How long to brine chicken halves?

[rsnovi]

I plan to smoke four chicken halves on Sunday.  I was curious how long you would recommend brining them.  It looks like maybe 4 hours is reasonable from what I found searching.  I am thinking about the Slaughter house brine.

I went to the butcher and bought some whole free range chickens.  I had the butcher halve them for me.  I was thinking about spatchcocking them myself, but he said he would cut them up any way I like them for free.  I thought the butcher would remove the backbone when he cut them in half for me.

 

[bluewhisper]

4 hours should be fine. The time needed will vary with the saltiness of the brine. Good luck smoking the birds, people love smoked chicken - not something you see often in stores.

What wood will you use?

 

[rsnovi]

Thanks Blue. I have some apple I was thinking about using. I have some cherry firewood I considered cutting a chunk off.

 

[bluewhisper]

Either of those would work.

I was helping a friend move a bunch of apple last night until it got too dark to see what we were doing.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Several hours is sufficient for a chicken and longer won't hurt. There are some here that say even a two day swim won't hurt if kept in brine and chilled .

I generally brine for at least 6 hrs. (if I brine at all ) . Not a pre-requisite , just me and with the Brine it is packed in for shipping , I really don't think it needs brining .

 Now fresh birds , depends how I feel.

Turkeys may get more , actually it's a subjective thing .

 Just have fun and . . .