- May 9, 2010
- 418
- 426
Hello all,
You have all given me so much info when it comes to smoking and cooking in general, I thought I'd give back by sharing my chicken brine recipe. A little background on this:
I grew up in Ohio, and my grandmother lived in a town called Versailles. We used to go to an event called Poultry Days. The cooks would always be misting the chicken with some kind of mixture while it grilled that gave the chicken a good flavor and kept it moist, and supposedly my grandmother got hold of the recipe from someone. I'm not sure how true that is, but that's what I heard at least.
Anyways, I took the recipe and started using it as a brine. When I first started doing this chicken many years ago, i would brine it overnight....and then after I put the chicken on the grill, I would take the brine mixture and bring to a boil. I would then dunk the chicken in the brine every 15 minutes or so to keep the chicken moist. I would also add a stick of real butter to the brine mixture when i brought it to a boil. However, I eventually did an experiment and found that with dark meat chicken, and a long soak in the brine, the dunking really wasn't necessary. The chicken stays plenty moist without any additional dunking or spraying. I used to brine the chicken just overnight, but I have since gone to a two day brine...I just feel it really penetrates the chicken and makes the flavor have that much more impact...and I notice no degradation of the meat texture. I hope you enjoy this. If anyone decides to try this please let me know what you think.
Brine recipe (the base):
3 cups white vinegar (you can also use Apple Cider Vinegar, but I find white vinegar gives a better flavor for my tastes)
1 cup water
6 teaspoons salt (regular table salt)
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
Lots of garlic salt (I use the Lawry's brand with the parsley flakes in it) (I have no measurement for this....I just shake a ton in until it looks good!)
...
mix really well until salt is dissolved
....
That's the base mix. At this point you can get a little creative with additional seasonings. I'll often throw in a little bit of whole peppercorns, some additional garlic powder, and some thyme. There are no measurements really for additional spices....just eyeball it. The base mix is the most important part.
It's pretty simple, but I've had lots of people tell me this is the best grilled chicken they've had. Like I said, a brine overnight is good...but I've even gone to a two day brine. I never cook white meat chicken, only dark meat thighs and legs, so I can't say what this brine would be like on chicken breast.
Enjoy!
You have all given me so much info when it comes to smoking and cooking in general, I thought I'd give back by sharing my chicken brine recipe. A little background on this:
I grew up in Ohio, and my grandmother lived in a town called Versailles. We used to go to an event called Poultry Days. The cooks would always be misting the chicken with some kind of mixture while it grilled that gave the chicken a good flavor and kept it moist, and supposedly my grandmother got hold of the recipe from someone. I'm not sure how true that is, but that's what I heard at least.
Anyways, I took the recipe and started using it as a brine. When I first started doing this chicken many years ago, i would brine it overnight....and then after I put the chicken on the grill, I would take the brine mixture and bring to a boil. I would then dunk the chicken in the brine every 15 minutes or so to keep the chicken moist. I would also add a stick of real butter to the brine mixture when i brought it to a boil. However, I eventually did an experiment and found that with dark meat chicken, and a long soak in the brine, the dunking really wasn't necessary. The chicken stays plenty moist without any additional dunking or spraying. I used to brine the chicken just overnight, but I have since gone to a two day brine...I just feel it really penetrates the chicken and makes the flavor have that much more impact...and I notice no degradation of the meat texture. I hope you enjoy this. If anyone decides to try this please let me know what you think.
Brine recipe (the base):
3 cups white vinegar (you can also use Apple Cider Vinegar, but I find white vinegar gives a better flavor for my tastes)
1 cup water
6 teaspoons salt (regular table salt)
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
Lots of garlic salt (I use the Lawry's brand with the parsley flakes in it) (I have no measurement for this....I just shake a ton in until it looks good!)
...
mix really well until salt is dissolved
....
That's the base mix. At this point you can get a little creative with additional seasonings. I'll often throw in a little bit of whole peppercorns, some additional garlic powder, and some thyme. There are no measurements really for additional spices....just eyeball it. The base mix is the most important part.
It's pretty simple, but I've had lots of people tell me this is the best grilled chicken they've had. Like I said, a brine overnight is good...but I've even gone to a two day brine. I never cook white meat chicken, only dark meat thighs and legs, so I can't say what this brine would be like on chicken breast.
Enjoy!
