Brining a frozen bird

fixer

Newbie

Original poster

Apr 16, 2013

27

10

Winnetka (West San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles)

• May 12, 2013

• #1

Hi, newbie around here, so be gentle. Was just about to take a couple of 3# chickens from the local farm out of the freezer to brine tomorrow to cook for dinner. I got to thinking, could I just dunk the frozen bird in the brine and leave it in the fridge? Let it thaw and brine at the same time, just for convenience sake?

 

JckDanls 07

Legendary Pitmaster

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Sep 10, 2011

8,047

2,706

Tampa area, Florida.

• May 12, 2013

• #2

nope... need to thaw first.. will not penetrate frozen meat...

 

fixer

Newbie

Original poster

Thread starter

Apr 16, 2013

27

10

Winnetka (West San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles)

• May 13, 2013

• #3

JckDanls 07 said:

nope... need to thaw first.. will not penetrate frozen meat...

Click to expand...

I get that, but won't the bird thaw in the brine the same as it would in a pot of water or in the fridge?

 

ats32

Smoking Fanatic

May 25, 2012

310

21

Michigan

• May 13, 2013

• #4

Safer to just thaw first as it could throw your ratios off. Especially time ratios. And you never want to over brine the bird!

 

pgsmoker64

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Apr 23, 2010

3,402

81

Prince George, Va.

• May 13, 2013

• #5

I agree with the other guys, I would thaw it first.

Bill

 

diggingdogfarm

Master of the Pit

Jun 23, 2011

4,648

177

Southern Tier of New York State

• May 13, 2013

• #6

You can brine a frozen bird as it defrosts. I've done it countless times.
Leave it in the fridge for a couple days past thawing so that it's seasoned evenly throughout.
When you follow the safety rules and don't add too much salt, nothing bad can happen.
I use an equilibrium brine so it's impossible for the bird to become over salted.
To do a non-nitrite equilibrium brine add both the weight of the chicken and the water together.....
to that add 1% salt (one percent of the total weight of the chicken and water...no more than one percent, more will give the bird a funky cured texture.)

http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/equilibrium-brining

~Martin

 

Last edited: May 13, 2013