"To brine or not to brine" this is the question

Following the brining advise from ChefSteps I injected twice a 5 ml 2% salt/water solution in each butterfly`d chicken breast for the recipe from Bonappetit

Leaving the chicken overnight in the fridge

- anyone having experience / advise If I should have injected the drumsticks as well?

The result: It was worth to inject the salt solution. The breast with the treatment did not taste saltier but the bite was tastable different e.g. more pleasant and firmer compared to the non injected dryer and mushier breast.

The mentioned bonappetit receipe don't work at home (as nobody has a professional oven at home) as shown in the video but the one written worked - first 25 Minutes on the stove and then 5 minutes in the oven did the trick.

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Comments

tshewman

Yes, am a fan of brining.

FrankM_3301

As you might guess from some of my other posts...I'm not a huge fan. I generally don't like the texture of brined chicken or turkey. I do brine boneless pork loin chops, but keep it to a minimum...like less than 4 hours.

boris_855476

@FrankM_3301 Like you I'm hesitating to brine poultry. As it alters the skin to a disgusting lump - always. That said, injecting the chicken breast from the top, not puncturing the skin with a small needle only 5 ml two times each side helps indeed to get the breast to the same smooth juiciness the legs (hopefully) have.