Chicken brine question.

I have done both. I prefer to brine the chicken overnight. 

We usually brine portions like breasts or leg quarters for around 5 hours. Whole birds 4.5 to 5 lbs. 12 hours.

Sparks65 said:

After noon all.
I plan to smoke some chicken legs and thighs ( attached) tomorrow but I want to brine them first. I' kinda lerry about an overnight brine. Would starting the brine first thing in the morning be long enough or should I drop them in the soup tonight?
Thanks.

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Either way will work for leg quarters.  I don't ever brine chicken dark meat it stays juicy anyhow so you can go long or short and I'm 100% positive they won't be dry either way.

Now do NOT add any salt to them after you brine them.  That is a mistake some first timers of brining make :)

I brine chicken breasts overnight but have seen benefits with as little as 30 minutes for oven roasted chicken breasts.  I don't like less than 2 hours when brining chicken breasts but again 30 minutes has worked for me as well.

Finally, for whole chickens I shoot for a 24 hour brine and no less than overnight to 12 hour brine.  

Oh, also if you smoke at 325F or higher you can get edible skin rather than rubbery skin that occurs at lower temps.

I hope this info helps and I look forward to seeing what you post :)

You can adjust the salt levels in your brine to your desired brining time. if you want to go overnight cut back on the amount of salt. Also i use apple cider in place of water in my brine mix ads a nice sweet flavor to the chicken plus the sugars in the apple juice will gice you a nice mahogony color to your chicken.

Sparks65 said:

Tall men I think you have a good point about the salt. As my rub has a fair shot of the white death I might just pass on the brine

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Do you have Black Pepper, Garlic Powder (granulated preferred), and Onion Powder on hand?

If so feel free to season your chicken with those after brining and patting dry.  Just don't add salt.  

If you've never tried the magic of Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder (or deydrated onion), and Garlic Powder (or granulated) on burgers, chicken, pork chops, etc. then you are truly missing out my friend.  The salt will come from the brine to make the big combo complete.

SPOG is basically all the seasoning you need vs buying or making some complicated "rubs".  

You can then take SPOG any way you like as long as it's your foundation.  I add Paprika or Chili Powder, or Basil and Oregano, or whatever other seasonings I need to take it to different places whether I need Mexican flavor, Cajun flavor, Italian flavor, or Montreal Stack seasoning'ish flavor, etc.  It all starts with the SPOG and then goes from there.  

I highly recommend you give the SPOG a shot where the salt is from your brine.  Chicken is inexpensive and if you are doing quarters you can take a couple and brine + POG, take a couple and just SPOG dry season no brine, and take another couple and go another route.  

Let us know what you do and I look forward to the pics.  Best of luck :)