Brine

gdawgs24 · January 29

I have cooked several chickens on my xl bge. But i have noticed alot people brine their birds. I understand what a brine is just wondering if anyone has a good brine recipe. Also how long to do you leave them in the brine to soak?

michigan_jason · January 29

Cen Tex hooked me up with this, I haven't tried it yet, but he said it was the only way he will cook chicken from now on.

Herb Brined Turkey or Chicken:

1 Gallon (4 liters) Water

1 Cup (225 Grams) Kosher Salt

1/2 Cup (125 grams) Sugar

(this is all you need but I add the following on their advice in the book):

1 bunch of fresh Tarragon

1 bunch of Fresh Parsley

2 bay leaves

1 head of Garlic- Halved Horizontally

1 Onion- sliced

3tbsp/30 grams black pepper- lightly crushed

2 lemons- Halved (give a good squeeze as you toss then in)

Should be noted that any aromatic can be thrown in - Celery, Carrot, garlic, any herbs (stems are fine) are all good and the more the merrier.

combine all brine ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve all salts and sugars. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp. then put in fridge until chilled.

Add bird to the brine and weight it down with a plate or something that will keep the whole thing completely submerged for the appropriate brine time (see below).

Remove from brine, pat dry and let rest uncovered in the fridge for 2-24 hours. This is important as it forms the "pellicle" (tacky surface) that binds to the smoke flavor)

Brine Times:

Boneless Chicken Breast (8oz/225 grams): 2 hrs

2lb chicken (1 Kilo) 4-6 hours

3-4lb chicken (1.5-2 kilos) 8-12 hours

Boneless Turkey Breast (4 inches/10cm thick) 12-18 hours

10-15lb Turkey (4-7 Kilo) 24 hours

Turkey over 15lb/7 kilos: 24-36 hours

michigan_jason · January 29

Let me know how it works, my next bird will certainly use this brine recipe.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · January 29

for regular cooks, you can just do the salt sugar and water. makes a huge difference. I do that most of the time because it's so easy and cheap. Adding the fresh herbs can add $5 to your brine so I just do salt sugar and water for 70-80% of my cooks. Add the herbs for the others or if we have company over :)

nolaegghead · January 29

Here's a quick brine (10% saline versus 5%) recipe.

http://ruhlman.com/2010/10/how-to-brine-chicken-quick-brine-recipe/

500 · January 29

This may be considered more of a marinade than a brine, but it has brining type qualities to it.

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup kosher dill pickle juice
1 egg, whisked

I found this brine in a recipe to make home made Chik-Fil-A chicken nuggets. I "brined" it for 4 hours. The pickle juice really added a twang to the recipe that we really liked. I kept the recipe to try it on bone in chicken next time. This amount was good for 3 boneless chicken breasts, but there was room for another one. Adjust quantities for larger pieces.

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