Achieve juicy, tender, and flavorful meat every time you hit the grill thanks to one simple ingredient: salt. Sprinkling salt on finished meats helps amplify the flavor on the surface but brining helps bring the benefits of salt to every bite. Here's how salting and brining can significantly improve your cooking.
I know we ran into this question before related to turkeys and basically the brand we talked about then had just enough sodium to be kosher without going overboard. However, the Empire brand appears to do a more through salting job. The average Perdue whole chicken has 80mg sodium per 4 ounces but the Empire has 290mg sodium per 4 ounces. I personally would skip the salt for the brine for Empire branded chicken. If someone wants more salt they can add it at the table.
If the chicken is already salted, I wouldn’t wet brine it at all. The whole point of brining is to get salt into the meat, so if it’s already salted there’s no point in brining.
They pack each carcass with salt before it goes in the chiller pretty good, I might sprinkle a little on the skin right before cooking.
​​​​Fun fact for ya: Empire Kosher does not use scalding vats to aid in removing the feathers, instead they dip the carcasses in ice cold water vats. They can't use scalding water because too much blood gets coagulated, leaving too much blood in the carcass at the completion of exsanguination. As a result of the scalding vat water, the coagulated un-drained blood would render the carcass "un-Kosher."
I totally do not recommend a wet brine for a turkey. Do a dry rub instead with a butter carrier and then the Simon and Garfunkle herbs. Some use an oil I like the butter flavor. Put the rub under the skin and as it liquifies it will help crisp the skin and the herbs will stay and leave their flavor.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
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A decent rule of thumb is if the Nutrition Information (if it has such a label) shows the sodium at or over 300mg, skip brining. If it's 200 or less, brine (wet or dry) as normal. If between 200-300, skip it or go lightly, you could always shake some on while eating. I enjoy wet brining chickens, each time I do I tend to think the skin cooks up more crisp, although most would argue that doesn't make sense.
Ahh.. I think also I smoked for so many years too. One thing I’ve noticed is when people are sensitive to salt then they are SUPER Super sensitive. I brine the crud out of birds. I find the skin thing to be hit or miss though. I have long since stopped serving chicken for the skin professionally. At home it’s 50/50
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