Brining Chicken

[AJS-]

I did this at the weekend with fantastic results. A whole roast chicken submerged in salt water for about 8 hours then roast as normal, and it was absolutely delicious. Soft, juicy and falling off the bone. Even the breasts were moist and tasty.

Anyone else do this?

[ETOPS]

All the time - I never roast a bird without brining anymore.

What's more, is you can learn some very simple brine recipes which can really flavour your meat, too - from herbal, to citrus, to smoke to bacon.

Brilliant!

[21TonyK]

I've tried it a couple of times and TBH didn't really notice a worthwhile difference. What ratios of ingredients are you using in the brine? I did a 6% salt for 24 hours and didn't have much effect.

Would love to try a few more again.

[AJS-]

I heard 60g of salt per liter, so I did what any sane person would do, put enough water in and then threw a load of salt in, without any measurement at all, but probably a bit more than recommended.

[rsv gone!]

Silly question time - doesn't it make it too salty?

[AJS-]

Well I quite like meat a bit salty, but it didn't make it like salami or anything. Just nice and juicy.

[Evoluzione]

The OH did this to the turkey at Christmas following a Nigella recipe, it was very tender, but yes, a little salty too.

[21TonyK]

AJS- said:

I heard 60g of salt per liter, so I did what any sane person would do, put enough water in and then threw a load of salt in, without any measurement at all, but probably a bit more than recommended.

Thats what I did, 24 hours then drained and rinsed, left to dry for a few hours then roasted. Really couldn't tell much difference.

Going to try this:

6 litres water
360g salt
100g sugar
1.5 lemons
1 Bulb garlic
"bunch" fresh thyme
"bunch" parsley
12 peppercorns
12 bay leaves

Boiled the whole lot for 30 seconds then leaving to cool today, chicken going in tomorrow for 24 hours.

[21TonyK]

Did as above, brined a fresh chicken for 24 hours, rinsed, dried and roasted as per normal.

Tasted absolutely no different to a normal roast chicken. Unless anyone can suggest an "amazing" brine that really makes a difference I'll stick to normal roast chicken

[Wadeski]

I've never brined a chicken, but on certain meets (hams are a good example) it makes a huge difference.