Anyone else think wet brining poultry is a must?

[shify]

I only wet brine boneless skinless chicken breasts. I often grill a week’s worth of chicken breast to add to salads for lunch and always wet brine them first.

[fzxdoc]

When I dry brine poultry, I make sure to get some of the salted rub under the skin on the muscle of the breasts, legs, and thighs. Then I sprinkle the salted rub on top, front and back, as well. Works for me for getting the spices onto, and the salt into, the muscle as well as the skin.

Kathryn

[synodog]

I know a few people that wet brine their turkey in milk or juice of some such and they swear by it since the turkey comes out moist every time. I have a theory about why and that was discovered when I had a bird that wasn’t completely thawed when I started smoking it. The full water, juice, or milk bath thoroughly thawed the bird and thus it cooked much more evenly. I now make sure my birds are thoroughly thawed and I have had consistent results ever since.

[Old Glory]

I usually dry brine. However I tried brining in buttermilk and it was awesome. Based on Samin Nosrat’s Salt Fat Acid Heat. One of the best roast chickens ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-pq7MA2ko4

I wet brine turkey.

[Boflys]

Wet brine a must for whole birds. This recipe seems crazy but Alton Brown nails it!

https://www.food.com/recipe/alton-browns-brined-turkey-443177

[fzxdoc]

I've always soaked chicken for frying in buttermilk. It's a Southern tradition, I think. Sure makes for a good piece of fried chicken! I don't soak whole chickens anymore in anything. Once I had the chicken-laden brining container slip out of my hands and get salted samonella-laced water all over the counter, lower cabinets, floor, and myself. Yuck!

Kathryn

[Old Glory]

fzxdoc that sounds like a terrible mess!

[sdom1]

The problem with dry brining is that the salt doesn't effectively penetrate skin. Obviously, you can dry brine the other side, but...

It does, but you have to give it awhile to do so. At least 24 hours, although I try to go 48. I think the main difference is that the skin crisps easier with a dry brine, especially if you let the skin dry out as well.

[Boflys]

For those of you who say you never wet brine I would encourage you to try this once. It's hands down the best roasted turkey I've ever had. And I've had people offer to pay me for my smoked turkey, although I'm only doing the breasts in the smoker. I will try the dry brine method though. You all are awesome! Thanks for all the replies! HAPPY 4TH!

Alton Brown's Brined Turkey Recipe - Food.com

[Old Glory]

Can't argue with AB!

I have always used Emeril's Turkey Brine

https://www.food.com/recipe/emerils-brined-and-roasted-turkey-272414

[CandySueQ]

Depends on what the end result of the chicken will be. I tossed a frozen half on the OG this weekend. End uses were chicken salad and broth. Worked fine.

[Andrew]

I dry brine 24 hrs in advance. Super easy, no mess and a stronger poultry flavor. My dad still wet brines and I like his food too.

[Pobeque]

Dry brine all the way. I find, a lot like sous vide, wet brining sometimes gives the meat a weird mushy texture which I do not like. My teeth work fine I don't need my meat to be super 'tender' (mushy)

[cd36]

I'm pretty new to smoking, but I used to Spatchcock chicken on my kettle, no brine. It always turned out great.

But since I got a rotisserie for the Kettle, I started brining it in buttermilk. It may be partly from the rotisserie (I haven't tried it without the buttermilk brine), but I think I've had alot better results with rotisserie + wet brine than Spatchcock + no wet brine.

I just wet brine in a large ziplock bag. Put the bird in the bag, make up the brine, dump it in the bag and seal it. Don't find it messy at all.

Edit: I should add I don't have an issue getting crisp skin either with the wet brine. The first one I did, I dried the outside of the bird after brining, then S+P the whole thing. The second one I did was at a music festival for some friends, I wasn't able to clean the brine off, so I just went straight from brine to smoker. I was worried about the skin as it went on wet, but the skin still got nice and crispy. I feel like the direct heat of the rotisserie helped with that, probably wouldn't have had the same results with a spatchcock chicken done that way.

[Rattlesnake]

Can you share your wet brine recipe?

[Murdy]

I've had great results wet bringing turkey; haven't tried chicken.

[rlozinak]

I dry brine, never wet

[Starsky]

I typically wet brine and it works well

[MarkN]

I usually dry brine, but I just got a rotisserie for my Weber and followed a recipe that wet brined a whole chicken. Turned out great. Moist meat, smoky flavor (used Pecan) and crispy skin. The best of all worlds. That being said, since I'm always experimenting, I cannot say I will always do one or the other.

[Attjack]

I dry brine out of convenience and because I don't think there's much if any advantage.