FYI: Some tips on brining:
There is a brine for chicken that includes strong coffee (never tried it but
the result is not supposed to taste like coffee).
When brining with skin-on, after rinsing and towel-drying inside and out,
let the bird dry for an hour in the fridge in a tall-sided pan uncovered.
This improves the crisping of the skin when roasted.
You can brine in other liquids besides water: brine pork chops in a solution
of water, beer, salt and brown sugar; turkey breasts in apple cider, water
and host of spices and herbs.
Make sure your brine does not contain too much salt. The salty flavor of a
brine is typically offset by using some kind of sweetening agent such as
sugar, honey, maple syrup etc.
Do not leave the chicken in the brine for too long or you will end up with a
very mushy and salty end product.
Make sure you wash the chicken in fresh water for 30 seconds, at least twice
after you remove it from the brine.
Don't use acidic products (vinegar) in your brines as these will begin to
‘cook’ the meat and result in a mushy end product.
Brining must take place at temperatures of 40 degrees or below. Only place
your chicken into the brining solution once it is cold. You can cool the
brining solution in the refrigerator or by using ziploc bags filled with ice
cubes.
Ensure that the brine solution completely covers the chicken during the
brining process.
Some guidelines:
Chicken parts: 1 1/2 hours
Chicken breasts: 1 hour
cornish game hen 2 hours
Whole chicken or turkey 8 hours - Overnight
Lefty
--
Life is for learning
"Dan Abel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:We brined our Thanksgiving turkey and liked it a lot. So, we decided to
try a chicken. They were on sale at the supermarket, so my wife got
two. My son made chicken pot pie with the first. I put some water in a
one gallon ziplock bag and added a handful of salt and sugar, a hot
dried red pepper, some peppercorns, a couple of crushed allspice
berries, a couple of crushed dried juniper berries, and a bay leaf. I
mushed it around until the salt and sugar looked dissolved. I added the
chicken and left it in the fridge overnight. I roasted it in a 350 oven
for 1 1/2 hours, along with some turnips, potatoes, carrots and onions
drizzled with olive oil. It was wonderful. We'll be trying this again.
--
Dan Abel
[email hidden]
Petaluma, California, USA
