1st whole chicken question?

Hi Cal,
I have always brined my whole birds following the advice of the terrific cooks here on the Forum. I'm not sure that it makes that much of a difference in time/temp but I put my smoker on 250 and walk away until my remote therm tells me I hit 175...usually somewhere around five hours.

CarrollFamily,
After reading brining 101 it appears that this may be nice way to do it and have room for errors in time. I have a vision of doing 4 4.5lb chickens. I have a neighbor that has extra frig that he keeps for refreshments. I will have to help empty it, but I'm sure if I share the chickens he will let me use it to do the brining. Do you prefer to rub also?
Thanks for the info.

I've done a LOT of chicken since receiving my 020 earlier this year. Some thoughts;

250* is temp I use most. Allows a lot of smoke penetration and nice finish color. I've also done entire cook at 300*. Its faster but smoke flavor is just slightly reduced. 250* - 275* for me.

I think I read that poultry skin begins to crisp at 325* - so just know that. It won't happen at 250. I fantasize that the ultimate chicken would be slow smoked to some underdone temp and finished on a rotisserie grill. If I had a rotisserie...

Chicken temps can climb/peak fast with higher cook temps. Brining mostly helps retain moisture. The hens I get from Costco are as close to 'pre-brined' as you can get. Very light olive oil, rub and go.

CS chicken rub is REALLY good on smoked poultry. It's spicy so no need to over do it. I'm on my 3rd jar this year

I prefer to remove the back and lay'em flat. I've also removed the thigh/leg combo, probed breast for 165*, and leave thigh/leg combos in extra 15/20 minutes. Tender breast and no pink dark meat

I prefer the breast meat sliced for sandwiches and the thigh/leg combo cold the next day. Smoked chicken salad (with right recipe) is crazy good.

I would do at least two different combinations, since it sounds like your first time.

Brining will give you more flavor (deep)

For rub, do two birds one way, two birds with a different rub.

When redoakNC talks about removing the spine, it's called Spatchcocking (in case you need to search)

You can also brine in bags in a cooler full of ice this helps on frig space.

Should I make sure that brine is below 40* before I submerge the chickens and let set in frig?

quote:

Originally posted by cal:
Should I make sure that brine is below 40* before I submerge the chickens and let set in frig?

Yes, or make brine slightly stronger and mix with ice to proper volume.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd G.:
Yes, or make brine slightly stronger and mix with ice to proper volume.

Yes that's true if the ice melts completely, but if it stays solid (as in not all of it melts) then you'll throw off the ratio of the brine.

Is there much difference between hot or cold mixing on the brine? I think that maybe Todd is trying to lead me down the right path. How rapid can I cool the brine without any problems?

I thought about leaving chickens outside in the brine, suppose to be real cold this weekend.Then I remembered about the pests that helped themselvles through my window screens last summer,I'm sure they would enjoy Smoken's brine and my chickens.

Here's what I do. If I'm making 2 gallons of Smokin's brine, I mix the ingredients in about 1/3 gallon of distilled water. After the slow boil, I let the brine cool for about 30 minutes, then mix the hot brine with the rest of the water. You now have brine fairly close to room temperature and can now put it into the refrigerator for the rest of the cooling.

If you're in a brine time crunch, combine the above with some ice as Todd suggests. I still don't see how you'd get the brine to under 40* without fridge time. Dry ice?

You can cool the brine as quickly as you like.

Smokin' has a point about messing up the ratios if the ice doesn't melt. I know how much ice to use for a 5 gallon batch. I heat 2 gallons of water and dissolve the dry ingredients, then pour this over 3 gallons of frozen water(commonly referred to as "ice") already in the cooler. I stir it some to speed cooling, and then add the chicken or other meat when "ice" is almost gone. Usually in about 5 minutes. Never had a problem. Brine is usually about 35* when I add meat, and in my case it's usually partially frozen chicken anyway.

I know that when I do this at night, if there's some small amount of ice floating, and then I close cooler for the night, the next morning, there is still some small amount of ice floating, and I've verified a brine temp of 32* enough times that I don't bother anymore. It's so cold that it's actually painful getting the chicken out with bare hands.