Is Brining Worth It? Three Brines to Take Your Chicken to the Next Level
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ส.ค. 2024
- From time to time, I'll brine my chicken before cooking - usually when I'm doing a whole chicken. I've always thought it was juicier but I've never done a true side-by-side experiment with unbrined chicken.
In this video, Terry and I try out three different brines and compare them to a baseline, unbrined chicken thigh. Then will tell you if the time and effort of brining is worth it.
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I have spoiled my teenage son with brining to the point that he has asked me to do it with bizarre stuff. No, son, you don’t brine burgers. 😂 It makes a huge difference and is absolutely worth the effort and time. It doesn’t even have to be fancy, I often do just salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried herbs. Pepperoncini juice is a phenomenal brine ingredient, particularly for pork.
What other things has your son got you to brine? Hamburgers, that's so funny!
I have been brining my poultry ever since Alton Brown showed it on Good Eats; I have been in charge of the turkey for years now.
We raise our own chickens for meat and eggs and do have some older roosters we dispatched. Ever the older ones we have brined and have turned out better. The recipes you showed are great and will be trying out.
About 50 years ago I worked at Church's Fried Chicken and they brined their chicken in a very salty solution for 24 hours. Since then I have usually brined for 24 hours and never had any saltiness problems. The chicken is as juicy as can be. You might give it a try with your salt recipe brine.
PS-Neighbor adds a little jalapeno juice to her dill pickle juice brine and then fries the chicken. Yum, yum, for you carb eaters.
Ty & your lovely assistant for sharing this with us! Can't wait to try these.
Thanks for the brining ideas. I've never brined my chicken but sounds like I need to start. Thanks!
Love these comparison videos Steve! I'm about to brine some chicken right now in readiness for a coq au vin blanc tonight. Thanks for the great video and the work you put into it.
I've tried the pickle juice brine and love it! I will have to try the others. 😊
I LOVE your little oven!! It looks truly awesome!! 😁
Love to you and Terry! ❤💙💜
Lana
That was a good video! I gave up on brining, because I thought you really needed the balance of sugar with the salt. Good to know it works without sugar or with sugar substitute. Thank you 😊
Another great video. I see you used the Anova Precision Oven. I have been thinking of getting one. Thank you.
Great video. I appreciate benefiting from your experiments!
I brine all my chicken wings in pickle juice and W🤩WZIE same outcome! Juiciest and crispiest wings ever! Love these technique videos Steve! Lovely to see Ms Terri’s smiles & her chicken cheers 🥂! Too cute!
Aww you guys are so cute! Love how you cheers your chicken. I am going to try the feta and pickle juice brine. Thank you!
Another great job, Steve!😀👍 Hi Terry 👋 Hope y'all have a blessed weekend 💜 🙏 ✌️ 🌞💐🎶
Great video Steve. I guess I will have to leave my chicken in the pickle juice longer. I love the flavor. I don't know where I found this but mix sour cream with chopped pickles and maybe some juice. It's great with the chicken. I usually take a jar of pickles and put the pickles in the food processor. Then put them back into the jar so I always have them. I don't know if you have ever had issues with your zipper bags. I have plenty of times. I roll the top of the bag to the outside. It helps the bag stay open and it helps prevent any food getting into the zipper.
Very good information. Thanks for sharing!!
So glad you did this video, I will keep the feta brine seeing that I’m Greek and buy a lot of feta.. Thanks Steve🥰
This was great! Thanks! I think I’m going to make baked chicken thighs for dinner now! Never thought of using pickle brine before, but we nearly always have some on hand.
Trying the feta brine tonight. Cooking in the Emeril Lagasse multi function oven, utilizing the air fryer. I hope they are a tasty as yours seem to be!
Thanks Steve going to give this a try
LOVE Love Love Milwaukee Dill pickles. Saving the brine from my next jar. Thanks for the tip Steve!
Easy recipe: Half the juice and pickles from a 32 oz. jar of Milwaukee Dill pickles are also awesome on top of a raw chuck roast with some fresh minced garlic and about 2/3 cup salsa cooked in a slow cooker. When meat is done, discard the pickles and shred up the meat. These are SPECTACULAR sandwiches, and soooo quick and easy to make.
Thanks for the tip!
I swear you and I are so similar on so many things ... The only thing we differ on is I am not a data geek. But I like your data reports especially with your CGM and sleep data. I will leave that stuff up to you. I brined my chicken in pickle juice one day and turns out I love it! I thought I was the only one. I'm gonna try the feta one next. I also had some asparagus in a spicy brine and use that liquid on my chicken as well. Delicious! I had to ad lib tonight for our chicken and used lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic with a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce and let it marinate for 5 hours and that also made a nice brine. No salt with that one except a few sprinkles on the chicken itself. Came out great.
Great ideas for brining chicken. To date I've only ever used just plain old salt. I can't wait to try the pickle juice.
I do a dry brine periodically, in addition to regular brining. I love, love, love brining!!
Thank goodness Steve and Terri.
I liked the video and found it very interesting. I haven't seen one that I didn't find helpful. HOWEVER, what I really liked the most was when you called your wife 'honey'. It was so natural that it's obvious you are kind and loving as a way of life. God bless you and your whole family.
Thank you. Usually, we call each other "dear" - to the point that our grandson has started calling both of us "dear". 😄
I am not a feta fan, so probably will not do that recipe, but I will certainly hack the brine for the chicken! Thanks for your innovations!
I brine my chicken in salted, herbed water for a couple hours. Then I drain it and put it in buttermilk for an hour or two. 😋
I tried the dill pickle brine after the video you did on the mayo. Man, it was so good! My wife loved it too. We were just talking this morning about why we never thought to save the pickle juice in the past. Thank you, Steve!
I'm wondering what it would be like to do the dill pickle brine, then cool the chicken and cut up the meat for chicken salad.
@@SeriousKeto gonna try that!
I have never brined anything but I am going to give it a shot. Thanks for your video.
Hi Steve & Terri! Thanks for taking the time to share these brines & taste test. I really enjoy it when you both do taste tests. Going to try the feta brine since you said it’s the best one. I love dill pickles so I’ll prob try that one too.
Idk if you want to know this but.. can hear you breathing when you were taking the chicken thighs out of the different brines & placing them on the pan 😆
I’ll quit breathing on my videos then. 😉
@@SeriousKeto you are just hearing the new found power of his breath from all the training! 😂
😁that’s it!!!
Who knew that it would only take 20-30 minutes to cook!? I’ve always cooked my thighs for an hour. 🤪 Will definitely be trying the pickle brine! Great video! 👏❤️
Brining a turkey makes it so much better. Normally, by the second or third day it is starting to taste old, but if it is brined it still tastes great! Thanks for the video on bringing chicken. I will be trying it.
That was a good video. I have never brind my chicken before over night. I have done the more traditional method but will have try these out. Wonder how much the oven has to do with it?
I always always brine just in salted water and the breast stay so juicy even after a day or two in the fridge and reheated after being frozen. Great for meal prep.
Gonna try the pickle brine though.
Great experiments!
I love Alton Brown's turkey brine recipe. I should try it on chicken subbing keto brown sugar
I've never felt thighs needed brining (dark meat is pretty juicy already). Chicken breasts definitely benefit greatly from it though. That being said I've never tried brining thighs, so might as well give it a go!
Also, I use a little baking powder rubbed on the dried skin to make it super crispy.
The salt in the brine is pretty effective at making the skin crispy. And I think you mean baking SODA, as that will make the pH more alkaline and increase the enzymatic browning/crisping.
@@SeriousKeto Baking powder and baking soda both raise the pH which helps break down proteins and improve crispness, but baking soda raises pH more as it's more alkaline (baking powder is basically baking soda lite). Unfortunately a small amount of baking soda can impart a metallic taste because it's very alkaline. Baking powder can give a decent crisping boost without much of any taste, even if you use a good amount of it.
Also baking powder does a good job drawing out moisture from the skin (pretty sure I read that somewhere😁).
@@vinyfiny2019 I use a VERY light sprinkle of aluminum-free baking powder on wings and it makes the skin so crispy! I make buffalo wings on solo dinner nights and I look forward to those!
Brining seasons the meat better than just an external sprinkle right before cooking
Thanks, Steve. Got the thinking juices going, too. What can I do with my brine?
Hey Steve! Great video. Brining is such a next level “trick”. I hope tons of viewers try! I like a good buttermilk brine myself. Who knows if a buttermilk brine is “100% keto”, but IMHO it’s worth a few grams of carbs. I hope all is well with the entire SK clan. Thanks again for the great content. Be well 🙏
It’s one of those things that takes very little effort, but has such a big payoff in terms of flavor and juiciness.
@@SeriousKeto amen brother!
Do you add anything to the buttermilk, or just toss the chicken in regular buttermilk and allow to sit? How long?
@@missyasche881 you can do buttermilk/salt/pepper or you can add herbs too. There are tons of recipes online, and tbh I haven’t found a bad one. I usually leave it overnight, which turns into maybe 18 hours? I’ve left it longer and it was fine too. Be well and have fun🙏
@@gratefulhikes wonderful, thank you so much! 😊
I never tried brining chicken before, but had great success with turkey. If I ever feel like getting fancy with the chicken, I'll marinate it in buttermilk in a vacuum sealed canister for about a half hour. But usually, I just spritz it with some olive oil and throw on some type of seasoning and pop it in the air fryer with good results.
have never brined anything, will give this a try, especially for chicken breasts as mentioned below
You guys are so cute clinking your chicken bites.
"Wing" it on the chicken brine...😁Thanks for posting.
Good to know, thank you!
I always have pickle juice around so I may try that one first. Looks great!
Love the tip about using the feta brine 🍗💓💗💖
I brine my Thanksgiving turkey every year..... You are so right. We now brine and then smoke our poultry
I have some left over brine from the whipped feta, which evryone loved. I'm going to make some thighs. It would be great if you could do a review on the Anova precision cooker. I've been eyeing that for quite some time, but the price is quite high.
Sooo excited to try the pickle juice brine!!
I have never tried brining. I’m grabbing some pickle juice and giving it a try
I have some brine I saved from a “Lil’ Smokey” pickled sausage experiment…..🤔
We do a Chik-fil-a dupe recipe which includes brining in pickle juice. I would warn that if using breast meat, you definitely do not want to marinade in pickle juice for more than an hour. I learned the hard way by leaving 5 lbs of breast tenders overnight in the pickle brine~ disaster! Meat is far too soft to start with, & simply cannot stand up to that much time in brine. It was like a sponge & FAR too salty/pickly.
that's just chicken breast however. clearly whole thighs are a different matter, as you showed in this post. I agree~ bring poultry is almost always worth the effort. My favorite would be your "original" brine recipe, w/out majority of the salt until an hour before cooking~ wonderful experiment. Thanks guys=)
Excellent! I’m buying some chicken today! ❤️
Brilliant! Use leftover pickle liquid for a brine!!! Now why didn't I think of that?? Thanks!! (And of course I just threw out some feta brine.... drat!! Next time I'll know better)
Here's one I've wanted to try... When I make Chili or Pork Tinga, I'll take some dried chiles that are really cheap at the grocery... My current favorite is guajillos... Cut into pieces and remove seeds and soak in near boiling water for about 30 minutes, then remove chiles and add some chili or chicken stock and immersion blend it and return liquid to chili or pour over pork roast and cook. You're left with 2-3 cups of guajillo flavored water that I haven't imagined a use for. I bet that would make an interesting marinade with some added salt. Wonder what you think, Steve.
Sounds tasty.
I’m trying not to watch anything involving cooking/food (Except SK) while I’m fasting. Now I’m hungry.
Thanks Steve 💕
I brine pork chops all the time. I had to find something other than “ shake and bake” on keto. I now salt brine for at least 6 hours. Then pan fry in sage butter. I will try your chicken recipes now.🇨🇦
It makes a HUGE difference on pork chops!
Ha ha. If she says it's punchy (to her) it's punchy. 😉
Ya I noticed that too....😉
I would've thought the traditional brine would've been the most popular.
I *just* threw away pickle juice last week. Dang, kicking myself, now!
I drink the pickle juice if I’m getting Charlie horses in the night due to losing electrolytes. I always have some in the fridge..💋🧚🏻♀️❤️🇺🇸
Hi Steve. I am also experimenting like you.I make my own milk kefir and then I mix it with salt and some herbs or with miso paste. I let the chicken over the night and the chicken breast are very tender the next day
Yum!
Serious Eats has an article about dry brining which can be faster and more convenient. I couldn’t find the link for it and you may have read it already anyway 🙂it’s a good food science article 🤓
I always brine wild duck with a salt brine, it does make a difference. I've never heard of crumpling up foil to bake on, I'll have to try that.
I find it helpful if there's skin on both sides of the meat. I figure when I flip the meat over to get the skin crispy on the other side, I don't want the first side lying in the juices and losing its crispiness.
Looks like I'll be making some chicken thighs this weekend :)
Thanks Steve! No more tossing these valuable juices. I have a large jar of koegel pickled bologna. I’ll be using that too!
I love being able to repurpose the “ingredients” I used to throw away. 🙂
Yes! I hated wasting these too. I now have another use for them not just to pickle my boiled eggs. Never thought about the feta brine before. Thanks Steve 👍
Interesting comments about the salt in the brine. I've brined turkey before for 24 hours and the salt content was at about the same ratio you mentioned. I would have thought you could go longer... On the other hand the pickle juice sounds the easiest and I have plenty of that around (I typically save it!).
I can’t remember if it was Alton Brown or America’s Test Kitchen that talked about brining times and how after a certain point, the meat starts to absorb too much salt.
@@SeriousKeto seems to me you could just lower the salt. Pickle juice and the feta marinade both have a fair bit of salt, so I don't see where the big difference is.
@@OneEyed_Jack okay. Go ahead. That's the same as saying, "couldn't you just cook it faster by raising the oven temperature?"
Trying the feta brine tonight for baking and eating tomorrow. . . But doing 5 chicken thighs (two definitely won’t do it for my crowd 😬). Hopefully the leftover brine is enough for all 5. Thinking of turning over 1/2 way in between.
UPDATE: Y.U.M. Fantastic and super easy. My brother HATES feta (heathen, right?), and he loved the chicken this way.
But with a caveat . . . I did it with 5 thighs. All the mounts worked well scaled (1 garlic clove/thigh was key I think and plenty of peppercorns) . . And did NOT need to scale up the amount of feta juice.
I did have to do a quick broil at the end to crisp up the skin though.
Excellent one again-a go-to in my rotation now!
Love this example Steve. Fun to bring in your wife fir the taste testing!
Your 3rd brine is so spectacular that I can't imagine even wanting to taste the pickle juice or feta brine...
Honestly, they're all really good. I just wanted to throw out some really easy options for people. I'm thinking that using the pickle brine on some chicken then chopping that up for some chicken salad would be pretty wonderful.
Wish I would have watched this earlier today cuz I just made chicken for dinner LOL - next time I guess 😜. Thanks, Steve!
I love that knife you use! Where did you get it?
Funny you should ask, as I was just sharpening it with a leather strop moments ago (I should do a video on that). Anyhow, this is my knife: store.177milkstreet.com/collections/knives/products/dao-vua-kiri-cleaver
It appears to be out of stock, so here is a similar one from Amazon:
amzn.to/3yWZN7k
Well, I’m convinced. I have pickle juice brine! Thanks.
Another affirmation that Terri is a sweetheart!
Never brined before but may give the feta one a try with some homemade fermented hot sauce mixed in 🌶️🌶️
I think you otta try some pickled jalapeno juice.... perhaps mixed with regular pickle juice.. Used to love jalapeno juice with fried chicken, so I think that would be an awesome experiment... Thanks
I've been saving jalapeño brine for that very reason (that and making mayo).
I can't wait to try this . As a recovering alcoholic I always notice the wine rack .
I don't notice it at all. To me, it's just a decoration.
@@SeriousKeto That's a Man in controll I respect you and can definitely learn from your mindset .
Great video, did I miss when you talked about this oven? Is there a discount code or did you just buy it on your own? Thanks!
I bought it on my own on Black Friday. I may, at some point, do a review video. I 90% love it. I have a few minor complaints, mostly around thermal retention and pre-heat time.
Very cool video Steve. Do you think I'd get similar results using breast? Most of my family does not care for thighs. I know crazy.
Any chicken part and any lean cut from pork (chops, tenderloin) work well with brining.
Oooo Steve I have to share this... I am actually going to be making a brined chicken this weekend for next weeks protine prep. I use a simple basic brine and use boneless skinless chicken thighs. I make a shredded chicken and my family absolutely LOVES it.
1 gallon warm water
3/4 Sea salt
2/3 cup Lakanto Golden Monkfruit
1 cup Coconut Aminos (I use the one from Costo)
⅓ cup avacado or olive oil (I prefer avacado)
Garlic & Onion powder to taste
***I taste my brine to make sure there is a good balance of flavor, sweet & salt abd other. Add where necessary***
Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
This is my FAVORITE chicken of all time and you just have to trust the process. Put all chicken into an instant pot and completely cover with brine. Trust me when I say it does not end up to salty! Cook for 30 min and let steam release naturally I take it out and set it aside to shredded or chop or just eat (No it doesn't dry out the ckicken)
Here is my favorite part... you talked about no waste and this is how I use my brine!!!While I am waiting for the brine to come to room temp I prep ingredients to make Keto Zuppa Toscana!! If you have ever had Olive Gardens Zuppa then you will be in love using what is now a chicken based broth from your instant pot chicken. It is not to salty to use, again you have to trust the process, but because you add heavy cream to this soup base it is AMAZING!! My Daughter and Grandsons LOVE this soup SOOOOO Much and we think it ends up even better than Olive Gardens!
Strain the broth from the instant pot. You will only use about half of this broth for this soup. I usually freeze the other half or I also make a chicken vegetable soup.
I prep the following while chicken is cooking so that they can all just be added to the instant pot with the broth once the broth has been straines.
*1lb mild or hot ground Italian sausage (cook fully in frying pan to brown/caramelize the sausage first this is important for flavor profile)
*½ cup finely diced sweet onion or 1 medium sweet onion (saute in leftover sausage grease or saute in butter)
* 2-4 garlic cloves, minced (or more if you preferr)
*1 large cauliflower head, diced into small florets
*3 cups chopped Italian lace kale (dark green narrow leaf) I usually cut the leaf in half then chop it into 1 in pieces. This helps with the texture of the spine that runs down the center of the leaf.
*½ tsp of crushed red pepper flakes
*½ tsp black pepper
*Cook for 4 hour on high or 8 hrs on low *Stir in Heavy Whipping Cream. Start with ½ cup and add more to reach desired taste and consistancy. (I prefer 40% HWC which makes for a much better consistency)
Sorry so long I had to share!! This is a family favorite!!! And, even though our Daughter and Grandsons are out of the house if they find out I made it and didn't have them over for dinner! 🤣😂🤣
Sounds amazing
@@carolinebell1210 It's so so good and bringing meat is ALWAYS worth the effort!
the brine with the salt, what if you left out the salt until 2 hours in the morning or 4 hours, however long you want, so it throughly infuses with the flavour of the brine and last bit with the salt?
I always brine my holiday turkey, but I'll have to think more about bringing chicken thighs.
My grandson loves it when I brine chicken drumsticks in leftover pickle brine.
When I close my eyes I hear Ron Swanson! Jokes aside, thank you for this video, very helpful and informative 😊
I'll take that as a compliment. 🙂
Pickle juice is my go to brine for chicken
Brining for sure is the way to go! Minimal effort for maximum flavor! And smart move using thighs!
Never knew what Brining food was. Now I know.
Love bringing in pickle juice and coating with pork rinds, so good
For the pickle juice I will try Bubbies pickles because they are brined with salt, garlic & spices and not vinegar. I don't recognize the brand you used - did it have vinegar?
I'm sure it does have some. It's a local brand.
Will be saving my Dill pickle juice! Thanks Steve 😊
Great for making homemade mayo too. 🙂
Omg, try ALL DAY I DREAM ABOUT FOOD….Carolyn has pickle brined chicken wings…with dill pickle mayo! Insanely delicious!
Not sure why I'd need to try her recipe. I've already done both. 😉
@@SeriousKeto well check her recipe out before you poo poo on it. She adds more garlic, herbs etc to her pickle brine, also her pickle mayo has added ingredients both of which makes it super delicious.
Luckily I have a jar of dill pickle juice in the back of the fridge. Can't wait.
Is there a difference between brining and marinating? If I were to use a no sugar barbecue or mustard marinade overnight, would if have the same effect?
This answers better than I could:
www.myrecipes.com/cooking-method/marinating-curing-or-brining-whats-the-difference
Sometimes we know things.. like I knew that brining a Thanksgiving turkey was good.. but I never did it for chicken??? Now I just have to plan my chicken meals better and brine it.
This video has inspired me to try my strained yogurt whey in a brine, any suggestions?
That’s an interesting idea, though not something I’ve tried. I usually pour my yogurt whey into my garden or composter. Tomatoes are supposed to love that stuff.
This comes at a good time. I bought 5 bags of wings I want to brine tonight.
After experiencing the super crisp skin on the 3rd brine, that’s the way I’m going to go on wings from now on.
@@SeriousKeto Cool. That sounds amazing.
What about dry brine?
I do the pickle brine but I've never went longer than 4 hours. I was always worried about it over powering the chicken 🤔
It came out great for us at 24 hours.
Totally off topic, but I wanted to ask you if you make ghee? I would love some keto alternative to the "sweets" which are made from the leftover milk fats :)
I buy my ghee. I do make clarified brown butter from time to time, but not for sweets.
Use some seasoning and oil on the skin so it browns more.
Could you use the brine as a soup base when you're done?
You'd definitely need to cut it with something, given the salt content.
Do you always just use the pickle juice from a jar of pickles or have you found jars of pickle juice for sale? Guy on another channel used pickle juice from Amazon, but the reviews weren't that great. I have been using pickle juice in chicken salad and coleslaw since you suggested in one of your videos to use it.
I always use from leftover pickles.
@@SeriousKeto Thanks
Been bringing meats many years , be sure to do your next Turkey !
Yep
… can you brine a turkey (I want to dissect mine) and then freeze it raw for long term storage? … I’m wanting to take advantage of all the turkey prices right now …