Curing A Chicken?

[ronp]

Anybody done one? I have one right now curing with Tender Quick. Any tips?

Thanks in advance.

Ron

 

[geek with fire]

(Disclaimer: I am a smart a$$....and I could't help it)

Ah, got a sick chicken do ya'?

 

[walking dude]

lolol.......good one josh
i brine mine, using kosher salt with other ingrediants

 

[bbq bubba]

Chicken ham???

Wont that make it super dry?

 

[white cloud]

Brine it with salt and spices. It won't be dry .............trust me. You don't need to use a cure, although salt is a cure somewhat. but no need for nitrates/trites.

 

[ronp]

His wings were twisted must be arthritis.

I should have clarified that better.

A cure involves salt maybe sugar, and sodium nitrate and sodium nitrites. They are preservatives. It is what makes ham pink,canadian bacon pink, and many of the lunch meats pink.

There are others in the meat curing industry such as Prague powder #1 and #2.

Here is a link that describes the definition better.

http://www.appropedia.org/Prague_powder_1

Hope this explains the difference didnt mean to confuse anyone.

 

[cowgirl]

I make a turkey pastrami using a dry cure....would probably work for chicken. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=11875

 

[white cloud]

I guess I should of asked the reasoning behind the curing. Is this for an experimental dish.

 

[ronp]

Yea, Yea, back to that ham thing. I have no idea why it would be dry? Is ham dry, pastrami dry, canadian bacon dry, and most lunch meats?

The country ribs I did were not dry, or the bonless pork ribs either.

It was also brined, but I will post the honest results.

I like to experiment with things and explore out of the box things.
If nobody experimented we would still living in the stone age.

The worst thing can happen: too salty and wasted 5 dollars. The best? Nicley smoked, cured chicken breast for lunch sammies.

BTW wife loves HAM, any flavor. She had a pastrami sammie tonight, one for lunch tomorow and me one tonight.

They all have been cured.

Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

Hey, if I can bring a new idea here why not? We are all learning, some are slower than others, and some faster and some don't want to learn and I pitty them.

But good luck to all, regardless.

 

[ronp]

Yes, I really wanted to do a Turkey breast for sammies like most delis sell. But the turkey is sooo expensive I thought I would try chicken. We'll see the results tomorrow. I'll post a QVIEW.

 

[ronp]

Oops, I missed this while typing. Nice job on that pastrmai girl. At least you knew what I was talking about. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks Jeanie.

 

[richoso1]

I'm with WD once again. been there and done that.

 

[ronp]

Brined or cured? I have brined poultry many times, but not cured. Not sure what you mean, there is a difference.

 

[bbq bubba]

Look forward to your results

 

[lcruzen]

Run with it Ron. I'm looking forward to the results.

 

[richtee]

People get confused Ron. Yes, there IS a difference. While salt <sodium chloride> can be called a "cure" and used as such, it's no where near as effective as sodium nitrate.

I have cured a few birds. One word of caution wheather curing or brining: Reduce salt OR cure by about half, as the bone/meat ratio in avians is about 50% that of meat.

I use cured chicken in my smoked chicken pate', and cure my pheasant for preservation issues.

And no, it will not make the meat dry. A ham cure is ALOT different than doing poultry. Ususally hams in the classic method- are dry cured, whereas poultry is "brine" WITH NITRATE cured. I think this is where alot of the confusion arises. A "brine" can be either a chloride or nitrate base in the vernacular I have read. There ought to be a distinction made.

 

[crewdawg52]

Guess it has "chicken pox".......

 

[fireguy]

Ron, ive done a cure in my turkeys with tender quick, havent done a yard bird though. My father in law and I have done may like this... 1/2 cup TQ to 4 cups water... injected into the bird... then brined in the same solution over night. That is half the TQ the mortan bag says, but it is way to salty for me so we cut it in half. still taste like ham for the most part.

Otherwise, I have just injected the bird before smoking and no brine.. ( kinda a semi cure, I guess?) this is not curing it but does give it a bit of that flavor on a much milder scale.. hope this helps

 

[mrh]

I have done chickens in Morton TQ brine with some other stuff, vinegar spices etc. I usually do around a dozen birds to give to the neighbors at Christmas. They always turn out really good, and after doing this several years I think they look forward to them. They don't turn out quite like a ham, but are very moist. I just threw together a recipe and got lucky.

 

[williamzanzinger]

I have to imagine from the top of my head that all the smoked turkey products availiable at your local supercenter are cured using nitrates. Id think that if you were to use a cured bird in other dishes it would bring out its best in soups or with greens and beans. Doing some wings might be a good project.