Day 41 was centered around brining a chicken. We prepared the brine the afternoon before so that the whole chicken would be able to "soak" overnight. The first time I used a brine with poultry was last year with my Thanksgiving turkey. I used Alton Brown's recipe and it was a great success. I'm not sure if it was the fact my turkey cost $90, was killed on that Monday and never frozen or if it was due to the brining. Regardless, if you're stumped for this year's turkey, check out his recipe. It's easy and delicious.
Why do we brine?
If you use a brine, your meat is going be more moist and slightly more salty than if you were to just cook it straight out of the seal. It's a pretty simple concept once you think about it - salt breaks down proteins and let's the meat release moisture. If you are to just salt a piece of meat and leave it overnight, you'll end up with a puddle of liquid underneath. If the salt is making the meat more "porous" then if it's submerged in water, too - the water will have to go into the meat. Right? That's my quick explanation. I hope it makes sense. Even if it doesn't, still try it. It's good.
Ingredients:
1 gallon of water (1/2 ice, 1/2 boiling)
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 cup pickling spice
1 cup salt
1 T pink salt (optional)
This recipe is good for one 2-4 lb. chicken.
Methods:
1. Bring the water to a boil and add your onion, seasonings and salts.
2. Once boiling, add the water to the ice.
3. Submerge the chicken in the water.
4. Refrigerate overnight. 1 hour per pound is ideal.
Afterwards, you can cook your chicken however you want, but I would recommend roasting to maintain all the moisture.
