beer can chicken question?

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realtorterry

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
SMF Premier Member
Jun 5, 2009
2,859
79
Bullhead City, AZ
I new at smoking, but I'm thinking of trying to smoke some beer can chicken. I did Jeff's e-course & learned that brining chicken is a good thing, but not to brine chicken that is kosher or has water added? That seems to be all I fined & im wondering if I need to brine at all? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Guys!!
 
Some people say its a waste of time others will brine. Personally I like brining I wash the bird well then drop it in the brine bucket overnight. I'm moving your post to the Poultry section
 
It really is a matter of choice. I have done both and like both. If you have the time give it a try, and if not, don't worry about it. Or you can try one of each and see which one you like the best.
 
I guess my question is can you brine a chicken that has the 20% water solution added? Jeff's e-course says you shouldn't, but people here on the website seem to do it anyway?
 
I wouldn't do it. Its already brined.
 
rivet, thanks for the reply. I clicked on your link, but the same questions still arises? I noticed both of your chickens had NO water added. My questions is should I brine the chickens that DO have that 15-25 % water added or is it just wasting time because it won't absorb anymore water?
 
You are correct, at that point the meat is saturated and will not absorb any more. Most birds have somewhere around 6% added water and that's pretty close to saturated as well. At that point, a chicken will only pick up a slightly salty or spice flavor, but you can get the same results by rubbing. Brining allows the meat proteins to absorb the brine throughout the muscle tissue. If the meat is already saturated, it won't absorb any more except on the surface where the initial drainage occurs.

Birds that have water added or flavor added have it done by injection at the plant. They inject the liquid at 34 F into the muscle tissue. The solution is salted to the right balance that will cause the proteins to bind with the solution.

This is part of my position that brining does nothing that I cannot achieve with a rub.

As you read in the test results, the resulting meat from brining seemed "mushy" to me and I preferred the unbrined one that had a chewier moouthfeel.
 
Personally I have brined and not brined and there to me very little differance. So the best thing to do is smoke it one way or the other and test for yourself. But then you'd have to but another chicken but can you really get enough good smoked chicken.
 
I brine Chicken pieces. I don't brine whole birds. They come out so well with a beer can up their butt, or on the rotissorie, I see no need. But that's just me.......
 
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