basic chicken recipe

[jdallinger]

I successfully smoked my first meal, brisket, and it came out great.  8 pounds and it took about 5 hours, then I tried the FTC method and it seemed to hold its juices, it was not dry.  My next project is a whole chicken and I wnat to try the basic recipe. I loked for the Sifto quick Cure and could not find it in Texas.  Is there something else I can use or do I need it at all?  Can I just use the maple syrup?  I bought some kosher salt and thought I might mix it with sugar and water to make the cure.  Is this acceptalbe? 

[Gizmo]

Welcome,
Never hear of the cure you mentioned.  I have used Morton Tender Quick and Maple cure for various projects but not for chicken.  I have done brines for chicken to enhance flavor and moisture.  Salt is one of the main ingredients for the brine.

There are recipes for basic brines on Old's recipe site.  Below my post is a link for the site.  You can also do a search on this site to find many other variations for brines.

[jdallinger]

Thanks for the tip to the website.  Big help on what to do.

[tom92397]

The best brine I ever tried was a liter of Coke and a cup of salt.

[La Quinta]

I almost never brine chickens...but thats just me...I choose to inject them...keeps them nice and moist internally...especially if you're using a whole chicken. IMHO the brine takes a long time (overnight) and the injection will work in a couple of hours (if that). We do ours with garlic infused oil (or butter) and rub the exterior with salt pepper and whatever else you like. The beauty of a chicken is it'll like whatever you do to it! Last one we did...we injected...painted the exterior with Iceman sauce and let er rip in the smoker for hour or two (depending on the size) and finished it in the oven...it was great!!