Chicken controversy!!!!!!!

[sniltz]

Me and my friend have a argument going on.  I love to brine chickens and then rub butter up under the skin and then put it on the smokers whole.  He says brining the chicken takes away the natural taste of the chicken and he also spatchcocks them.

I wanted to throw this out to you guys and gals to see what you think.  I say brine and cook whole to baste in its own juice and he says no to brining and spatchcocks (butterflies) his.  

Let the battle begin!!!!

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Me and my friend have a argument going on.  I love to brine chickens and then rub butter up under the skin and then put it on the smokers whole.  He says brining the chicken takes away the natural taste of the chicken and he also spatchcocks them.

Brining takes away the natural blandness of chicken. :biggrin: I don't see anything wrong with that!

I wanted to throw this out to you guys and gals to see what you think.  I say brine and cook whole to baste in its own juice and he says no to brining and spatchcocks (butterflies) his.  

Let the battle begin!!!!:781:

Cooking whole or spatchcocked is a matter of personal preference, neither is right or wrong, use what works best for you.
I like to spatchcock or split the birds because they cook more evenly.

Have fun!

~Martin

 

[scarbelly]

You will find a lot of posts here on the value of brining chicken. I believe it depends on personal taste as opposed to a hard and fast rule. I cook chicken both ways and like both brined and natural chicken prepared in different ways.

If I am using garlic and rosemary and butter, I will normally not brine as I am looking for a crispier skin which with my smoker is hard to accomplish with a brine due to the temp maxing at 250.  If I have done a brine and rub I expect to have to finish on the grill to achieve crispy skin. 

As far as spatchcocking - it is again persona preference.  Beer can chicken produces a moist chicken that is hard to duplicate when spatchocked.  

It all boils down to what you personally like rather than a right or wrong way to do things 

 

[jrod62]

I pick:
D) all of the above !!!
Butter/garlic mix under the skin is one thing I always do .
make it both ways and get friends to judge and see which one they like better

 

[daveomak]

Brining can add a new dimension to the flavor of chicken....   I particularly like brining using chicken broth solution with salt, garlic, onion and rosemary in the broth....  Then smoke lightly....  No point in overpowering great flavors... All time favorite is Scarbelly's butter rub with garlic and rosemary... That is the killer recipe for yardbird...  

Dave 

 

[smokinhusker]

I brine cornish game hens and spatchcock, but finish on the grill. Haven't done whole chickens, cause they just aren't a real big favorite here.

 

[austinl]

LOL; "…takes away the natural blandness of chicken."  I'd have to agree with that one; chicken by its self needs a little help.  I tried just about every method of seasoning whole chickens (because I like to smoke them whole) and I settled on brining them for the purpose of putting flavor deep into the meat.

 

[rowdyrawhide]

I used to think brining was a ridiculous waste of time and unnecessary.  

   Welllllllll...let's just say I almost refuse to smoke a chicken or chicken part that has not been brined since I tried it.  I also spatchcock them too, so I guess you both win..........or lose.  

   

 

[sniltz]

Thank you for the comments.  My friend is from Texas and I'm fro North Carolina.  So our view on smoking/grilling are way different.  But, we love to poke fun at each other.  We do it all the time.  This has been an ongoing debate for a few months now.  It just got a little fuel under it when I cook some chickens on his pit and they didn't turn out well.  

Thanks for all the comments again.  It was fun.

 

[arnie]

Thank you for the comments.  My friend is from Texas and I'm fro North Carolina.  So our view on smoking/grilling are way different.  But, we love to poke fun at each other.  We do it all the time.  This has been an ongoing debate for a few months now.  It just got a little fuel under it when I cook some chickens on his pit and they didn't turn out well.  

Thanks for all the comments again.  It was fun.

Since it’s a friendly rivalry and your chicken didn’t turn out well on his pit just tell him you were right and his pit sucks

                      

 

[jarjarchef]

I prefer to cook split chickens unbrined.
I have not played with brining to much, I will marinade for a different flavor profile if so desired. On larger birds I will inject.

My grandfather would brine the birds he smoked, they were good. But I think he over brined them. They had a different texture to them. They reminded me of commercially processed smoked meat. When you would cut it you could not see the individual grains to the muscle. I think that is why I don't want to venture into brining.....

 

[diggingdogfarm]

My grandfather would brine the birds he smoked, they were good. But I think he over brined them. They had a different texture to them. They reminded me of commercially processed smoked meat. When you would cut it you could not see the individual grains to the muscle. I think that is why I don't want to venture into brining.....

I don't like that funky texture either.
It doesn't happen, not noticeably anyway, when "dry brining" with 1% salt and 1/2% sugar.


~Martin

 

[bruno994]

Brine a bird and you can cook it anyway you like.  I have cooked whole birds, pieces, halves, spatchcocked, you name it.  Juicy and flavorful.  And I'm from Texas, so in our comps down here, typically you cook fully jointed, chicken halves.  I have had solid success with 2 methods, first is brining for 12-16 hours (water, kosher salt, sugar, brown sugar, my rub, apple juice), mixing Parkay squeeze with some of my rub, rubbing it under the skin (I also pin the skin back to cover the meat fully with toothpicks), then smoke for about 2 hours at 250 until IT reaches 170 in the breast, then I baste the outside with sauce or a glaze and put back on the pit for 15 minutes or so to let the sauce set.  But I have also enjoyed the results of cooking the chicken in foil pans in a butter bath, put the halves skin side up in foil pans (I use the ones that 2 halves fit into pretty good, can't remember the size, maybe 9 x 11 or something) then throw stick of butter in there with them.  I do everything else the same, brine, butter/rub mx, 170 IT in breast, etc.  The texture of the chicken after a butter bath is incredible, tender and juicy, but the downfall I see to butter bath in pans against just smoking is you lose some of the smokeyness to the meat, since the bottom exposed meat is getting no smoke, only butter.  I tried this past weekend smoking for 1 hour, then into a butter bath for the last hour, good results, but nothing definitive yet, I need to play with it some more, may try it in reverse, butter then smoke.  Neither way produces crispy skin, but the skin is bite through without a problem.  Most guys in comps grill their chicken instead of smoking, but I have gotten a call in every comp so far smoking my chicken, so I'm sticking with what works. 

  See some of us Texans know how to cook a good bird!   

 

[michael ark]

I inject . So much better.:biggrin:

 

[swinn]

I would each of you get together and prep your birds the way you like them and hang out and smoke em up. The split each bird with each other and have a family taste test. Good friends, Good fun, Good food!! no way to go wrong is there?