Hi ...Tried a buttermilk brine this weekend (from Gary Wiviott's book, Low & Slow) and it was good ...but hard for me to judge since I am just now able to maintain 250 F in my plain ol' Weber Kettle:
10 F outside, and I have to use two aluminum bread pans and the big drip pan, all full of water, to get my kettle to run at 250 F or lower. It works though :). I'll get a WSM in the Spring...
Anyway, my wife and I were discussing the buttermilk brine and wondering what, exactly, does it do? The chicken took 3+ hours to finish, the skin was actually reasonably crispy - but I can't know (yet) what to expect since this was the first cook that I've done that I was able to maintain at 250 F ...all those pans of water ARE necessary! Does the buttermilk add flavor? Does it's acid tenderize the meat? Does it add flavor? The chicken above was very delicious, smoked perfectly, and was "falling off the bone" tender ...and the skin was relatively crispy as well. The chicken was NOT too dark in color or 'overdone' in appearance at all ...it was perfect. Sorry, no pix of the finished chicken ...we ate it :)
Thanks,
Brian
10 F outside, and I have to use two aluminum bread pans and the big drip pan, all full of water, to get my kettle to run at 250 F or lower. It works though :). I'll get a WSM in the Spring...
Anyway, my wife and I were discussing the buttermilk brine and wondering what, exactly, does it do? The chicken took 3+ hours to finish, the skin was actually reasonably crispy - but I can't know (yet) what to expect since this was the first cook that I've done that I was able to maintain at 250 F ...all those pans of water ARE necessary! Does the buttermilk add flavor? Does it's acid tenderize the meat? Does it add flavor? The chicken above was very delicious, smoked perfectly, and was "falling off the bone" tender ...and the skin was relatively crispy as well. The chicken was NOT too dark in color or 'overdone' in appearance at all ...it was perfect. Sorry, no pix of the finished chicken ...we ate it :)
Thanks,
Brian