Tricky
is one Smokin' Farker
I brined a bunch of chicken quarters today in preparation to cook them this afternoon for dinner tonight. Something came up this afternoon so we couldn't cook the birds - I just poured the brine out of the gallon ziplocs and put the chicken back in the fridge in the empty bags.
My question is this - if I don't cook the chicken until tomorrow afternoon, will they lose the benefit of today's brining? Since brining works by osmosis and the salty liquid passes through the cell walls to equalize the pressure/salinity, now that the chicken isn't immersed in the brine will the brine ooze back out of the cells and end up in the bottom of my plastic bags tomorrow?
Any suggestions? I suppose I could fire up the barrel right now and have a late night smoke party, and then refrigerate the cooked chicken and reheat tomorrow, but I'd prefer to just cook it tomorrow.
My question is this - if I don't cook the chicken until tomorrow afternoon, will they lose the benefit of today's brining? Since brining works by osmosis and the salty liquid passes through the cell walls to equalize the pressure/salinity, now that the chicken isn't immersed in the brine will the brine ooze back out of the cells and end up in the bottom of my plastic bags tomorrow?
Any suggestions? I suppose I could fire up the barrel right now and have a late night smoke party, and then refrigerate the cooked chicken and reheat tomorrow, but I'd prefer to just cook it tomorrow.