Brine for chicken breast

[zueth]

I am looking for a brine to use on boneless/skinless chicken breast as well as how long they should be in brine before smoking.

Thanks.

[muebe]

Now this is not my brine but it does sound good. Give it a try and post the results...

1Q water
1/4c kosher salt
2T honey
bay leaf
1 crushed garlic clove
whole black peppercorns
couple branches thyme (or dried)
couple branches parsley
bit of lemon zest
squirt lemon juice

For boneless skinless breasts, I'd brine for 30-40 minutes. Rinse, pat dry and then cook.

[devo]

It is possible to end up with meat that's too salty for your taste. To avoid this, brine on the low end of the time range on your first attempt. You can always brine longer next time, but there's no way to salvage a piece of meat that's been brined too long.


Whole Chicken (4 pounds)
4 to 12 hours

Chicken Pieces
1 to 1 1/2 hours

Whole Turkey
1 to 2 days

Turkey Breast
5 to 8 hours

Cornish Game Hens
1 to 2 hours


This chart shows substitutions for the two most popular brands of kosher (coarse) salt for 1 cup of ordinary table salt (remember without iodine) when brining poultry.

Table Salt (without iodine) - use 1 cup

or

Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt - use 2 cups

or

Morton Kosher Salt - use 1 1/2 cups

[OU812]

After you rinse off the brine you want the chicken parts to sit a couple hr to let every thing equalise before you throw them in the smoker.

[GBIceman]

This is what I use, I usually do a large batch at a time.

Per 1 gallon of water, 1 cup MTQ, 1/2 cup Brown sugar, 1/4 cup Brown sugar.

Works will on all chicken parts and Turkey legs, if pieces are big I will inject some of the brine. Almost impossible to dry out this way. I let it sit in a container for 24 hours in the fridge. Drain than let air dry overnight in the fridge. For skinless pieces I like to wrap in bacon, helps not to dry out the surface too much. Does not come out too salty.

Works well for whole chickens.

[muebe]

MTQ also contains a cure so it is going to taste different using it instead of standard salt for a brine...

[GBIceman]

Made a mistake, the 1/4 of brown sugar was really a 1/4 cup of garlic powder. My bad.

[zueth]

Thanks I found a simple one on line as well, that i might try.

1/4 cup kosher salt, 1/4 cup sugar, and 8 cups of water for 30-60 minutes

[zueth]

Do you let them sit for a couple of hours in the fridge after washing off brine or at room temp?

[muebe]

Fridge....you do not want to leave raw chicken sittin out for a couple of hours at room temp ;)

[zueth]

Good point :)