Comp chicken Brine + marinade?

J

jmoney7269

Guest
In leu of the shakes honey brine thread, I got to thinkin. Hmmmm my 1/2 chick turn in at the last comp was a little on the dry side but great flavor. Could brining have fixed this problem? Can you marinade after the brine? My concern is that the marinade I use from Friday night to Sat morning right before they go on, has 1/4 cup rub in the bag with the marinade. Just didn't wanna end up with a Salt lick chicken. Sometimes my chicken is juicy as can be, sometimes not. I have never used just a traditional brine, always marinaded, so your opinions and findings will be well appreciated.
 
We don't brine or marinade for comps.
Knowing what I know about brines, though, I would think that after brining, the meat fibers wouldn't take on much more flavor so I'm not sure how much good the marinade's going to do. However, marinades are more about the oil and acid than the salt, so I wouldn't think that it would hurt anything either.
 
It's possible to drive flavors into chicken after brining. Works fine with an injection. The one downside to brining is that it seems to toughen up the skin. I don't think you'd have problems marinating after brining, maybe just cut back on the salt a little.
 
Simple and cheap experiment.
Mix a basic salt and sugar brine and add whatever rub or marinade you wish to it.
See what happens.

I sometimes add flavors to my brine and it permeates all through the chicken and I get killer moisture along with a wider window for "doneness". 8)

Just a thought.

TIM
 
Brine works for me as well. I go heavy salt, 1 cup, to 1/2 cup sugar, with 1 tbsp granulated onion, 1 tbsp cayenne (like my chicken with some kick), all this in a 2 quart container of water. I call it my "Chicken Kool-Aid" cause it's a bright orangeish-red. I have tried adding 1 tbsp of granulated garlic as well and like it, but my wife, who is a hater of salt says it seemed to really make the salty flavor even heavier. I have tried adding sweeteners to this brine with equal parts sugar and some brown sugar as well as apple juice, but the more sweet I put in kills the saltiness and to me that is what the Texas judges like, where as in KCBS, you might tend to go sweeter...but I haven't had near the success as you J$, so what the heck do I know, just what I like and my humble $.02.
 
Jacked UP BBQ said:
Just use really good chicken
Click to expand...

Define good.... I use the Sanderson or hill country from HEB.

bruno994 said:
Brine works for me as well. I go heavy salt, 1 cup, to 1/2 cup sugar, with 1 tbsp granulated onion, 1 tbsp cayenne (like my chicken with some kick), all this in a 2 quart container of water. I call it my "Chicken Kool-Aid" cause it's a bright orangeish-red. I have tried adding 1 tbsp of granulated garlic as well and like it, but my wife, who is a hater of salt says it seemed to really make the salty flavor even heavier. I have tried adding sweeteners to this brine with equal parts sugar and some brown sugar as well as apple juice, but the more sweet I put in kills the saltiness and to me that is what the Texas judges like, where as in KCBS, you might tend to go sweeter...but I haven't had near the success as you J$, so what the heck do I know, just what I like and my humble $.02.
Click to expand...

Wow, you use a 20% brine by weight? How long you do that? I agree with the garlic making it more salty. What gives you the orangish red color if salt and sugar are white? I used to put orange tang in a type of brine I used to use but that was some experimental stuff. We did get a 3rd out of 53 teams with that, but nothing 3 comps after so we abandoned the idea of brine
 
jmoney7269 said:
Define good.... I use the Sanderson or hill country from HEB.



Wow, you use a 20% brine by weight? How long you do that? I agree with the garlic making it more salty. What gives you the orangish red color if salt and sugar are white? I used to put orange tang in a type of brine I used to use but that was some experimental stuff. We did get a 3rd out of 53 teams with that, but nothing 3 comps after so we abandoned the idea of brine
Click to expand...
I brine typically from meat inspection until 15 minutes before they hit the pit, 12+ hours. The cayenne gives the color. 5 out of 5 comps got chicken calls last year with that brine, my first one this year I went sweeter, no call, so I'm back to the saltier brine. As far as chickens, I'm with you, I buy whatever my local grocery has, Tyson, Pilgrims Pride, HEB, etc.
 
Bruno994 I'm gonna Try your brine next week, the chicken kool-aid has intrigued me. Pm me if you have any other particulars you think I should try. I want something I can use that I can season alot of chickens with minimal effort. Got me medium sized gig the other day. A friend of mine at work wants me to cook enough chicken and sausage for 150 people, I said no problem.
 
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