How to brine

[scottyaz]

OK, I did a search on brine and came up with 20 pages+ of hits. But in the first few I didn't see one on how to brine.

I'm looking to smoke up a small fryer chicken Thursday. I would bring it tomorrow. What do I do to brine it?

 

[travcoman45]

Slaughterhouse Poultry Brine By Tip Piper of Hillbilly Vittles
1 ½ Gal Water
½ C Salt - Kosher
½ C Dark Brown Sugar
2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp Onion Powder
2 tsp Cajun Spice (Louisiana Cajun Seasoning)
2 tsp Celery Seed
Mix all this tagether in a bucket (food grade), rinse yer bird an put him in there then put a plate on top to hold him under. Stick in the icebox overnight.

Next mornin, pull the bird out an rinse, pat dry, add yer favorite rub an smoke.

Brine at bout 36° any higher ya risk spoilage, any lower an it slows down the brinin process.

Good luck.

This is perty good the way it is, but ya can change ifin ya wanna. Few folks on here like it.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

That's good advice, Tip. I just did my first brined (7.5 lb) yard bird last Sunday...came close to your suggested method...I nearly had a SNAFU though, 'cause my bird didn't want to thaw out on time, as my fridge was pretty chilly.

Anyway, it was a good learning experience for me. And, I finally got my feet wet, or a bird anyway, LOL! The bird was some pretty fine eating, too!

Good luck on that brine Scott, and don't let it scare ya like I did.

If you have other questions as to how to finish the process, temps to smoke at, internal temp to pull it out of the smoker, or other steps along the way, there's plenty of great folks here like Tip with lots of experience to take care of you.

Eric

 

[scottyaz]

Thanks for the brine receipe. I figure I'll drop it in tomorrow night and let it brine whiel I'm sleeping.

It's about 4-5 pound chicken, so the only other question is do you have an idea about how long it will take roughly.... I'm guessing about 5 hours

 

[old poi dog]

Hi Scotty,

I smoke my chickens until the internal meat temp at the thighs are about 180 degrees although I think you could pull it at 165. 5 hours for your chicken may be close to the 180 range.

 

[pops6927]

I like to pickle mine in a brining solution containing a curing (nitrite) agent; I used DQ Curing Salt No. 1 by Butcher Packer Co. out of Chicago...

http://www.butcher-packer.com/index....a38bb3e04254b3

this is what gives meat that 'hammy' flavor. I've pickled chickens, turkeys, pork loin for Canadian Bacon, bellies, and eye rounds for dried beef (double the salt). I keep it simple with a recipe imitating what my dad used in his store for 40 years:





½ gal. water
½ cup salt
½ cup Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji] sugar
½ cup Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji] brown sugar
1 tsp. DQ Cure

Being diabetic I have to use the Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji] sugar but regular sugar and brown sugar at the same amounts are equally as good.

For small items (chicken, pork loin, eye round, partial slab of belly) I use a gallon drink jug (I weight down the meat with a ziploc bag of ice cubes):

Pickling a chicken:


Pickling eye of the round for dried beef (injecting first):


For larger items like a turkey, I'll use the crisper instead (no picture).

Pickling in any brine, with or without cure, adds great flavor to your meat!

 

[travcoman45]

I smoke at 225° - 250° to an internal temp a 170° in the breast er meaty part a the thigh. Nice an juicy an plenty done ta boot.

As fer time, well as long as it takes yer bird ta get ta temp. But, mine will run from four hours fer a smaller bird ta 6 hours on a bigger bird. Ifin it gets done fer yer ready ta serve, wrap him up in foil an stuff in a personal size cooler, will keep him warm fer quite a bit.

Now at these temps, yer skin gonna be a bit rubbery, ifin ya wan't it crisper ya can use my spritz which give a decent skin, or pull that bird a bit early an pop him in the oven at 350° ta finish which will crisp up that skin some to.

 

[beer-b-q]

Gonna try both your brines.

 

[mballi3011]

I use plane old salt with some cajun seasoning and garlic and some old bay. and soak it overnight and pat dry then evoo and a good rub of your liking. Smoke at 230-240 till I do in the breast about 160-165 then let it rest and then chow time. Thats my way of smoking a good yard bird.

 

[scottyaz]

Thanks for the great advice. Unfortunately Work arose and I can't work from home tomorrow so this smoke gets pushed back till Sunday. Going to do a brisket Saturday. Should be a fun weekend.

 

[bgosnell151]

Any problem with brining a bird in a large steamer pot?

 

[geerock]

Brine in a plastic pail or large zip lock for smaller stuff.

 

[bgosnell151]

Thanks

 

[foamheart]

If you use a pot just remember to use a non-reactive type like glass, plastic, stainless steel. Remember even aluminum rusts.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

 
If you use a pot just remember to use a non-reactive type like glass, plastic, stainless steel. Remember even aluminum rusts.

Oh, aluminum and salt do not go together at all. I ruined a turkey fryer pot due to forgetting to empty and clean the pot after my last turkey fry with course salt in the dry rub...luckily, the holes are all in the bottom or close to the shoulder. After discovering a couple pin holes and one larger one, yeah, that pot is still waiting to be re-purposed as a mini smoker of some sort, but the diameter is too small for a mini WSM, so it will have to be a true make-shift base...the lid my have to be the original.

Eric