Well cooked chicken is a favorite for nearly all non vegetarians. You can roast it, grill it, fry it or simply stir fry with other vegetable ingredients. Whichever chicken recipe you prepare, it converts a regular meal into a wonderful treat. It is very easy to prepare, as compared to other meat items. Nevertheless, purchasing fresh chicken also matters in making delicious chicken dishes. After that, preparation prior to cooking is a must for yielding tender and soft chicken.
You can find plain or already brine chicken in the food stores. With the latter case, brining chicken is not necessary. In case of untreated roasting chicken, do not skip the brining step. After soaking in salt solution, the flesh absorbs salt and swells up. And while cooking brine chicken, it blends well with the seasoning spices, making the flesh moist and flavorful.
Ways to Brine Chicken
Indeed, brining for a specific duration makes a whole lot of difference while cooking tender and juicier chicken. The salt content in brine recipe may differ according to individual preferences. Higher the salt content, shorter will be the brining time and vice versa. However, adding salt in a higher percentage leads to excess salinity of the outer flesh. As per your taste, you can add - cup kosher salt per quart of water used in the recipe. Also, selecting herbs and spices is up to your choice. Brining tips for whole chicken and chicken pieces are discussed below.
Brining Chicken for Roasting
Ingredients
- 8 cups warm water
- 1 roasting chicken (6 to 7 pounds)
- cup kosher salt
- cup packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 1 tablespoon whole allspice, crushed
- 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns, crushed
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 4 cups cold water
In a large size cooking pot, pour warm water and add the ingredients - kosher salt, brown sugar, molasses, allspice, peppercorns and ground ginger. Put over medium high heat and allow the mixture to boil. Reduce heat and stir well, so that salt and sugar are dissolved completely. Remove brine solution from heat and cool down to room temperature. Meanwhile, prepare chicken by removing the giblets and keep aside.
Take a resealable plastic bag and place it in a roasting pan with mouth facing upward. Pour cold water and place chicken. To this bag, gently pour brine solution. Expel air and seal bag. Refrigerate chicken for 6 - 8 hours for the brining process, while turning in between. Once you are done with brining the chicken, discard salt solution and rinse chicken thoroughly. Cook it in the way you want (roasting, baking or grilling). Or else, you may like to prepare brown sugar chicken.
Brining Chicken Pieces
Ingredients
- 8 cups warm water
- 4 chicken large pieces (or chicken breasts)
- cup of kosher salt (1 tablespoons unionized table salt )
- cup brown sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 bunch thyme
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
In a large bowl, combine together the brine ingredients - water, salt, sugar, bay leaf, thyme and pepper. Stir well until the sugar part is dissolved well in the solution and then allow it to cool down. Add chicken pieces into a zipper bag and pour brine solution. Refrigerate for 1 - 4 hours. This procedure can be used for brining thighs and wings of chicken. If you are dowsing the chicken pieces with the skin on, increase the soaking time.
With moderate salt concentration, the adequate brining time is roughly one hour per pound of chicken. Brining chicken breasts (without bones) requires only 2 - 3 hours. However, in case of limited time, increase the salinity of the brine solution. As you now know how to brine chicken, cooking scrumptious chicken is a few steps away.
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