why brine chicken?

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

I brined a chicken once this past summer and then bbq'd it on the grill. It definitely did make it more tender and juicy, but it was a little too salty for my tastes. We are going to try brining the turkey for Thanksgiving, then roasting it breast-side down, but we'll only soak for 12 hours or less instead of the 24 the recipes calls for (it specifically said for less salty flavor, soak only 12 hours).

 

[greyfields]

There are many people who brine their birds and have wonderful chicken. Many people do not brine their birds and they have wonderful chicken, too.

Most my customers buy chicken from the grocery stores, which is brined to a 20% moisture content. These chickens are idiot-proof, since youc an cook the hell out of them and still have apparently 'moist' chicken.

I have some customers who haven't quite learned this lesson yet with my birds, which are not brined. They cook FASTER and you'd better have a meat thermometer handy. It's pretty easy to go beyond cooked to overcooked (and consequently dry and 'tough').

So, brining allows you a margin of error in the kitchen.

 

[Bossroo]

For the past and forthcoming Thanksgiving Holiday turkey, I inject ( 50 cc syringe and 18 ga. needle) approximately 200 cc liquid organic hydrocarbon compound ( butter) into the breast and thighs. This makes for the REAL Butterball turkey. When the interior of the bird reaches the boiling point of butter, it oozes out of said bird at the puncture points and self bastes the outside and gives a great golden glaze to the skin. The bird is very moist and tender and the drippings make for an ever so rich gravy for the mashed potatoes. YUMMMY !!!

 

[Opa]

I have been brining chickens and turkeys for years. I do it for the birds I cook in my smoker and for the ones we bake in the oven. You will never have a better tasting bird than one you have brined before cooking. Last year Alton Brown from the Food Network show "Good Eats" devoted a show to brining and cooking turkey. He gave all the scientic reasons for why it makes the bird juicier and cook substantially quicker. The information is still available on his web site. Remember to rinse the bird in fresh water when you remove it from the brine.