Brining Chicken

Mark_B_Good

So I got a 4 lb whole chicken I'm going to be putting on the rotisserie tomorrow.

I used a variant of this recipe to make the brine. I replaced honey with an equal portion of sugar to salt, and used some poultry rub and keg seasoning to mix in some herbs, about 1/4 cup each.

It's brining overnight, thinking it will take less than 1h to cook?  Hopefully it turns out nice and juicy.

https://www.recipetineats.com/chicken-brine-recipe/

RRP

Sounds good and same with the time. BTW in the future a much simpler brine recipe that always works for me is 1 quart cold water, 4 T each of canning salt (NOT table salt) and white sugar. Overnight or even a few hours will produce tasty moist yard bird every time!

loco_engr

any pics of your cook?

Botch

I've always had my doubts that herbs, or even peppercorns, impart any flavor to meat via a brine.  I need to figure out a way to, side-by-side, test that.  I've always imparted aromatics to sprinkles at the end, or to flavor cooking oils (most aromatics are oil-soluble, but not water-soluble).  

Mattman3969

@Botch - totally agree with your assessment. Same pretty much goes with SV cooking too.  I used to throw everything (even the sink) in a brine or the bag.  Did a side by side with SV chicken breast, Salt only in one bag and salt and fresh aromatics in the other.  Nothing noticeably different other than if you were making a pan sauce with the herbed juice.  

Botch

@Mattman3969 , thanks, but you do realize you and I are going against "common knowledge", in all cuisines, world-wide?    
 
This reminds me of a post/experiment I did 3 or 4 years ago, here.  I didn't know what "bay leaf" tasted like.  I could hold a leaf in my mouth, nothing.  I set up an experiment, soaking a bay leaf in water, another in oil, and another in alcohol (Marsala? bourbon?  I can't remember).  
Nothing.
Then I read something, somewhere (it may have been that thread) that I'd missed a variable: heat.  I made a "tea" of water and bay.  I know what bay tastes (and smells) like, now (haven't tried "teas" of oil or alcohol, hmmm).  

Botch

Oh, and I'm surprised doing SV with fresh aromatics didn't make a difference, I would've thought it would (I've never SV'd).  

paqman

@Botch It is like tea, I usually boil the water (and then add salt, sugar, and herbs) when making a brine and then let it cool down.  Fresh bay leaves are very aromatic.  SWMBO actually notices it now when I don’t add them to broth or sauces.

Mark_B_Good

OK, so .... this is going to be interesting. I had put the chicken in Brine on Friday night, with the intention of bbq'ing it on Saturday. Well, I also decided to take on a renovation project on Saturday ... that carried through to Sunday ... and I remembered the chicken this morning ... LOL.  It has been brining for 2.5 days!!!

I'm gonna cook it tonight ... this is either gonna be a disaster or sweet heaven good ... I'll keep you posted.

Mark_B_Good

So to be clear, my brine was 2 quarts (4 pints or 8 cups) water.
1/3 cup kosher salt, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup poultry rub, 1/3 cup KEG seasoning, and 6 garlic cloves to a LARGE pot.

Brought to boil, then took off the stove, and added cold water to fill pot about half way ... I'd say I added about another 4 cups of cold water is my guess.

Left to cool down ... then once cold, I dropped the bird in, and filled with more water until submerged, probably another 2 cups of cold water.

Taken out of the brine after around 60h in Brine (2.5 days). 
Pat dry, and smear with a butter/herb mixture.

Put on the rotisserie, and cook at dome of 350F, for around 1h (4 lb bird), until internal hits 165F.  Will use applewood pellets at onset to infuse some smoke flavor. Normally with my Napoleon, I put a batch of pellets in every 30 minutes, so this will  be two batches ... shouldn't get too smokey.

Will post some results later.

paqman

It will be good I am sure

buzd504

Botch said:

I've always had my doubts that herbs, or even peppercorns, impart any flavor to meat via a brine.  I need to figure out a way to, side-by-side, test that.  I've always imparted aromatics to sprinkles at the end, or to flavor cooking oils (most aromatics are oil-soluble, but not water-soluble).  

I brine chicken mostly never.  I'm sure it's better, but if I'm going to plan something that takes a few days, it's going to be more intricate than chicken.  I'm at the point where I will just pick up a half frozen chicken at the store, put it in some water for a couple of hours to defrost (still in the cryo), then spatch, season, and roast it.  Comes out great.

paqman

buzd504 said:

Botch said:

I've always had my doubts that herbs, or even peppercorns, impart any flavor to meat via a brine.  I need to figure out a way to, side-by-side, test that.  I've always imparted aromatics to sprinkles at the end, or to flavor cooking oils (most aromatics are oil-soluble, but not water-soluble).  

I brine chicken mostly never.  I'm sure it's better, but if I'm going to plan something that takes a few days, it's going to be more intricate than chicken.  I'm at the point where I will just pick up a half frozen chicken at the store, put it in some water for a couple of hours to defrost (still in the cryo), then spatch, season, and roast it.  Comes out great.

@buzd504 You are missing out on something.  It doesn’t need to be days, just a 2-3 hours dry brine (rubbed with lots of salt) makes quite a difference.

I don’t cook chicken if it hasn’t been brined anymore.

paqman

How was it?

buzd504

paqman said:

buzd504 said:

Botch said:

I've always had my doubts that herbs, or even peppercorns, impart any flavor to meat via a brine.  I need to figure out a way to, side-by-side, test that.  I've always imparted aromatics to sprinkles at the end, or to flavor cooking oils (most aromatics are oil-soluble, but not water-soluble).  

I brine chicken mostly never.  I'm sure it's better, but if I'm going to plan something that takes a few days, it's going to be more intricate than chicken.  I'm at the point where I will just pick up a half frozen chicken at the store, put it in some water for a couple of hours to defrost (still in the cryo), then spatch, season, and roast it.  Comes out great.

@buzd504 You are missing out on something.  It doesn’t need to be days, just a 2-3 hours dry brine (rubbed with lots of salt) makes quite a difference.

I don’t cook chicken if it hasn’t been brined anymore.

No objection to a few hours of salt.   I do do that.  I was more referring to the soak in salt water overnight process.

Mark_B_Good

Sooooooo, I managed to control temperature between 325F and 375F. I read that brined chicken is quicker to cook. Not so. This one took 1.5h, for a 4 lb chicken, to reach an internal of 165F. I caught the drippings, and some of the gravy-like drippings were used to baste the chicken before serving. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before cutting it up.

Ok, so the taste was good. Cook was perfect, spot on temperature. My family thought it tasted great, my mother in law said it was one of the best she tasted. To me, I could taste the salt a tad too much deep into the meat. So  next time, I wouldn't wet brine for more than 24h, likely only overnight.

Here are some pictures.

Mark_B_Good

GlennM

I do the same as some above. I make a brine using 1 tbs each of salt and brown sugar per cup. I usually use 6 cups for a 4 lb bird. Heat the brine to dissolve the sugar and salt and have herbs, garlic and lemon juice in the brine as well. Let it cool down and I usually leave it in overnight. If you go too long it will be salty. I always brine them now, this is a game changer. And, yes, I can taste the herbs.

buzd504

Mark_B_Good said:

Looks damn good to me.

Mark_B_Good

Gonna be trying this again tomorrow, ahead of my Superbowl Chilli cook on Sunday.

Brine is made according to this recipe, from the website link I posted at the start of this thread. I improvised again replacing honey with 1/3 cup of sugar, and also used dried spices instead of fresh. Used 2 cups of water to start, to boil the brine, then took it off heat and added another 6 cups of water. It's now cooling, chicken will go in later on when brine is at room temperature.

Mark_B_Good

Here's the bird .. 6.5 lb beauty. Will do it on the rotisserie tomorrow.

jdMyers

Funny this topic came up.  As i like to rotisserie chicken wings on the bge.  I found now that i have tried brining them, its the only way I cook them.  Once out of the brine i do a light mix of sessioning and baking bowder mix sprinkled over everything.  The mix with B.S. helps them crisp up very well.  If that helps.  

Mark_B_Good

Oh wow, never heard of the baking soda idea. Thanks!

Mark_B_Good

Ok, so the bird was brine for around 24h. Took the bird out of the brine, patted dry, then dressed with 1 stick of softened butter spread mixed with 2 table spoons of poultry rub (see pictures below).

Cooked at 350F dome, until internal hit 165F (breast and thighs). Took 1.5h to hit target temp. Was surprised it didn't take longer as this is a 6.5 lb bird. 

Looks and smells marvelous.

Just waiting for some vegetables to cook, and then we'll be sinking our teeth into this.

Mark_B_Good

Wow, definitely the best rotisserie chicken I've ever made. Brine resulted in the juiciest chicken breast I've ever had, and not overly salty. 

Before serving, I dressed with organic honey and sprinkled Montreal chicken spice over the bird.

Outstanding, really, this is a competition winner.

Mark_B_Good

Third time doing this recipe...

Preparing brine now:

Use 1 gallon (16 cup) pot
2 cups of water
1/3 cup of kosher salt
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon rosemary 
1 tablespoon black pepper corns.
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 table spoon chopped garlic
Bring to boil and cut heat
Add 6 cups cold water
Add 1 cup ice cubes (to help cool)

Once cool, submerge chicken, topping up with cold water if necessary. Allow to brine overnight, maximum 24h.

Will post 2nd half tomorrow, when we prepare to cook on the BGE.

Mark_B_Good

Ok, 7 lb bird going in. 350F dome, anticipating 1.5h to 2h to hit 165F internal.

Brined for 24h, and then seasoned with Cluck N Squeal. Stuffed with apples, onions and carrots, plus a stick of butter for good luck.

Will be back later with more pictures.

Mark_B_Good

Took exactly 2h to hit 165F. Looks amazing!!

Mark_B_Good

Yeah, that's GOOD!

dannys

My basic brine is this:

Salt 100%
Sugar 50%
Herbs and spices to taste

I put the Salt and sugar into a zip top bag and add enough host water to dissolve the them.  Then I add the herbs and spices and file about 1/3 to 1/2 the bag with cold water.  Add the poultry and let sit in the fridge for one to two  hours. 

Take the poultry out of the bag and let it sit at room temperature while the grill heats up. The onto the grill until it's done.

I've never boiled a brine. What they are attempting to do is make sure the sugar and salt dissolve into a solution. You can do the same thjing with just hot water.

Mark_B_Good

These going on the BBQ today. Gonna season and stuff with apples, onions, carrots and a half stick of butter and some apple jelly for each bird.