Mallard's BIG Chicken Brine Adventure...

MallardWacker · November 10, 2004, 08:25:30 PM

Thanks PA, I enjoy useful information like this...

One last thing, how long do you brine for??(sorry I didn't read the fine print~~~overnight~~~gotcha)thanks again...

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...

Oldman · January 16, 2005, 05:42:55 PM

I have added both MallardWacker's and PAsmoker's Brine recipes to the project.
Thanks
Olds

http://rminor.com

deadeye · May 13, 2005, 01:18:39 AM

hey guys thinks for all the great info on Brining. I bought some Hi Mountain cure today and I am going to try it out. My question was a friend of mine gave me some beer can chicken holders. Can I brine the chicken and then do the beer can chicken thing? Just curious to see if anyone has tried this. I am also going to be doing a pork butt roast at the same time.

Thanks for the help

Derek Canada

JJC · May 13, 2005, 02:11:57 AM

No reason you can't do both. The brining will add a lot of moisture to the meat, so you may want to include some flavoring ingredients in it. The "beer can" will be mostly to add flavor rather than moisture if you've already brined, so you may want to spice up the beer with some flavorings, too. BTW, I often use white wine and soy or teriyaki sauce instead of beer. Adding garlic or onions to either the beer or wine is good, too.

John
Newton MA

MallardWacker · May 13, 2005, 03:21:56 AM

I concur with John of Newton.

Let us know of the results, have fun....

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...

jaeger · May 13, 2005, 05:31:58 AM

Derek,
The High Mountain will work nice. You will have a (cured)Smoked Chicken. A lot of the recipes for (brines) here look awesome and I'm sure taste great, but you are basically marinating and not curing. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a good marinade, but a cure brine (ie:High Mountain) will give you the color and characteristics of say a Smoked Ham.
On a chicken or turkey, the breast meat will stay white, but the leg dark meat will be pink like a cured smoked ham after it is Smoked.
One word of caution, the poultry will take on the salt much stronger than a ham or pork butt. I would suggest a little heavy on the water when you mix your brine. If you get poultry brine to strong, I don't care how long you soak it and rinse it, you will have a salty bird.
Let us know how it turns out. Also, you should try a smoked turkey if you haven't already. Here again, the cure is the key.

Doug

deadeye · May 15, 2005, 02:01:53 PM

Hey guys I made my Brined chicken yesterday and I used a beer can chicken holder with a beer in it of course. I smoked it with apple for 2 hours with apple pucs. The chicken came out moist and everything but I did not seem to taste the flavor of the brine mix. I used HM and I marinated from 8pm Friday night untill 1pm on Saturday . The chicken had a good skin and everything just did not taste like I thought. Don't get me wrong it was not bad at all just thought it would have had more flavor from the brine??? Should I have maybe marinated a little longer???

Thanks

Derek Canada

jaeger · May 16, 2005, 05:04:15 AM

Derek,
You should cure for 24 hours for poultry. If you have a pumping needle you could inject the breast and thighs also. After curing, rinse well and soak in fresh cold water for at least one hour prior to smoking. Try it again with a few drums or breasts and smoke them with your next item.

Doug

JJC · May 16, 2005, 05:33:18 AM

I agree with Doug. The moistness suggests that the brining process did its job, but you need more time or more concentrated flavor (not salt) ingredients in the brine. You might also consider something like a Reveo vacuum tumbler to get more flavor into the meat.

John
Newton MA

deadeye · May 16, 2005, 12:40:18 PM

Okay thanks guys. I did inject the brine in the bird. I guess next time I will just brine it a little longer. It did make some awesome chicken salad yesterday.

Thanks for the input

Derek Canada

MallardWacker · May 16, 2005, 02:16:47 PM

de,

Just resently I have been injecting my birds with seasoning. Anything from cajun injector type stuff to chilpolte and lime. If you want to add flavor, may I sugest that instead of brining. You can get alot more different flavor combos and to me it's much easier. If you want to add a bit more moistness(is that a word?) I just add a half of stick of butter to my solution. Plus you have no rinsing and that type stuff. If all you are looking for in keeping a bird moist then you really don't have to do much when using the Bradley,i t lends itself to that part of the process very well.

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...