Recipe for Brant's Magic Brine?

Is this the one??

Happy brining!

Chicken, Whole, Beer Butt, Brined, Brant Warren

Another EGGtoberfest '98 winner. An incredibly moist and delicious variation of beer-butt chicken.


INGREDIENTS:
1 roaster chicken
BRINE
2 quarts water
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 or so whole bay leaves
DRY RUB
Equal parts paprika and dark brown sugar
Mix in whole basil to taste
Add a little cayenne pepper
BEER--BUTT MIXTURE
Mostly beer
Some red wine vinegar
Even less Worcestershire sauce




Procedure:
Brine
1 Leave chicken in refrigerator while preparing the brine mixture.
2 Combine brine ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat.
3 Remove from heat and stir down any foam.
4 Chill the mixture (warm water may spoil the chicken???).
5 Clear chicken cavity and wash.
6 Place chicken in brine mixture, breasts facing down.
7 Add water to cover the chicken and stir.
8 Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours.
Marinade
1 Discard brine mixture.
2 Rinse chicken thoroughly and pat dry with paper towel.
3 Apply dry rub between skin and meat By starting at the bottom of the front of the chicken, the skin can by gently separated from the breasts. Try not to tear the skin.
4 For a prettier finished chicken, wipe off any dry rub on the outside of the skin, and lightly rub the skin with butter.
5 Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, place in a plastic bag, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Cooking
1 Bring Egg to 275 degrees.
2 In a chicken sitter, combine the beer-butt mixture ingredients. Do not overfill.
3 Set sitter on a drip pan, and set the chicken on the sitter.
4 Using a Polder in the thigh, cook at 250 - 275 degrees until 180 degrees internal. The breast should be about 170 when the thigh hits 180.
5 At EGGtoberfest 98, my 7-pounder was done in a tad over 2-1/2 hours, though at home it has taken up to 4 hours (*shrug* don't ask me why!). I started with four small chunks of hickory and a handful of sugar maple chips, and added another handful of sugar maple chips after about an hour and a half. I did not soak the wood first.


Servings: 1

Recipe Type
Brine, Main Dish, Poultry

Recipe Source
Author: Brant Warren
Source: BGE Forum, Brant Warren

Don't know why not.