Chicken Brine Recipe - Wet Brine and Dry (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to wet brine or dry brine chicken? ›

The bottom line is that wet brining tends to work best for relatively lean meats like chicken breasts, turkey breasts, pork loin, and fish. In general, wet brine delicate foods that cook pretty quickly. For everything else, including most tough meats and roasts that take longer to cook, dry brining is the way to go.

Whole Chicken (3- to 8-pound): Mix 2 quarts cold water with 1/2 cup table salt; brine 1 hour. Bone-in Chicken Pieces (4 pounds): Mix 2 quarts cold water with ½ cup table salt; brine ½ to 1 hour.

What Is the Brine Ratio? The basic ratio of salt to water for a brine is 4 tablespoons of kosher salt per 1 quart (4 cups) of water. If you are using fine table salt, reduce the amount to 3 tablespoons.

Basic Brine

Place that volume of water in a container large enough to hold the brine and the meat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt for every cup of water you used and mix until the salt is completely dissolved. For example, if you are using 1 gallon (16 cups) of water, add 16 tablespoons (1 cup) of salt.

Don't Rinse It Off

Once the dry-brining waiting period is up, there is no need to rinse off the surface of your food. The meat will not be overly salty, and rinsing the surface with water will undo all of the surface-drying achieved by the dry-brine process. That, in turn, will prevent browning.

Step 1: Mix together liquid, salt, and sugar (if using) until salt and sugar are fully dissolved. Step 2: Add the protein to the brine, making sure that it is fully submerged. Step 3: Leave the protein in the brine for an hour per pound.

Add cold water to bring the temperature down, then refrigerate until fully chilled; Submerge chicken upside down (ie drumsticks and breast facing down) and brine for 24 hours in the fridge (even 12 hours is terrific); pat dry, brush with butter and roast!

This process allows the baking soda to neutralize acid on the surface of the meat, resulting in less toughness and a cooked meat that is juicy on the inside while remaining crispy on the outside. Note: Some cuts of meat may take longer to soak in the baking soda to fully tenderize.

Generously salt your chicken (about 1 teaspoon per pound) and leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight. The longer it sits, the more flavorful it becomes, but don't let the chill time exceed 24 hours.

Submerge your chicken in the brine and refrigerate until you are ready to use. Turn your chicken a couple of times if it isn't completely covered by the water. When you are ready to cook your chicken, remove from the brine, rinse, and pat dry.

Do you need to salt chicken after brining? ›

You can absolutely season your meat after brining. Keep in mind that the brine is very salt-rich, so you won't need to add any extra salt. Feel free to season with your favorite dry rub after brining. You can also toss the meat with low- or no-salt liquid marinades.

A general rule of thumb is to leave your meat in its brine for roughly one hour per pound—never brine your meat more than the prescribed amount, lest the proteins break down too far, turning it into unappetizing mush.

The rule of thumb is to let a chicken brine for approximately one hour per pound of meat, though you may want to lengthen or shorten that time depending on the strength of your salt solution or the level of salt you want to achieve.

Along with salt, sugar (either brown or white granulated) is a dry-brine must-have, essential both for its browning capabilities and flavor-enhancing properties.

A brine is essentially just salted water, but for such a simple solution it can do many things. Brines are used to salt cheeses such as feta and halloumi, not only for flavour, but to inhibit the growth of a variety of moulds, to preserve it and in some cases to draw out moisture, helping it to develop a rind.

A dry brine usually goes on at least 24 hours but sometimes as many as 96 hours before you cook the chicken. The longer you do it, the more juicy and flavorful the meat will be at the end. Just rubbing some salt and spices on the chicken's meat and skin a few days before cooking can make a huge difference.

But dry brining, a form of koshering, gives you firmer meat, while the alternative ends up on wetter side. Yes, the salt will penetrate the skin—but you can also apply some of the salt underneath for crispier skin.

Benefits of Dry Brining

Improves tenderness - The salt breaks down some muscle fibers and connective tissue to make the meat more tender. Maintains juiciness - The salty brine retained in the meat keeps it succulent when cooking by raising the temperature at which proteins contract to squeeze out moisture.

Dry brining uses the food's own moisture to form the brine that then soaks back in. Along with producing juicy, flavorful results, dry brining also helps us achieve better browning and crispy skin. And did we mention that it's also a much simpler process that takes up a lot less space than wet brining?