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18 replies

Brining 101 (the basics)

FM Former Member
Pulled this off the old cookshack site, wanted to post some of the "best of".
Please add your information that you've learned so others may learn.

Brining works great for all poultry by keeping the meat moister.

There is a ton of information out on the net about Turkey and brining. If I knew where I got this info, I'd send you there. There are some great resources over at www.bbqsearch.com. After reading a lot, here's a little bit of information.

I'm not the expert on this, but after I tried it once, I brine my all my poulty.

I found that brining made a significant improvement in the overall flavor and texture of the meat. The benefits of brining are many fold. First, brining provides a cushion for the breast meat, so even if it overcooks by ten degrees or so, it remains moist. Secondly, the meat of a brined bird tastes pleasantly seasoned, which eliminates the need to season before and after roasting. Because the turkey sits overnight in a tub of salted water, brining also ensures that all parts of the turkey are at the same temperature.

According to some yet another benefit is that the turkey meat absorbs water during the brining process. Water is a heat conductor and therefore expedites cooking. They say they found that a brined bird cooks faster than an un brined one by about 30 minutes.

There are a lot of brines out there and I've modified a few I've found to my liking.

Smokin Okies Honey Brine
  • 1 gal water

  • 1 cup kosher salt

  • 1 ounce tender quick (1oz = 2 tablespoons)

  • 1 cup honey

  • 3 bay leaves

  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves

  • 1/2 tsp pickling spices




Mix ingredients, and bring to a boil which allow the ingredients to mix well.

Allow the mixture to cool.

Place turkey//poultry in brine and refrigerate for 24 hours. Add water if necessary to cover. I sometimes place a plate on top of it to keep it down in the water.

Rinse turkey/poultry VERY well -- usually TWICE.
I have a poultry rub that I put on the bird, ALWAYS under the skin so it will penetrate better.

I'm not sure what temp others use, but
Smoke at 250 - 275 for best results.
That's my opinion, but I'm still learning lots about brining.

Give it a try on chicken first if you want to experiment.

Good Q'in on ya'
smokin' okie
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FM Former Member
Wanted to bring some recent posts over from the old forum for additions to brining:

From: Q-Cracker:
BBQ FAQ Brining Topic

From: AAHH:
I've wondered and asked the question "what's the difference between brining and marinading?" I think that I found my answer.
"Soaking meat or poultry in a light salt solution adds flavor and moisture deep in the meat in a way that a marinade, which just touches the surface, cannot. It works by osmosis: The muscle of the meat absorbs the salt water, relaxing the proteins and causing them to trap the water and flavorings."

Published Sunday, November 21, 1999 - The Charlotte Observer Brining the bird A long bath in flavored water makes a turkey moist and tender

By KATHLEEN PURVIS Food Editor

below is a link to the article.

Happy Qin' - AAHH
http://www.charlotte.com/observer/1121brine.htm

From Joe:
Morton's Tender Quick "why brine"
I read about all the fuss about brining, so I decided to give it a try. I found the Morton Salt Company web site and it gave some info about brining with their product "Quick Tender" it is not a tenderizer. It is a brining product that I found in a local grocery store.
I cut a whole chicken into halves, used the soaking method of 1 part product to 4 parts water then placed the covered bowl into the fridge and waiting 24 hours.

The next day I rinsed the chicken and put it in my smokette with 2oz of hickory for 2 hours at 250 degrees until the chicken reached 180 degrees. .

I was remarkable, so tender, so moist, so perfectly smoked it was as though the stars came into alignment and...... okay, I think you get the picture.

Thanks to all you who say "you gotta do it", I'll bet there is a better way, but heck for the first time out it was an incredibly gratifying experience with no additional learning curve.

Enjoy
FM Former Member
I have found that whole turkey should be brined longer than whole chicken. I usually brine a whole turkey for 24 hours and whole chickens 8-12 hours. Otherwise, at least to me, the chicken tastes too salty.

As far as a turkey breast, I guess that I would go somewhere between 12-24 hours for brining.

I would guesstimate that the turkey would cook in about 2-3 hours to an internal temp of 160F in the breast at 250F setting.

But remember, it's done when it's done. I've smoked 12# whole turkeys at 250F setting and they've cooked in 3 hours and some in 5 hours.

Those are my thoughts. Good luck.

------------------
Happy Qin' - AAHH
T tomMember
Smokin',you must have retired[again] to have the time to set up all these 101 threads. ......as you know,I'm more into practical application than recipes.As wonderful as my wife is,she is always skeptical about my tying up her refrigerator with a 5 gal. bucket for 24 hrs.She also frowns on my dumping raw poultry and funky liquids in her coolers. We compromise by placing the poultry and brine into a heavy duty,double bagged trash bag and placing that in the cooler.I then cover it with ice and we are both happy.Hope this saves some marriages out there.LOL

------------------
Good Q 2 Ya,Tom.
FM Former Member
Well, Tom, thanks for noticing. That one is from back in February. And with this new forum software, it doesn't disappear...it just keeps going and going.

No, let's just say I stay up REALLY late and get up REALLY early to finish all these 101 articles for you the forum Members.

I'm not expert, but like to share what I do know and when we created these forums and I do the 101's, then that information is easier to find.

Thanks again Tom!

Smokin'

[This message has been edited by SmokinOkie (edited May 16, 2001).]
FM Former Member
Bruce,

That is an interesting comment. You must have reached "Turkey Kharma". Or at least an equilibrium between the salt content of the brine and turkey (hence no further osmosis).

So, (I am just thing out loud here) the salt content of the brine and the length of time brining looks to have an effect. Maybe when I did my chickens, the salt per gallon of water (wasn't that called the molar (or molal) concentration back in high school chem??) was higher than need be for the amount of time I brined.

Maybe we are onto something here ... a mathamatical formula for brining chicken and turkey - let's let Smokin' figure the rest of the formula out!! LOL atcha Smokin'.

Good and interesting point Bruce.

------------------
Happy Qin' - AAHH

[This message has been edited by AAHH (edited May 22, 2001).]
FM Former Member
Well 'old Smokin has been brining for a couple of years now and I'm always talking how good it is.

Tried a new recipe yesterday and these came out Soooooooooooooooooooooo Goooooooooooooood that everyone was raving (and they've eaten my good stuff before).

The recipe for brining, I change. Used one off the BBQ FAQ link above called:

Big Wheel's prize winning brine.

Worked to perfection. Took the breast off at 160 and the dark meat at 180 and it was "perfect" it there's something out there that tastes better, let me know.

Smokin'
FM Former Member
Okay, I'll try brining. Good stuff here. But, as usual, more questions than answers. Try this please: Someone on this forum, Tom?, Stogie? talks about "crisping" a chicken after you smoked it. Crisp it over a gas grill, or whatever. That sounds great, but is it a universal rule? Is it always helpful, or just some of the time? Once you brine and smoke, do you still want to crisp? acarriii
FM Former Member
don't wait for someone else's opinion.

you try it.

If you like the chicken the way it is, straight out of the smoker, go for it.

If you don't try to crisp it up and see if you like it that way.

Regards of all our opinions, the one that will always matter most will be yours.

All these forum posts are suggestions, throw them away if you don't like them.

Just Smokin'
FM Former Member
Tried a turkey breast for Sunday dinner. Brined in Smokin's Honey brine for about 16 hours and seasoned with cs poultry rub with a bit of raw sugar so balance some of the spiciness of the rub. Cooked to 160 with a small chunk of cherry and apple woods. I thought it was terrific--really moist and tasty! The wife and daughter thought it tasted a bit salty, although they tend to prefer food bland. Next time I may reduce the brining time and/or the amount of salt in the brine. My next door neighbor gets a package to try and I trust his opinion so we'll see how he likes it.
Ribs are up next. Looking forward to that cook!

Keep on smokin' !!!

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