Brining ChickenYou improve flavor and moistness by brining chicken before cooking it in your smoker or on your grill. Using this little cooking technique makes it a lot easier to consistently serve juicy and flavorful chicken to yourself and your guests. Brining ChickenChicken can be brined whole, halved, or in pieces. Thicker, larger pieces need to remain in the brine longer. Leaving the skin on also requires longer brining time. Whole or halved chickens with the skin left on need at least 2 hours, and up to 4 hours in the brine. Longer brining time will make the chicken more salty to taste. More time in the brine will also help keep the chicken more moist, too, so adjust the time accordingly.Cut up chicken with skin on needs about 2 hours in the brine, legs and wings a little less. When skinned, those same pieces are OK after 1 to 1-1/2 hours of brining. Rinse the chicken well and dry it off before grilling or smoking. Also, use the given times as a guide, and adjust the brining time to please your own palates. Click the pictures for a larger view.  I'm placing skinless, bone-in chicken breasts into this bowl of cold brine. The brine has been chilled down to below 40 degrees Fahrenheit with ice. If it's not below 40 degrees, the chicken will begin to spoil. How do you like my little trick of using a throwaway grocery bag as a glove to keep the raw chicken juices off of my hands? Works for me!  Next, the bowl of brining chicken is place into the refrigerator for the prescribed time. I left these brining for a full 2 hours, since I don't mind food that's a little on the salty side. Being in the refrigerator ensures that the chicken won't begin to spoil.  After brining, the breasts were rinsed off, patted dry with a towel, then allowed to air dry for about an hour. The drying step is important because it causes the chicken to form a thin, dry, protective layer soon after being placed in the outdoor cooker. This layer, or pellicle, helps in trapping those precious juices inside the chicken. For more flavor, after brining chicken can be seasoned with a spicy dry rub mixture before the drying stage.
|
