It’s November gang and that means that Thanksgiving is just around the corner!\u00a0 Last year, OHC brought you Thanksgiving related Tuesday Tips all the way up till the week of Thanksgiving.\u00a0 It was so fun that I think we should do it again!\u00a0 Last year we discussed the benefits of brining your bird and if you are still not on the brining bandwagon, what are you waiting for?!\u00a0 Get it!<\/p>\n
Today’s tip is also about brining because there’s always more to learn!<\/p>\n
The basic base for a brine is water right?\u00a0 But brining liquid doesn’t have to be just water based, oh no friends, you can use anything.\u00a0 A list of things I’ve used in brining include:<\/p>\n
All that sounds pretty tasty right?\u00a0 And it totally is!\u00a0 A brine consists of:<\/p>\n
Some people don’t use sugar when they brine but that’s not a practice I subscribe to, so for the purposes of this post, we will be talking about a sugar and salt brine.\u00a0 I typically will use just a touch less sugar in my brine than salt.\u00a0 If it’s a straight-on even amount, I find that the meat becomes too sweet and you lose some of the savory components of a lovely roast or grilled dinner.<\/p>\n
One thing to keep in mind is that if you are using a liquid that tends to be on the sweeter side, for example apple cider or even the cranberry juice, you will need to take this into consideration when creating the brine.\u00a0 You will have to add in even less sugar than you normally would because the meat will be able to pull sugar out of the liquid as it’s brining.<\/p>\n
The same rule applies if you are adding in a sweet aromatic to help season the brine, such as some fruit.\u00a0 Fruit contains a good bit of sugar and you will need to factor that in as you create the brine.<\/p>\n
An example of a sweeter type of brine is one using apple cider and cranberry juice.\u00a0 While I did use unsweetened cranberry juice, cranberries still contain sugar, so keep that in mind.<\/p>\n
Andrea’s Apple cider brine for Two bone-in Chicken breasts:<\/strong><\/p>\n
2 bone-in chicken breasts
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nFor the liquid:<\/em><\/p>\n
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- 1C unsweetened cranberry juice<\/li>\n
- 3C apple cider<\/li>\n
- 2C water<\/li>\n
- 1\/4C kosher salt<\/li>\n
- 1.5 TBSP brown sugar<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Seasonings and aromatics:<\/em><\/p>\n
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- 1\/4-1\/2 yellow onion chunked<\/li>\n
- 2 large carrots<\/li>\n
- 1\/4 green pepper<\/li>\n
- 2 cloves garlic<\/li>\n
- 2 chipotle peppers + 2 spoons of sauce<\/li>\n
- 2 small red apples cut in half<\/li>\n
- 3 tsp garlic powder<\/li>\n
- 2 tsp chili powder (salt free)<\/li>\n
- Large pinch of red pepper flakes<\/li>\n
- 2 dashes of cayenne pepper<\/li>\n
- Small dash of cinnamon<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In a very large mixing bowl combine the ingredients for the liquid brine.\u00a0 Stir until all the sugar and salt is dissolved.\u00a0 Add in the remaining ingredients and stir.\u00a0 Add in the chicken breasts, add more water so that the chickens are completely submerged and covered with liquid.\u00a0 Make sure the bowl is large enough that the chickens have plenty of room and they are not stacked on top of each other.\u00a0 Brine for about 6 hours.\u00a0 Remove from brine and rinse under cold water.\u00a0 Pat dry with paper towels and season the chicken with seasonings of your choice.\u00a0 I used:<\/p>\n
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- Garlic powder<\/li>\n
- Ground pepper<\/li>\n
- Rosemary<\/li>\n
- Smoked paprika<\/li>\n
- Chili powder<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Place in roasting dish with a splash of broth for basting.\u00a0 Bake at 375 until cooked through, about 20 minutes to half an hour.\u00a0 Allow to rest for two minutes and then serve.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This made one of the best brines we’ve had for some time.\u00a0 The chicken was totally tender with just a hint of sweetness in the background but not so much that it over powered the savory spices.\u00a0 You could use this brine for chicken legs as well or even try it with some bone-in pork chops.<\/p>\n
Because I used two juices, plus apples in this brine, I kept the brown sugar down to a minimum.\u00a0 You could even get away with using 1TBSP of brown sugar as well.\u00a0 I used 1.5 TBSP just to play it safe.<\/p>\n
Since I brine a good bit whenever we have poultry or pork, it gives me a chance to play around with combinations.\u00a0 Experimenting with brines is so much fun!\u00a0 Give brines a chance guys because you can walk away with some mighty tasty dishes!<\/p>\n
Here’s a list of last year’s Thanksgiving Tuesday Tips!<\/em><\/p>\n
Plan out Thanksgiving<\/a><\/p>\n
Prep and chop veggies ahead of time<\/a><\/p>\n