Recipe: Feta-Brined Chicken Breast with Rosemary (2024)

FAQs

How long to leave chicken breast in brine? ›

The longer you brine, the stronger the seasoning, the more robust the flavor, and more tender and juicy the meat will become. For small cuts of chicken, the times will vary. For chicken wings, you want to brine for up to 48 hours. For chicken breasts, brine up to 4 to 6 hours max.

Once the chicken is brined, remove it from the solution, rinse off the excess salt, and pat it completely dry, inside and out, with a paper towel. This step is important because it prevents the chicken from steaming in the oven, which results in an unpleasant taste and texture.

The bottom line is that wet brining tends to work best for relatively lean meats like chicken breasts, turkey breasts, pork loin, and fish. In general, wet brine delicate foods that cook pretty quickly. For everything else, including most tough meats and roasts that take longer to cook, dry brining is the way to go.

To even out the meat, pound it to about 1/2-inch thickness. This will give the breast a uniform thickness and break up the meat, which will allow the brine to permeate the meat quickly. You will find it best to place the chicken between plastic wrap before pounding it.

Add cold water to bring the temperature down, then refrigerate until fully chilled; Submerge chicken upside down (ie drumsticks and breast facing down) and brine for 24 hours in the fridge (even 12 hours is terrific); pat dry, brush with butter and roast!

If you go to extremes, such as leaving chicken in brine for more than 24 hours, you'll get overly-salted chicken. It can also change the texture of the chicken. When in doubt, 1 hour per pound is always a good plan.

After brining, take the chicken out, discard brine and rinse the chicken inside and out under cold water. Place it on a platter, pat it dry and place it back in the refrigerator for an hour to dry the skin. Take it out of the refrigerator an hour before roasting. Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper.

Don't Rinse It Off

Once the dry-brining waiting period is up, there is no need to rinse off the surface of your food. The meat will not be overly salty, and rinsing the surface with water will undo all of the surface-drying achieved by the dry-brine process. That, in turn, will prevent browning.

While poking holes in your chicken while marinating it can be helpful, it's not mandatory. Mostly, this method helps if you don't have several hours to spare when marinating your poultry. Poking holes in your chicken can allow the marinade to penetrate better in a shorter period.

Does brining chicken breast make it salty? ›

When you quick brine chicken breasts, a little meat osmosis happens and some of the salt moves into the chicken. Not only does this flavor the chicken, but it also helps the chicken retain juices while cooking, giving you a juicier final product. There is a word of caution with this trick.

The basic ratio of salt to water for a brine is 4 tablespoons of kosher salt per 1 quart (4 cups) of water. If you are using fine table salt, reduce the amount to 3 tablespoons.

Bone-in Chicken Pieces (4 pounds): Mix 2 quarts cold water with ½ cup table salt; brine ½ to 1 hour. Boneless, Skinless Chicken breasts (up to 6 breasts): Mix 1½ quarts cold water with 3 tablespoons table salt; brine ½ to 1 hour.

All you have to do is combine buttermilk and pickle juice in a bowl, season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and then put them in the bowl with the liquid. The chicken breasts sit in the liquid for 20-30 minutes while you fix the rest of your dinner (or do whatever) and then they're ready to be cooked!

Pounding your chicken breast will improve the quality of your meals in a number of ways. For starters, pounding out a chicken breast can get the meat nice and even- this means a pounded breast will cook more evenly compared to the awkwardly shaped original.

You can leave your chicken in the wet brine for up to two days (a larger turkey can handle more without becoming overly salty), but the liquid will need at least 12 hours to work its magic.

Now, the USDA suggests you shouldn't let your chicken marinate in the fridge for more than one to two days. The 'sell by' dates can give you a ballpark, but they're more for the stores than your stomach.

As a general rule of thumb, you'll want to let the turkey brine for at least 1 hour per pound of turkey.