Brine Chicken Breast???

catfish · Sep 16, 2007

I am looking for time to brine boneless skinless chicken breasts. They are frozen not the best start. Could thawing in the brine be ok? Do I need to refridgerate while still frozen right away? Was going to give it about 1 to 2 hours out the fridge then in the fridge till thawed. Any feedback will be helpful.

paul

crawdaddy · Sep 16, 2007

from a safety standpoint I have no idea but I have done it that way with great success when I have to. I'm usually scared of chicken but no one is sick yet. Maybe a quick thaw then into the brine and fridge?

ron50 · Sep 16, 2007

Problem with defrosting them outside the fridge is that parts of them can get above the 40 degree mark while the rest of the chicken is still frozen.

Better of defrosted them in cold water. Put them in a baggie and then submerge them, changing the water even 20-30 mins. Shouldn't take long with breasts.

walking dude · Sep 16, 2007

Damn catfish........did i just noitce you are going back to iraq?

son of a b****

Wd

catfish · Sep 16, 2007

Well I stuck them frozen in the brine and set them on the thermometer in a glass dish. Let it ride out till about 40 DEG then stuffed it back in the fridge. We will see how it works tomorrow. Only doing 4 of them for a first time test. Never did these before.

Walking dude I am on the way back. Probably not for the last time either. Just wish it was not for 15 months. Oh well what ya gonna do.

walking dude · Sep 16, 2007

i feel for you........my son is right now in kuwait, waiting on his assignment to irag........prayers with you.............

DAMN I HATE THIS WAR

sorry if i got political

Wd

walking dude · Sep 16, 2007

Sorry......highjacked another thread........my bad

Wd

wavector · Sep 16, 2007

That's how I defrost, but I do it in the frig that way over a period of days. I change the water when I think about it.

catfish · Sep 18, 2007

well if ya brine a few breasts don't forget about them for 27 hours. I have the most beautyful salt licks in the shape of chicken breasts ever. Well chalk one up to lessons learned.

sure looks good and it was very moist.Just salty as HECK.(keeping it pg round here)

walking dude · Sep 18, 2007

great looking breasts tho.........

how did you do em?

Wd

catfish · Sep 18, 2007

Well I stuck them frozen in the brine and set them on the thermometer in a glass dish. Let it ride out till about 40 DEG then stuffed it back in the fridge.Only did 4 of them for a first time test. Smoked hickory for 2.5 hours around 250-300. Kept tinkering with temp. Very moist just salty salty salty. Rinsed them for like 10 min because work kept me from taking them out of brine sooner.

walking dude · Sep 18, 2007

how was the "skin" part.....last time i smoked boneless skinless (need to make a term for these.....to long to type out.......heheheh) breasts.......the outside was drier than a popcorn fart.........

Wd

catfish · Sep 18, 2007

The thin parts were dry but it was a bonus if not so salty.Chicken jerkey.The meaty part was soooo moist. Ya could cut off the dry part and not feel bad.

walking dude · Sep 18, 2007

i wonder if misting during the smoking part, mite keep the skin abit more moist..........one of my gripes with the skinless part.......the chicken has a tendancy to turn out dry on the outside part

wd

catfish · Sep 18, 2007

Was thinking bacon on the outside would be cool also. Mabey add some flavor and kind of baste as it goes use sort of high heat so it should last. No fat or tough things to break down so I don't see where low and slow should affect this.

walking dude I just watched that link in your signature. Man that is some funny stuff.

bwsmith_2000 · Sep 18, 2007

Great looking "salt licks."

I've done the same thing so I know the taste. However, I don't think mine looked as good as yours when finished. Sometimes, learning can be frustrating ... don't you think?

catfish · Sep 18, 2007

yes it is frustrating. It looked soooo good then the taste. Man what a let down.

bullmastiff · Sep 18, 2007

What brine recipe did you use? That might have been the problem. Too much salt in the brine will do that. You want to use the rule of thumb of 1 cup Salt to 1 Gallon of water. It really (like most recipes) is to your taste. Some of my brines I use 1/2 cup salt per gallon of water, those tend to be my more suttle flavored brines like my honey brine.

Welcome back, and thank you for your service.

RLTW,

Paul

deejaydebi · Sep 18, 2007

Gee Catfish I'm sorry I slept through yesterdays posts and missed the hole thing until it was to late.

I actually added a new page to my website Sunday night about brining and although I may get some argument about it from some people my personal experiance and experiments over the past year are reflected on the page.

You can over brine food! I also have a table of MY recommended times for bring meat.

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Brining.htm

And as a side note - if you do suspect you've over brined or for some reason didn't get to smoke the meat and it sat in the brine to long -you can remove some of the salt by rinsing it off and throwing it back in PLAIN water over night. It won't take it all out but it will remove some.

Again I appologize for not being here for you last night.

smokin for life · Sep 18, 2007

I don't use any more then 1/2 cup of salt to a gallon of water.I'm always afraid of the "OVER" salting thing. Most of the time I'd be using soy sauce in the brine and that has salt also. But man they did look good.

Brine Chicken Breast???

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