Chicken Brine Recipe
This chicken brine Recipe will yield the most succulent, juiciest roast chicken you will EVER have in your life! Bringing injects flavor, moisture, and tenderizing – you will be blown away by how juicy the chicken breast is!You will never look back once you learn how to brine chicken and taste the incredible results!A brine is simply a solution made up of salt and water that you use to soak meat (like chicken) for some time before cooking. Brining chicken helps infuse flavors and evenly season the meat before cooking and also keeps chicken tender while cooking.
Equipment
- Dutch oven
- Mixing bowls
- 9×13-inch baking dish
- pan
Ingredients
- 16 cup water
- 3/4 cup kosher salt
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup dried sage, or to taste
- 1/4 cup dried basil, or to taste
- 2 heads garlic, crushed and chopped
- 1 tbsp heads garlic, crushed and chopped
- 1 large bay leaf
Instructions
- Bring water, kosher salt, sugar, sage, basil, garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaf to a simmer in a large pot over medium-high heat; this could take upwards of 20 minutes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until salt and sugar are dissolved completely, about 20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and cover with a lid. Let brine sit at room temperature for 2 hours; this lets the dried herbs steep and really enhances the flavor of the brine. Refrigerate to finish cooling before using, at least 1 hour.
Notes
TIPS FOR THE PERFECT CHICKEN BRINE
- I pour additional cold waterover the chicken to make sure there is enough to submerge the chicken.
- Be sure to use kosher salt, do not use table salt in this recipe. Table salt measures differently than kosher salt and your chicken will be too salty with table salt. I typically use Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- This recipe tends to work well with smaller chickensin the 3-5 pound range.
- I soak my chickens in a pot. If your chicken is larger than the biggest pot in your house, you can use a brining bag.
- If you’re making a smoked chicken, you can use a half batch of my smoked turkey brinebefore you put the chicken in the smoker.