brine?

[crystal94040]

I've never processed a chicken before but I'm gearing up to come Monday.
I read the bird should rest for 2 days and it should also be placed in brine before cooking.
How long should it be in the brine?
anyone have a good brine recipe?

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I think it's MissPrissy that soaks her birds in the salt brine in the frig.....hope she chimes in...if not look in the meat bird section she may have posted it there when telling how she processed her birds....

The post is called Processing the Packing Peanuts...that is her Post...not sure if the brine recipe is in there but you can look.....

I did find where she talks about the brine but she doesn't measure her salt and water...if its anything like doing a game meat, the way I do it is just by tasting the water for salt....a couple tablespoons of salt to a large bowl of water...taste it to suit your taste buds and make sure its not tooo salty...drawls out the blood and breaks down the meat some for cooking...I think she does hers 24 hours....mine I let set overnight...

 

[crystal94040]

do they have to be soaked in brine to be tender? or does that just add flavor or something?

 

[silkiechicken]

It's personal preference, I don't brine mine. What will make them tender is them sitting in the fridge. As they age, the proteins (actin heads in particular) break down and the muscle relaxes.

 

[crystal94040]

I see....so is one day good or should I do two?

 

[MissPrissy]

Yes, I do, tuffoldhen. LOL That is exactly what I do.

 

[silkiechicken]

I do just one but, two days is safer if you want a softer chicken. He is young though so he should be good to go on day 2.

 

[jackiedon]

I have never processed a chicken but when I smoke chickens. I rub them down with salt and let the chicken get to room temp. before I put it in the smoker. The salt holds the juices and the smoke in the chicken.

jackie

 

[jkm]

I brine my chciekns and turkeys

make sure the pot is large enough first!

for a chciken I use two or three large handfulls of kosher salt , dissolved in hot water, then cold water added to cover bird.
some recipes call from some sugar