Salt Won't Dissolve.

[Wesman61]

So what's the trick here. I tried brining some chicken for Gary W. brining chapter. The salt will not dissolve. After 3 attempts and stirring for a total of about 30 minutes I just said screw it. I'll just marinate it tomorrow.

[JMSetzler]

Add more water to it or heat the water. Salt will dissolve in water until the water becomes saturated. A certain volume of water won't dissolve but so much salt.

[MisterChrister]

If it's a standard wet brine, I always dissolve the salt and sugar in 1/4 of the water (boiled), then chill that pot in the freezer and add it to the other 3/4 parts of water after it cools down and add my spices.

[Wesman61]

Originally Posted by JMSetzler

Add more water to it or heat the water. Salt will dissolve in water until the water becomes saturated. A certain volume of water won't dissolve but so much salt.

Thanks for the response. I used warm tap water per the recipe. Then I heated the water for the second attempt. I thought that maybe because our water is so hard I should used purified water for the 3rd try. Still no dice. The recipe calls for 1c of warm water and 2/3c salt. Is that too much salt to water ratio?

[MisterChrister]

Originally Posted by JMSetzler

Add more water to it or heat the water. Salt will dissolve in water until the water becomes saturated. A certain volume of water won't dissolve but so much salt.

Why'd ya deguerre me dude?!?!

[MisterChrister]

Originally Posted by Wesman61

Thanks for the response. I used warm tap water per the recipe. Then I heated the water for the second attempt. I thought that maybe because our water is so hard I should used purified water for the 3rd try. Still no dice. The recipe calls for 1c of warm water and 2/3c salt. Is that too much salt to water ratio?

Yup. I could never get that much salt to dissolve in 1c of water....

[bizznessman]

Normal Saturation of salt in water = 100 grams water to about 38 grams of salt
Approximately 3:1 ratio (water to salt)
.................................................. .........
Super Saturation = 100 grams of water to about 40 grams salt
Requires that the solution be brought to boiling.

The ratio your "recipe" states is not possible. That quantity of salt will never dissolve in one cup of water under any condition. It may be that the recipe has a typo since one-third cup of salt should dissolve in one cup of water. Hard water will affect the solution but the effect will be insignificant.

[Wesman61]

Thanks everyone. I boiled some water in a pan and the salt dissolved with no trouble. The chickens are brining now. I'll try to post pics tomorrow.

[captndan]

How do you brine a chicken in one cup of water? Ahh, the answer remains within.

[Redheart]

You might also try using pickling salt. Its grind allows for easier dissolving in cool water.

[Redheart]

Originally Posted by captndan

How do you brine a chicken in one cup of water? Ahh, the answer remains within.

Start when the chicken is 'within' the egg.

[Wesman61]

Originally Posted by captndan

How do you brine a chicken in one cup of water? Ahh, the answer remains within.

The recipe says to dissolve the salt and sugar in 1 cup of warm water then divide it between 2 1 gallon zip lock bags. You then put two chicken halves in each bag and fill with cool water. I boiled about 3 cups of water and it worked out great. Either way you end up with as much water as the bags can hold.