As many have suggested, I have tried brining my chicken breasts
before grilling them to improve taste, moistness & tenderness.
I added 1/4 cup of kosher salt and 1/8 cup of sugar to 4 cups of cold
water, mixed it and added the breasts and soaked for about 1-hour. The
breasts did come out more tender and juicy, but in many parts it tasted
too salty and in other parts too bland.
What I did notice is that some of the sugar and/or salt settled out of
the solution during the brining process. I am not sure if this was the
problem. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
Thanks

Did you make sure that the salt and sugar dissolved thoroughly in the
water?


wrote:
> As many have suggested, I have tried brining my chicken breasts
> before grilling them to improve taste, moistness & tenderness.
> I added 1/4 cup of kosher salt and 1/8 cup of sugar to 4 cups of cold
> water, mixed it and added the breasts and soaked for about 1-hour. The
> breasts did come out more tender and juicy, but in many parts it tasted
> too salty and in other parts too bland.
> What I did notice is that some of the sugar and/or salt settled out of
> the solution during the brining process. I am not sure if this was the
> problem. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
> Thanks
>

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> As many have suggested, I have tried brining my chicken breasts
> before grilling them to improve taste, moistness & tenderness.
> I added 1/4 cup of kosher salt and 1/8 cup of sugar to 4 cups of cold
> water, mixed it and added the breasts and soaked for about 1-hour. The
> breasts did come out more tender and juicy, but in many parts it tasted
> too salty and in other parts too bland.
> What I did notice is that some of the sugar and/or salt settled out of
> the solution during the brining process. I am not sure if this was the
> problem. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
> Thanks

I've never had it come out of solution. Did you use cold water? Best
method would be to use hot water to mix, then chill it before brining.

If it was too salty be sure to rinse the breasts before cooking. I don't
know about he salty/bland unless it was the thick/thin parts. If that is
the case, cut back the salt a bit and brine longer for more even
penetration.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> As many have suggested, I have tried brining my chicken breasts
> before grilling them to improve taste, moistness & tenderness.
> I added 1/4 cup of kosher salt and 1/8 cup of sugar to 4 cups of cold
> water, mixed it and added the breasts and soaked for about 1-hour. The
> breasts did come out more tender and juicy, but in many parts it tasted
> too salty and in other parts too bland.
> What I did notice is that some of the sugar and/or salt settled out of
> the solution during the brining process. I am not sure if this was the
> problem. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
> Thanks
>===============

Did you cook the brine? I bring mine to a boil and use it after it has
cooled.

Cyndi

wrote:
> As many have suggested, I have tried brining my chicken breasts
> before grilling them to improve taste, moistness & tenderness.

I don't understand this suggestion. Chicken breasts are so small that
brining seems like a lot of work and time for barely discernible
improvement. If your grilled chicken breasts need more taste,
moistness and tenderness the odds are overwhelming that you are cooking
them too fast, too long, or both. All you need to do is not to overdo,
as someone once said.

Or, (shuddering at the thought) you are using boneless, skinless
chicken breasts to start with.

-aem

When I've brined poultry I've always added the salt and sugar
to boiling water and stirred to fully dissolve, then let the
water cool before adding the meat to the brine.

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 wrote:

> As many have suggested, I have tried brining my chicken breasts
> before grilling them to improve taste, moistness & tenderness.
> I added 1/4 cup of kosher salt and 1/8 cup of sugar to 4 cups of cold
> water, mixed it and added the breasts and soaked for about 1-hour. The
> breasts did come out more tender and juicy, but in many parts it tasted
> too salty and in other parts too bland.
> What I did notice is that some of the sugar and/or salt settled out of
> the solution during the brining process. I am not sure if this was the
> problem. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
> Thanks
>
>

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine Becker "As god is my witness
I thought turkeys could fly"
NEVER SEND A FERRET TO DO A WEASEL's JOB --WKRP

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

On 18 Feb 2005 14:06:04 -0800, "aem" > wrote:

>
wrote:
>> As many have suggested, I have tried brining my chicken breasts
>> before grilling them to improve taste, moistness & tenderness.
>
>I don't understand this suggestion. Chicken breasts are so small that
>brining seems like a lot of work and time for barely discernible
>improvement. If your grilled chicken breasts need more taste,
>moistness and tenderness the odds are overwhelming that you are cooking
>them too fast, too long, or both. All you need to do is not to overdo,
>as someone once said.
>
>Or, (shuddering at the thought) you are using boneless, skinless
>chicken breasts to start with.
>
>-aem

Just out of curiousity, why the shuddering about using sbcb? For
grilling, or at all?

I imagine that grilling is not the best way to cook such because skin
will prevent drying out, but overcooking a piece with skin and bone
will do the same thing.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

Curly Sue wrote:
>
> Just out of curiousity, why the shuddering about using sbcb? For
> grilling, or at all?
>
> I imagine that grilling is not the best way to cook such because skin
> will prevent drying out, [snip]

It's just my knee jerk reaction shudder. Skinning and boning have
their place, as when you're going to slice and stirfry, or when you're
making some kind of cutlet variation, or even if you're breading and
frying. But some years ago people began skinning and boning because
they thought it was "healthier" or a good way to reduce fat in their
diet. Sellers picked up on this and began packaging chicken breasts
that way at a greatly increased price. (In my market last week, a
whole chicken was sold at 69 cents/lb. while sbcb were $3.95/lb.
That's a helluva markup for a few minutes of work, and believe it or
not, no such product existed twenty years ago.)

But the inescapable fact is that flavor resides in fat, and on a
chicken the fat resides in the skin. So if you're going to make
something where boning and skinning are not inherent to the dish,
you're giving yourself a big challenge to find some way -- such as
brining -- to add back that which you didn't need to throw away in the
first place, namely, the flavor and moistness.

Long winded answer, sorry, but it ties in with my broader bias about
resisting all the salesmanship and not taking the path of least
resistance. For me, part of the fun of cooking has always been about
improving skills, and to know there are so many cooks who wouldn't
dream of cutting up a chicken just bugs me.

> ...but overcooking a piece with skin and bone
> will do the same thing.

Yes, all I meant was a caution not to overcook.

-aem

"aem" >, if that's their real name, wrote:

>Skinning and boning have
>their place, as when you're going to slice and stirfry, or when you're
>making some kind of cutlet variation, or even if you're breading and
>frying. But some years ago people began skinning and boning because
>they thought it was "healthier" or a good way to reduce fat in their
>diet. Sellers picked up on this and began packaging chicken breasts
>that way at a greatly increased price. (In my market last week, a
>whole chicken was sold at 69 cents/lb. while sbcb were $3.95/lb.
>That's a helluva markup for a few minutes of work, and believe it or
>not, no such product existed twenty years ago.)
>
>But the inescapable fact is that flavor resides in fat, and on a
>chicken the fat resides in the skin. So if you're going to make
>something where boning and skinning are not inherent to the dish,
>you're giving yourself a big challenge to find some way -- such as
>brining -- to add back that which you didn't need to throw away in the
>first place, namely, the flavor and moistness.

I use boneless-skinless chicken breasts because they're easier to eat,
easier to cook with, but most of all, I don't miss out on the seasonings
that are on the skin, which I peel off anyway. Yeah, I know. Cardboard.
But it's MY cardboard!

Carol
--
"Years ago my mother used to say to me... She'd say,
'In this world Elwood, you must be oh-so smart or oh-so pleasant.'
Well, for years I was smart.... I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."

*James Stewart* in the 1950 movie, _Harvey_

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 16:15:57 -0600, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:

> Cardboard. But it's MY cardboard!

Frankly boneless/skinless chicken isn't cardboard... that is
unless you overcook it, nor is it devoid of flavor.


sf

sf >, if that's their real name, wrote:

>On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 16:15:57 -0600, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:
>
>> Cardboard. But it's MY cardboard!
>
>Frankly boneless/skinless chicken isn't cardboard... that is
>unless you overcook it, nor is it devoid of flavor.

True. I like the stuff.

Carol
--
"Years ago my mother used to say to me... She'd say,
'In this world Elwood, you must be oh-so smart or oh-so pleasant.'
Well, for years I was smart.... I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."

*James Stewart* in the 1950 movie, _Harvey_