First I want to say that I'm pretty lazy when it comes to food prep and always looking for a way to get to cooking faster. Been wet brining poultry, especially turkeys, since I was a kid watching my mom do it in her kitchen. Brining chickens have always been the preferred method but being lazy, I often skip that step. Reading Meathead's piece on dry brining with nothing but salt and a little time caught my attention. I quickly adapted the method for beef and pork but was always skeptical as to the real effectiveness on chicken. Chicken tends to have a tough, thick skin and I can see the advantage to the outer layer but the meat, I reasoned, would stay largely untouched.
Given that assumption, I decided to smoke a couple of whole chickens; one using conventional wet brining and one with a dry salt brine.
Type of Meat: Central Market Air Chilled Whole Fryers. These birds were bought directly from the butcher and were the best blank canvas for this challenge given the total lack of plant processing with no mystery injection what-so-ever. In short its nothing but chicken raised without hormones, etc. Both birds were of approximately the same size and weight, with both splayed open and cooked flat. Both were pre-seasoned before cooking with the same rub.
Brining Methods: One with conventional wet brining using a gallon of water and a cup each of sugar and salt, the other using about 1/2 a teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of bird. Both sat in the refrigerator at 32 degrees for about 3 hours.
The Cook: Used my 22" WSM with Kingsford blue bag charcoal and 6 hickory chunks over the course of the cook. Temperature was monitored by a Smoke therm. Cook time was 4 hours straight at 235-250 degrees with an additional hour after saucing at 275 degrees. Birds removed with an internal temp of 160 degrees after the 5 hours and left to sit until the temp from carry over rose to about 165.
After resting we cut the chicken and did our blind taste test. Note that the chicken sat back to back on the grill just as you see it here. Note also that the chicken on the bottom in the picture has a small piece of twin tied around the right leg, identifying this as the wet brined chick. Here are the birds cut up, I put labels to identify for the camera prior to eating.
Of Visual Note: both birds looked pretty much the same after smoking. The wet brine bird seemed to have a little more of an amber hue to the meat and seemed to take on a little more smoke. Both birds were very juicy and extremely tender. Both had very crispy and smoky skins.
The Taste Test: The wet brine for 4 differing pallets was the winner in every case. The meat was very rich in flavor, had a little more juiciness then the dry brine. The dry brine, still juicy and flavorful, didn't seem to have the overall depth of flavor than the wet bird. We therefore gave our choice, all things being the same, to wet brining. Having said that; however, brings me back to my initial note on laziness in prep. Was the difference so dramatic that going to all the trouble of mixing a wet brine really worth it? I'd have to say NO. Dry brining is so simple and does have an agreeable affect on I would say the overall flavor enhancement, just not as dramatic as the wet brine. You can also add other flavor components to the wet brine to amp it up even further, so wet brining poultry will remain my choice.
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Now for the bonus !! I normally make a monthly batch of Italian meatballs that we freeze in portions to eat with a homemade spaghetti during the week. As the chicks were smokin' I made my monthly balls. I normally brown them off and throw them in the oven to cook through before freezing. The thawed balls go into my sauce for re-heating when needed. The thought occurred to me that I have never had a smoked meatballs that I can remember so when the chicks came off I had plenty of smoke time available on the WSM so I took a few and smoked them for about an hour. WOW I was blown away!!! Not only did the meat ball come out tender and juicy and flavorful as usual, but the added component of the light smoke on the outside give it another flavor profile I found amazing. I may experiment with this further and if I do I'll report back. Try them for yourself, seems as though the old adage that everything is better smoked holds true !!!!
Given that assumption, I decided to smoke a couple of whole chickens; one using conventional wet brining and one with a dry salt brine.
Type of Meat: Central Market Air Chilled Whole Fryers. These birds were bought directly from the butcher and were the best blank canvas for this challenge given the total lack of plant processing with no mystery injection what-so-ever. In short its nothing but chicken raised without hormones, etc. Both birds were of approximately the same size and weight, with both splayed open and cooked flat. Both were pre-seasoned before cooking with the same rub.
Brining Methods: One with conventional wet brining using a gallon of water and a cup each of sugar and salt, the other using about 1/2 a teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of bird. Both sat in the refrigerator at 32 degrees for about 3 hours.
The Cook: Used my 22" WSM with Kingsford blue bag charcoal and 6 hickory chunks over the course of the cook. Temperature was monitored by a Smoke therm. Cook time was 4 hours straight at 235-250 degrees with an additional hour after saucing at 275 degrees. Birds removed with an internal temp of 160 degrees after the 5 hours and left to sit until the temp from carry over rose to about 165.
After resting we cut the chicken and did our blind taste test. Note that the chicken sat back to back on the grill just as you see it here. Note also that the chicken on the bottom in the picture has a small piece of twin tied around the right leg, identifying this as the wet brined chick. Here are the birds cut up, I put labels to identify for the camera prior to eating.
Of Visual Note: both birds looked pretty much the same after smoking. The wet brine bird seemed to have a little more of an amber hue to the meat and seemed to take on a little more smoke. Both birds were very juicy and extremely tender. Both had very crispy and smoky skins.
The Taste Test: The wet brine for 4 differing pallets was the winner in every case. The meat was very rich in flavor, had a little more juiciness then the dry brine. The dry brine, still juicy and flavorful, didn't seem to have the overall depth of flavor than the wet bird. We therefore gave our choice, all things being the same, to wet brining. Having said that; however, brings me back to my initial note on laziness in prep. Was the difference so dramatic that going to all the trouble of mixing a wet brine really worth it? I'd have to say NO. Dry brining is so simple and does have an agreeable affect on I would say the overall flavor enhancement, just not as dramatic as the wet brine. You can also add other flavor components to the wet brine to amp it up even further, so wet brining poultry will remain my choice.
_________________________________________________
Now for the bonus !! I normally make a monthly batch of Italian meatballs that we freeze in portions to eat with a homemade spaghetti during the week. As the chicks were smokin' I made my monthly balls. I normally brown them off and throw them in the oven to cook through before freezing. The thawed balls go into my sauce for re-heating when needed. The thought occurred to me that I have never had a smoked meatballs that I can remember so when the chicks came off I had plenty of smoke time available on the WSM so I took a few and smoked them for about an hour. WOW I was blown away!!! Not only did the meat ball come out tender and juicy and flavorful as usual, but the added component of the light smoke on the outside give it another flavor profile I found amazing. I may experiment with this further and if I do I'll report back. Try them for yourself, seems as though the old adage that everything is better smoked holds true !!!!
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