Brined Cornish Hens - Ping Old Dave & Nature Boy

wdan · December 2005

350 dome, raised grid, about an hour. They were good, they were fun to eat, but not great. The brine smelled absolutey terrific...hated to pour it down the drain. The hens were in it for almost 4 hours, but didn't really seem to pick up the brine flavors. [p]You guys raised questions about the brine recipe. In the end, I used 1 cup kosher salt with 2 gallons total of liquid (plus 1 cup brown sugar too). I got the salt proportion from Alton Brown's "Romancing the Turkey" episode from 2 years ago. I doubled his sugar add-in. The rest was a combination of Alton and me. I've seen other salt/water ratios printed, but haven't experimented with any of them enough to be anywhere close to a competent brining practioner.[p]Old Dave:
Given my less-than "flavorable" results with the hens, I'm thinking maybe I was more on the "marinade side" than on the "brine side."

Nature Boy:
Your thoughts? [p]Again, the brine smelled fantastic, but it didn't seem to be picked up by the hens...And there was absolutely no saltiness in the meat at all.

billyg · December 2005

I think you have it exactly right. I think you confused marinade with brine. Usually marinades work best at the 24 hour mark. Brines, because of the amount of salt that should be in them, might be done sooner (although I've done pork roasts and other cuts at least 24 hrs). In my experience, they should impart very little flavor at all. Some of the brines that get a little more sophisticated really are a combo of marinade and brine. Again be careful about getting too much salt in the food. The first thing I ever brined was wild boar and that was to take any gamey taste out. Worked great. Since then I have brined pork, chicken and cornish hens. I have found with the egg and rubs that I can get along without the brines.
billyg

GaDawg · December 2005

WDAN,[p] As a basic brine, I've never gone wrong with
1 gallon water, 1 cup salt(kosher) and 1 cup
sugar. Add whatever other flavors you want.[p]Chuck

Nature Boy · December 2005

WDAN,
As I mentioned to Dave, I don't really know exactly when a brine becomes a brine, but looks like you just showed that 1/2 cup doesn't cut it! Also, you were using kosher salt which is fluffier than regular salt.[p]I would step up the salt fo sho. Try 2/3 with the same birds, same times and same recipe and see if you see a difference.
Happy brinin!
Chris

thirdeye · December 2005

WDAN,[p]Sounds like you were more along the lines of a "flavor brine". They are low salt mixtures with shorter brining times. I like using them on loin chops and chicken breasts for added moisture.[p]There is some good information on brining in the Bill Wise online cookbook on brining.[p]~thirdeye~

[ul][li]WIse One[/ul]

Unknown · December 2005

WDAN,[p]In my opinion, you were short some salt with the amount of liquid that you were using. A good rule of thumb is to use 1 cup of salt per gallon of water as this will work every time. Another thing, if your brine would have worked, it would have been very salty as 4 hours time is way to much in a brine that does work. Cornish hens only need about 2 hours in a brine. [p]Sometimes, more is not better and this is the case with brining as far as the time in the brine goes. [p]Try it again with the right amount of salt for your liquid and just brine for about 2 hours and I'll bet that they will come out better. [p]Dave

JackE · December 2005

WDAN,
The best info on brinning I have found was an artcile in Cook's Illustrated several years ago. Below is a summary of that article. The main things to keep in mind are: salt is not salt. That is, there is a major difference in saltiness between regular salt and kosher salt and even between brands of kosher salt. Also, brine time is dependent on the weight of the individual piece, not total weight.[p]One other thing, the article said nothing about other flavors. Just add ginger, thyme, rosemary, whatever in reasonable quantities for flavor. I've been brinning for years using this 'recipe' and have always been successful.
[ul][li]Cook's Illustrated: Brinning[/ul]

Brined Cornish Hens - Ping Old Dave & Nature Boy

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