Dry brining chicken

[krex1010]

I tried something new this weekend and wanted to share my results and see if anyone else has tried this.....I've been a big advocate of wet brining chicken and pork for a while now. I think it produces moister meat without a doubt. But I'm not one to leave good enough alone....and there are some drawbacks to wet brining, especially with chicken. The biggest drawback to wet brining is it makes getting crisp skin more of a procedure. It can be done but non wet brined chicken skin is just better in my opinion.

So this weekend I was craving fried chicken big time...not BBQ I know but I figure we all like to cook here. Usually I'd do some kind of brine when frying chicken but I've found that excess internal moisture within the chicken is bad for the exterior and can result in soggy skin and falling off breading. So in comes the idea to dry brine the bird, I took down a chicken the way I like for fried chicken and applied kosher salt and black pepper liberally and put the bird on a cookie sheet, skin up, in the fridge for about 4 hours uncovered. Then I removed the chicken from the fridge and let it come to room temp for about an hour.

Next I make a buttermilk batter with about 3 cups buttermilk, 1 egg, and about a cup of flour. I do season the batter and it should look like a watered down pancake batter. I got my oil in a skillet hot, dipped the chicken in the batter, then into flour and into the oil. Cooked it until it was golden brown and flipped it, at this point I cover the skillet. Heat is medium low and I try to maintain about 350 degree oil. I flip the chicken around a bit until the breading is where I like it and the internal temp is 170 for white meat and 180 for dark, pull and let it rest a bit.....I have to say it was he best fried chicken I've ever made, I definitely want to try the dry brine for some BBQ chicken, I think it will have really good results, was moist, the texture was not sponget the way wet brine can get sometimes, and I feel like the chicken flavor was concentrated.

Anyways that's a long enough post about a non BBQ cook but I think it can translate and i was wondering if anyone else does the dry brine.

 

[Bludawg]

I dry brine Turkeys and have done Chicken as well it's my preferred method. You need to keep it covered while brining and air dry after rinsing. Never let Poultry sit out at room temp bad stuff can and does happen. You don't want that kind of sick BELIEVE ME!

 

[cpw]

I dry brined my last thanksgiving turkey, mainly because I didn't feel like messing with the wet brine. It turned out great!

 

[cjtiger300]

I dry brine pretty much everything. I leave salt out of my rubs for this purpose. The results are always fantastic and it's much easier to achieve crisp skin on poultry

 

[landarc]

I have dry-brined chickens for years, and love the results.

And yeah, never let it sit out. Got sick off a smoked bird years ago from a backdoor place out here. Worst thing ever.

 

[krex1010]

I dry brine Turkeys and have done Chicken as well it's my preferred method. You need to keep it covered while brining and air dry after rinsing. Never let Poultry sit out at room temp bad stuff can and does happen. You don't want that kind of sick BELIEVE ME!

I hear you on letting meat sit out too long, and I probably didn't leave it out for a full hour, but I've always let meat sit for a few just to take the chill off.....why exactly does it need to be covered while its brining in the fridge? I was looking for the cold dry air to really give me a dry surface for when I cooked it and it worked really well....is there a particular reason that chicken has to be covered in the fridge? Or are do you cover it to keep it moist for all that osmotic action we hope is taking place?

 

[cjtiger300]

I hear you on letting meat sit out too long, and I probably didn't leave it out for a full hour, but I've always let meat sit for a few just to take the chill off.....why exactly does it need to be covered while its brining in the fridge? I was looking for the cold dry air to really give me a dry surface for when I cooked it and it worked really well....is there a particular reason that chicken has to be covered in the fridge? Or are do you cover it to keep it moist for all that osmotic action we hope is taking place?

It doesn't have to be covered. I put it in my extra fridge. Leaving it uncovered dries the skin. The salt penetrates the skin and meat whether it's covered or not. The only reason to cover would be to prevent cross contamination

 

[Bludawg]

I hear you on letting meat sit out too long, and I probably didn't leave it out for a full hour, but I've always let meat sit for a few just to take the chill off.....why exactly does it need to be covered while its brining in the fridge? I was looking for the cold dry air to really give me a dry surface for when I cooked it and it worked really well....is there a particular reason that chicken has to be covered in the fridge? Or are do you cover it to keep it moist for all that osmotic action we hope is taking place?

Brining woks on osmoses by leaving it uncovered you're pulling moisture out (it will evaporate if exposed to the air) that needs to get pulled back in. After ya brine it rinse it pat it dry then go back in the refer to air dry for a few hrs. to form a pellicle to get crispy skin. :thumb:

 

[landarc]

Yup, first few hours need to wrap tightly to maximize liquid contact. Then you can air dry in fridge.