Brine Chicken

Engine6

I usually just marinade my chicken before I throw them on the Egg. Is brining worth the extra time? Thx 

XLentEGG

The reason that I brine my chicken is because I tend to cook chicken to a very well done state to avoid anything that may be too red inside. Brining helps keep it moist when cooked that much . I would like to think that it may help bleed out the pieces some also .

ColtsFan

Two things I always brine... Chicken and pork chops. It just makes it better. Please note, already injected chicken can result in saltiness, I try to avoid buying that 

MeTed

@XLentEGG if you add 1 teaspoon of pink curing salt to 1 gallon of your brine it will draw that red myoglobin out of the bones during the brine and you will not get those nasty red spots.

Ladeback69

Engine6 said:

I usually just marinade my chicken before I throw them on the Egg. Is brining worth the extra time? Thx 

How long are you marinading to get the flavor you want.  When I have the time I brine my chicken for 24 hours.  The mix I use is a couple whole chickens is a gallon of water, 1 cup of brown sugar, 3/4 cup of kosher salt and my choice of BBQ rub.  Mix well and place in a Ziplock or sealed container.  If you are just doing a few pieces you can cut the recipe in half or a quarter.  It make flavor all the way through that way.

Hans61

I would do one or the other not both, seems like overkill imho 

Engine6

Thx all! I will try that! Hey Lade...does a whole chicken fit in a gallon bag?

tikigriller

Spatchcock......I have done a few whole chickens now, and personally, with doing it spatchcocked, I have not felt the need to brine.   Chicken came out extremely juicy still.   It will ultimately be your own preference.  try it...you may like it better, and you may not see enough of a difference to do the brine.

How special.....my first chance to give my own personal experience....based on both when I asked the question of the board, and my own actual experience.

here is a link to when I asked...there is a ton of good responses in there.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2027079#Comment_2027079

Engine6

Thx Tiki

OhioEgger

Chicken parts I always brine. They need it.
Whole chicken I don't bother, the difference is slight.

Darby_Crenshaw

MeTed said:

@XLentEGG if you add 1 teaspoon of pink curing salt to 1 gallon of your brine it will draw that red myoglobin out of the bones during the brine and you will not get those nasty red spots.

this doesn't make sense to me.  can you explain how this works?

in order to get to the joints, you'd need to let the chicken sit in the pickle/cure for a good long while.  days.  unless you are injecting along the bone. the nitrite isn't going to make it to the joints of the thigh, for example, during a quick brine

this may be a reference to injecting the cure along the joints of a large ham, to avoid bone taint, which is common for large hams.  this gets the cure to the bone quickly, rather than the bone having a chance to "taint" the meat during the long wait for the cure to make its way through the meat to the bone

nitrite is always going to bind to any myoglobin and actually make the meat pinker.  it's why ham is pink, actually, as opposed to white and grey like a green ham.  it doesn't "draw" anything anywhere.  or bleach it in any way

something feels "wive's tale-ish" about this , but if someone can explain exactly what is happening (as opposed to "a guy told me..." ) i'd love to understand it

Engine6

Ok Darryl, you're talking waaay over my head...haha