.

Much of the food world has moved on from wet brining. Dry brining is now the "in" thing. It accomplishes the same goals as wet brining without sucking a lot of water into the meat. You rub salt on the surface of the meat and leave it to sit for various times depending on the type of meat and the cut. Excess salt is rinsed from the surface before cooking. The salt migrates to the inside of the meat and causes it to retain more of its natural moisture during cooking. Wet brining can result in a somewhat mushy texture. Dry brining avoids this.

Using all chicken thighs, I probably wouldn't brine in the first place. While the recipe called for a whole chicken, the brining is usually for the white meat. You have to seriously abuse a chicken thigh to overcook it to the point where it gets dry. I would just sprinkle the thighs with salt and pepper and whatever else you want to use in the rub.
 

 

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