Chicken brine.

[essexsmoker]

Just did a southern fried chicken recipe and my god was the chicken salty.

I thought it looked like a lot of salt at the time but just followed it anyway.

It says 100g of salt, 100g of sugar and 400ml of water. Is it me or is that a 25% brine? I thought brine was normally about 5%.

Taste was quite good overall, but just way too salty.

[essexsmoker]

Thinking about it I guess by weight that would be a 20% brine? Either way it was waaay too strong.

[GingerBen]

It's a hell of a lot of salt for that little water. The last brine I did was for two spatchcock chickens and that was 200g salt in 4 litres of water (5%)

[essexsmoker]

It's a hell of a lot of salt for that little water. The last brine I did was for two spatchcock chickens and that was 200g salt in 4 litres of water (5%)

Hi Ginger, yes, that's what I thought it should be.

How long did you leave it for in the 5%?

Thanks.

[essexsmoker]

Does anyone have a table or guide to maximum brine times in relation to salt levels?

Like, 20% 2hrs, 10%8hrs, etc?

[GingerBen]

It's a hell of a lot of salt for that little water. The last brine I did was for two spatchcock chickens and that was 200g salt in 4 litres of water (5%)

Hi Ginger, yes, that's what I thought it should be.

How long did you leave it for in the 5%?

Thanks.

Think it was overnight

[Lord Grim]

I know I'm new here and probably have my wires crossed.
But surely to a large degree, when brining, it doesn't matter how strong the liquor is as much as the time it spends in it?
Also, as you are cooking the chicken, the brine is just a tenderiser/seasoning?
Surely (and I very much stand to be corrected here), when hotsmoking something like chicken, you just go to taste?
Obviously I get the importance of brining something like a ham for hotsmoking, or a salmon side for cold (or hot).

[essexsmoker]

It's a hell of a lot of salt for that little water. The last brine I did was for two spatchcock chickens and that was 200g salt in 4 litres of water (5%)

Hi Ginger, yes, that's what I thought it should be.

How long did you leave it for in the 5%?

Thanks.

Think it was overnight

Thanks.

[essexsmoker]

I know I'm new here and probably have my wires crossed.
But surely to a large degree, when brining, it doesn't matter how strong the liquor is as much as the time it spends in it?
Also, as you are cooking the chicken, the brine is just a tenderiser/seasoning?
Surely (and I very much stand to be corrected here), when hotsmoking something like chicken, you just go to taste?
Obviously I get the importance of brining something like a ham for hotsmoking, or a salmon side for cold (or hot).

Yes, exactly, but the only way to find out what the time should be would be to do it and test it. 5% would be overnight, and 25% would be a couple of hours.

I just wondered if there were any figures available for inbetween. The reason I ask is because of the extra herbs etc, you add. I would assume that they impart better flavour over time. So if you have 24hrs then great, but if you only have 8..? 5% not enough, and 25% too much.

[Lord Grim]

[/quote]Yes, exactly, but the only way to find out what the time should be would be to do it and test it. 5% would be overnight, and 25% would be a couple of hours.

I just wondered if there were any figures available for inbetween. The reason I ask is because of the extra herbs etc, you add. I would assume that they impart better flavour over time. So if you have 24hrs then great, but if you only have 8..? 5% not enough, and 25% too much.[/quote]

I'm pretty new to brining myself, so far I've done a couple of bellies for streaky bacon, haddock, ham and kippers, all of which have been pretty well received.
I've never done chicken, but this looks like a reasonable jumping off point to me, and claims to have you covered for anything between one and 12 hours..

http://www.enjoy-how-to-cook.com/brining-chicken.html

If you're going to add herbs/aromatics then based on my experience doing ham, I'd definitely recommend doing the boiled brine method.