If you’re using boneless, skinless chicken, I would say definitely worthwhile for breasts, and probably for thighs. If you’re using chicken with bones and skin, less so.
Unless you overbrine (too much salt, or left in too long) it won’t taste more salty, but will taste just right. You may want to use less seasoning when you’re cooking it (although I do season at every step) until you’ve gotten used to doing it however.
But I don’t see it as a problem, because while I’m brining, I’m always adding other flavor notes in with the brine to increase the flavor anyway, so not really an extra step. But if it was previously going straight on the grill/into the over with BBQ sauce anyway, yeah it may be a bit more work.
I always brine chicken when I broil or grill-smoke it. IMHO it makes a big difference. Definitely worth the couple of minutes it takes to fill a pot with water, dump in some salt and put the chicken in it. It does make the chicken taste salty – you won’t want to add salt if you brine it.
The trick (learned from Alton Brown) is make the brine with hot water to dissolve, but less actual water than called for. Then add in a bunch of freshly made ice (cubes, whatever) to drop the temp down so you can get the chicken brining without waiting to cool. Use an appropriate amount of ice so that it all melts and the net ice + original water is what your instructions call for.
Again, I totally think it’s worth it, but you might want to do it once or twice as a side-by-side thing each way and see if you like it. Again, it really shows its values with boneless skinless breasts, so if you’re cooking quarters, whole chickens, or other options, your results will probably be a bit less dramatic.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Very recently my son spatchcocked a chicken and I wasn’t going to use it that night but the next. Dry brined it on a rack in the fridge and roasted it the next day. Even without the water and sugar, it really tendered up the breast. And no, I don’t add salt after brining.
100% worth it. I never cook chicken this way (despite my username) but I used to be invited to frequent parties where the host always barbecued bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces on the grill. The result was consistently and unusually delicious, noticeably so because that method in my other experience always results in dry chicken. He said it was because of the careful brining. Mmm-mm.
If you’ve got smaller cuts of meat like steaks or chicken parts, it’s easier to dry brine, which is really just salting it and letting it sit in the fridge for a few hours. The salt draws out moisture, which dissolves the salt, and the solution is then re-absorbed back into the meat. It’s ready to cook when it’s dry on the surface.
I don’t always brine because I don’t always remember to prep ahead of time, so dry brining happens more often. Note: heating usually only makes the salt easier to dissolve, for a typical brine you can just stir more. You should get a kitchen scale if you don’t have one, salt is better by weight than volume. This is obvious if using granular salt vs. kosher, but even the 2 main brands of kosher salt meter very differently.
Re: saltiness, also note that things taste less salty when cold, so adjust accordingly depending on how you want it served.
More or less. It’s a good way to get more flavors into your meat, and in this case the fact that those seasonings are mostly salt is actually a good thing.
I use salt and brown sugar for chicken. I really think it’s well worth it. It turns out juicier and I think more tender. I don’t measure. I sort of eye a couple tbls. salt and apx. a tbls. brown sugar, and it’s worked pretty well. I boil the water and sugar/salt, add ice/water, and then brine for at least a half an hour. Then I rinse the meat thoroughly and pat dry.
Brining skin and bone pieces or whole birds is nice because it loosens the skin so you can season under the skin. It really doesn’t take long at all with the ice/water addition. You can also add different seasonings.
I dunno about baking or barbecuing chicken, but I’ll tell you about brining for pan frying. It was a big discovery for me. I use breast fillets, which I always have in the freezer, so it’s very convenient and not much fuss. Brining really does make a big difference. People say it’s juicier, but I find it tenderizes the meat and gives it a different texture. It adds just enough salt not to need any in the seasoning.
The night before, dissolve a rounded tablespoon of salt in half a small glass of cold water and stir for a minute or so. Put frozen fillet in container, add brine and more water to cover fillet and leave in fridge overnight. The next day, dump brine, rinse fillet and pat dry with paper towel. Season as you like (without salt), dredge in flour, dip in beaten egg and coat with bread crumbs. Fry in olive oil, drain on paper towel.
Use any fine-grained salt and it’ll dissolve well enough in cold water. The trick is to start with a small amount of water and to dilute the concentrated brine afterward.
One rounded tablespoon of salt is enough for a single fillet and probably for several. Upward of four or five fillets, I’d experiment with more salt, but it’s something I haven’t tried yet.
For me, the ideal container for brining is Tupperware (plastic with lid) that isn’t much bigger than the fillets.
If the fillets are thick enough, cut them into pieces to make nuggets.
Press the meat into the bread crumbs with the heel of your hand. Repeat on both sides until thoroughly coated.
Use crushed corn flakes instead of bread crumbs. Cheap store brands taste better than Kellogg’s.