Brine or not to brine

No but it certainly helps. If your'e cooking birds already in a solution like Pilgrims Pride no need just go with them as is.

For natural chickens a simple brine of 1 gall. water, 1 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup white sugar works well.

We cook naturals in the 4.5 lb. to 5 lb. range and brine them for 12 hours.

Make sure your brine is below 40° before putting the bird in for safety. You can mix it the day before and put it in the fridge.

Our competition brine is much more complex and we also inject those birds.

You should try it and see if you like the results.

I never heard of brining until a few years ago (I guess I wasn't hanging out with the right people). Then I started reading "Cook's Illustrated" and watching their TV shows. They brined everything.

Then, a year or two ago I noticed a subtle change: many of their recipes no longer called for brining, and on their TV show the hosts would often say that they found that brining produced a product that didn't have quite the texture they wanted.

I've done it both ways and, not being a fan of main course food that is over-salted, I don't do it much anymore with anything other than poultry and then, only with whole or spatchcocked birds.

Here's a short "America's Test Kitchen" video on how and why to brine a bird:

I consider this site the holy Grail of brine knowledge. The Smoking Okies Holiday brine for turkeys is off the chain.
http://www.cookshack.com/store/Smokin-Okies-101-Series/Brining-101

Not necessary but I now always brine poultry when smoking. For me, the texture and flavor are superior.

I think the guys have given you some good info.  Especially the suggestion to try and see if you like brine vs no brine.

I personally brine all Whole birds and any breast cuts.  I do NOT like dry food at all and brining has always guaranteed me juicy whole chickens and chicken breast.  An easy test would be to simply buy a pack of boneless skinless chicken breast.  Brine half and don't brine the other half.

As for dark meat like qtrs, thighs, or drums, I never brine them.  They are juice no matter what... unless you cook them to a crisp lol.

I do like 1/4 cup salt blended with about a cup of water in the blender and then add any additional water to cover the meat and that is usually good to go for about 3 pounds of meat to 1 whole 5.5 pound chicken.  DON'T add any salt once you pull the chicken out of the brine, just add your other spices like pepper, onion, garlic, and any spicy pepper/paprika/etc.

The good thing is that chicken is pretty much the cheapest meat you can get and if you dry it out you can always shred it and add bbq sauce or turn it into a chicken salad.  I cooked 11 pounds of whole chicken 2 days ago for $0.64/pound  :)

Another word to the wise.  To get edible or may be even crispy skin your best bet is to cook chicken at 325F or higher.  Cook under 300F and you are likely to end up with leathery/rubbery skin :(

kam59 said:

I consider this site the holy Grail of brine knowledge. The Smoking Okies Holiday brine for turkeys is off the chain.
http://www.cookshack.com/store/Smokin-Okies-101-Series/Brining-101

Click to expand...

Wow, what a great read. Thanks!!

I vote "yes" on the brining. In my limited experience it gives a much moister and tastier result. IMO you don`t have to get too crazy with the ingredients with kosher salt being the essential ingredient.

Good luck!

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