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Cured & smoked chicken breasts.....cure time?

AleBrewer
AleBrewer Posts: 555
edited November 2012 in EggHead Forum
I bought some boneless chicken breasts yesterday, and I want to try a cure/brine on them before smoking.

Looking at the Charcuterie recipe for "Hot Smoked Duck Ham"....they recommend curing/brining the duck breasts for 8-12 hrs. Would you decrease the time a bit for chicken breasts?
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Comments

  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,958
    boneless skinless chicken breasts are 2 hrs according to the book. Look under brine times and they list everything out for you. I posted all of them yesterday too under the charcuterie herb brined chicken post
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,958
    it's the thread that popped up right under this one.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • Mighty_Quinn
    Mighty_Quinn Posts: 1,878
    edited November 2012
    I would go pretty much the whole time maybe an hour hour or two less...If you're wanting the pink salt to do its thing, you have to give it the time. This is different than CT's brine thread where brining makes the meat juicy and flavorful....you want ham basically and you're not gonna get that with two hours in your brine.
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  • Mighty_Quinn
    Mighty_Quinn Posts: 1,878
    Thinking abut it, I'm not sure how it will turn out....duck is used there because of its similarity to pork when cured...I imagine cured white chicken meat would turn out differently, but probably not bad. I've done a cured turkey breast from that book and it was much more like deli turkey than regular cooked turkey breast.
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  • AleBrewer
    AleBrewer Posts: 555
    edited November 2012
    I did a whole chicken that was cured, and then finished with a whisky glaze....also from the book. It was fantastic!

    Have a whole duck in the freezer....just waiting for something to be done with it!
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  • AleBrewer
    AleBrewer Posts: 555
    Quinn....I was thinking the same thing about giving the cure time, but wasn't sure.......I've never done only the breasts before.
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  • AleBrewer
    AleBrewer Posts: 555
    Thanks CT.....but this a brine with pink salt too. I've done a brine only on breasts, and ususally go for a couple hours on those.
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,958
    AleBrewer said:
    Thanks CT.....but this a brine with pink salt too. I've done a brine only on breasts, and ususally go for a couple hours on those.

    Got it. Didn't make the "cure" connection. Thought you were just looking for a brine recipe. Interested to see how this turns out
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • AleBrewer
    AleBrewer Posts: 555
    I plan to pull them from the cure/brine after about 6hrs. Will let them sit overnight in the fridge, and smoke 'em tomorrow over some black cherry.

    Will let you know how they turn out.

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  • SoCal_Griller
    SoCal_Griller Posts: 516
    Looking forward to your results...
    Simi Valley, California
    LBGE, PBC, Annova, SMOBot
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  • AleBrewer
    AleBrewer Posts: 555
    edited November 2012
    So they turned out pretty well. 6hrs in the cure, 15hrs in the fridge, then smoked at about 250° with some black cherry chips.

    I would leave them in a bit longer next time. Kinda has a nice hammy taste to it, almost like the Canadian bacon, but not so pink. I think I prefer it cold, and it would probably make a great sandwich too.
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