Brining chicken breasts

smitttykid · January 07, 2012, 10:24:49 AM

I found a quick recipe for making brine- 1 qt. of brine per pound of chicken. I have 3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts weighing in at just under 2 lbs. For high heat type meats(chicken/pork) the brine recipe per quart is as follows: 1/4 cup Diamond Crystal l\kosher salt, 3 tablespoons of Morton kosher salt, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons table salt. It says 1 hour per pound but not less than 30 minutes or more than 8 hours. Seems like quite a time range there. I have them in a ziplock bag in the refrig. How long should I let them soak? I plan on cold smoking them for 2 hours with mesquite-wrapping them in plastic wrap and putting them in the fridge a couple of days. I plan on cooking them on our gas grill. If I were to let them smoke in my OBS(instead of cold smoking) and cook-apprx how long should I let them stay in my OBS? Say outside air temp is around 50-60 degrees. Thanks, Smitty

KyNola · January 07, 2012, 12:25:26 PM

A question for you. Why do you need 2 different brands of kosher salt plus table salt? This is just me but I would be very hesitant to cold smoke poultry and then leave it in the frig for a day or two.

If you choose to cook them in the OBS entirely, I would shoot for a tower temp of 250 and smoke/cook them until the IT is 160. You can't judge it by time.

smitttykid · January 07, 2012, 12:45:51 PM

I questioned the 3 diff brands of salt as well, but that's what the recipe called for. How long should I let them soak in the brine? I may just do the whole works in my OSB. Thanks for your input. Smitty

Habanero Smoker · January 07, 2012, 01:41:25 PM

This is a very odd recipe for a wet brine. I don't see the rational for three types of salt. Once they are fully dissolve in water, they will brine at the same rate. I could understand it if it was a dry brine, and the rate the salt dissolves will be different for each size grain. Can you disclose where you found this recipe?

The discrepancy in times would account for whether you are brining a whole chicken, chicken parts, boneless or bone-in, they require different brining time. One quart of brine per pound sounds excessive, as is the salt, and the brining times for that much salt seem way too long. I'm trying to calculate this in my head, so it may not be accurate, but you may have the equivalent of 1/2 cup of table salt per quart. That is a lot of salt. For boneless breast I would not brine more then 30 minutes.

smitttykid · January 08, 2012, 05:14:57 AM

Habanero,
I googled "Brine Chicken". The first thing that came up was "The basics of brining" www.cooksillustrated.com/images - That's where I got the recipe. That salt deal didn't make any sense to me either - but I'm new to this and still learning. From what you said in your post I probably left the chicken breasts in the brine too long. I wanted to use mesquite to smoke them but I see mesquite is not recommended for poultry. I may due an hour or so of mesquite anyway as I probably screwed them up with the brine. I have a funny feeling they are going to tast like a smoked salt lick. Thanks for your help. Smitty

Foodie · January 08, 2012, 05:29:14 AM

Never heard of "kosher" salt in all my years...? Over here (Aust) kosher means "the real thing.." ?? so I guess u guys are talking about sea salt/rock salt or such? ???

smitttykid · January 08, 2012, 10:55:46 AM

Just took the chicken breasts out of the smoker about an hour ago. I took them out as soon as the IT hit 165. I covered them in alum. foil and them them rest for about 10 min. They looked great. I cut into the thickest one and was quite surprised. It didn't taste like an over smoked salt lick. It was a little on the salty side but the smoke was just about right. I used 4 pucks of mesquite. I finished off the first breast and I'm taking the other 2 over to my step son's for another taste test. Thanks again for everbody's input ! Smitty

Habanero Smoker · January 08, 2012, 01:06:44 PM

Hi Smitty;

I a big fan of Cook's Illustrated, but my browser is acting up and I can get your link to work, and when I try another link I only get one page of the document.

But I'm familiar with that document, and I believe what the recipe states is either use 1/4 cup Diamond Crystal l\kosher salt, 3 tablespoons of Morton kosher salt, or 2 tablespoons table salt per quart. Because of the different grain sizes they measure differently, so they are giving you the three different measurement for the three different types of salt; therefore you can use either of the salts in your brine, but not all. Their basic brine calls for 1/2 cup of table salt per gallon, which coincides with 2 tablespoons per quart.

How long did you brine them for?

Quote from: Foodie on January 08, 2012, 05:29:14 AM

Never heard of "kosher" salt in all my years...? Over here (Aust) kosher means "the real thing.." ?? so I guess u guys are talking about sea salt/rock salt or such? ???

Foodie,

Kosher salt is a term given to a pure salt that is coarse grain, though some brands may have an anti-caking agent. This type of salt is use for koshering foods.

FLBentRider · January 08, 2012, 01:14:03 PM

I would not use iodized table salt in a brine, it can give food a metallic taste.

Habanero Smoker · January 08, 2012, 01:19:25 PM

That is true, you should use non-iodized table salt. That is what the instructions call for.

Foodie · January 08, 2012, 06:50:59 PM

Good advice - hadn't thought about the iodine part myself....thanks for the heads up...(must check what I bought...I am using a coarse grain pure sea salt....but I want to get "Butchers salt" - which is bulk and much cheaper - now I know what to look for :))

smitttykid · January 08, 2012, 07:13:57 PM

This is in response to Habanero's question about how long I kept them in the brine. It was a little over two hours and as I mentioned before-they were pretty salty. I now see your point about alternative salt measurements. Next time-not so much salt in the brine and possibly less time in the brine. I'm going to torture some beef jerky tomorrow. But no straight salt in the maranade. Smitty

Habanero Smoker · January 09, 2012, 01:48:12 AM

Smitty;

That brine recipe is a good basic brine, it you use it again just choose one type of salt and use it as directed. The large variance in brining times the recipe depends on what you are brining. For example if you are just brining chicken part use the lower end of the brining times, the longer times are for larger parts like whole chickens and turkeys.

Foodie;

Many times products are given different names. What I know as Butcher's salt is a medium coarse grain salt, that is purified (pure salt). The larger the grain the more difficult it is to dissolve salt. If you get a purified salt in a smaller grain, it will be better for brining. I use pickling/canning or salts called purified salts. Their grain size is the same as table salt.

As for sea salt the tricky word is "pure". It could mean no anti-caking additive, in which case it could have trace elements from the sea that may impart flavors into the meat, or it could mean that it was purified and it is just sodium chloride. If you want to test the "purity" of your salt fully dissolve 1 or 2 tablespoons in a clear glass with 8 ounces of distilled water. If the water remains clear it is a high grade of salt (pure), if it turns cloudy it is considered low grade. The cloudiness means there are other minerals and heavy metals in the salt. These salts are alright for general use, but should be avoided for curing, brining and sausage making.

La Quinta · January 09, 2012, 02:02:43 AM

I use kosher salt exclusively...however I do have Hawaiian Sea salt and man that stuff is so much more salty than Kosher...however...it is a larger grain flaky salt and I measured it like kosher...wow...what a mistake that was!!! Bigger flake...bigger punch... :(

No iodized salt in this house...but used it for years as "table salt"...we don't much care for the taste of it anymore...well not for years now actually.

Daveo · February 04, 2012, 11:13:13 AM

Quote from: smitttykid on January 07, 2012, 10:24:49 AM
I found a quick recipe for making brine- 1 qt. of brine per pound of chicken. I have 3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts weighing in at just under 2 lbs. For high heat type meats(chicken/pork) the brine recipe per quart is as follows: 1/4 cup Diamond Crystal l\kosher salt, 3 tablespoons of Morton kosher salt, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons table salt. It says 1 hour per pound but not less than 30 minutes or more than 8 hours. Seems like quite a time range there. I have them in a ziplock bag in the refrig. How long should I let them soak? I plan on cold smoking them for 2 hours with mesquite-wrapping them in plastic wrap and putting them in the fridge a couple of days. I plan on cooking them on our gas grill. If I were to let them smoke in my OBS(instead of cold smoking) and cook-apprx how long should I let them stay in my OBS? Say outside air temp is around 50-60 degrees. Thanks, Smitty

Just looked at the recipe you found(I used google like you did to find it)Looks like they intend you to use ONE of the salts listed at the rate given.They listed all three because they measure differently,but only one is needed.On the first page of that PDF they talk about the differences in measuring the different salts and thus provided measurements for what you have.They could have made it clearer.