Brining cut up chicken ?

Sandi

A friend wants some plain old barbecued chicken for tomorrow evening's masacre of Auburn, by LSU, as much as I hate to say it. Planning on brining some breasts and thighs...mixed my brine up tonight for the cool down and won't have the chicken parts till about 10 in the morning. Will 4 - 5 hours be sufficient for chicken parts, as opposed to 24 hours for whole chix? Your input is appreciated!

ChefRD

Sandi, I say go for it. More hours may be better, but what have you got to lose? . With the smaller pieces and more exposed areas to the brine you could expect it to take less time than for the whole bird, IMO. So go ahead and let us know the results. HTH
ChefRD

fiver29

Sandi,[p]Pieces most likely don't take as long as the whole bird. Rule of thumb is 2 hours per pound. Since each piece weighs a different weight it may be something to consider. I also think it depends on what is in your brine.[p]lots of acids = less time
not much acid = more time[p]For example, if you use a lot of lemon juice or vinegar in your brine you are using a lot acidic juices. Over time these ingredients will break down the meat itself. I keep reading posts now and again from folks reporting mushy meat and this has to be why. 2 hours per pound with a lot of acidic juice will definately start to break down the meat and make it sort of mushy. I might want to shoot for 1 hour per pound with more acids. 2 hours per pound with less acids. So again I think it all depends on whats in the brine itself.[p]Now that I've done lots of rambling .... Good luck! Report back the results!

Unknown

Sandi,[p]A week or so ago, I did some skinless boneless chicken breasts in a simple saltwater brine for only about 3 hours.[p]They were perfect! Depending on your salinity, I'd guess that 4-5 hours will be plenty of time for osmosis to work its magic.[p]Personally, having now done a simple saltwater brine a few times, I'll be hard to convince to go back to any vinegar, or lemon juice marinades again. (For poultry anyway)[p]I too think that the high acidity is just too rough on the poor chicks and contributes too that mushy texture folks have been describing.[p]Good cookin!
bc