Smoked my first whole chicken

[rtkiii]

The damn thing looked beautiful when I pulled it out of the smoker 4/5 hours later.  But the damn thing is SALTY!!!!  I used Oak to smoke and I brined it for a day in the Brine Solution I found on this site.  I cannot remember the name but it seemed pretty popular here.  Then I put on the same rub I used for my wings(Montreal Style).  Again it looks perfect but man is it salty.  Am I supposed to wash off the brine before adding my rub and then smoking, becuase I did not.  Maybe I messed up the ratio of water to brine ingredients.  The taste is still good but salty  :)

I can probably slvage it by putting it in a chicken slad with no other high sodium ingredients.  :)  OR maybe it will mellow out after a day.

 

[smokinhusker]

I brine my poultry and always rinse it when I take the bird out of the brine.

 

[larrym]

I always use 1 gallon of water -- 1.5 cup anodized or 2 kosher salt, then whatever other liquid / spices I want to throw in for flavor.  I have done hams,butts, turkeys and whole chickens.  I always rinse and pat dry after pulling from brine then apply the rub.  Dont worry about washing off any flavor,, the whole purpose of the brine is to rehydrate the meat and if you add spices to brine,, they get sucked in with the brine .  Dont think I have ever had anything taste salty.  2nd thought,, how long did you brine it and how big was the bird ?  24 hours might be a little long for a whole chicken,, maybe a turkey that long but I think 8 - 12 hours would be plenty for a chicken,, my opinion anyway.

 

[jrod62]

Rinse it off after the brine should take care of the salt taste

 

[scarbelly]

You say that you brined for a day - that is a long time for a chicken depending on the salt content of the brine. Washing the bird off and drying it would not adversely effect the brining. The brine is done to add moisture to the bird not to season it although some seasoning is absorbed during the brine. My guess is the bird had a lot of salt on the surface and that is what carried over into your smoke.  

 

[capntrip]

Is your rub salty?

 

[rtkiii]

Actually I found after it sat in the fridge and then warmed up in the oven it tasted much better.  My wife thinks it is a little salty but she could not stop eating it, that is probably the skin.  I let it go for about 24 hours in the brine.  I think when you get down into the bird it is fine just the outlayer(skin area) was really salty.  But I will remember to rinse and pat next time and I think I should be good.  My rub is salty but I use it on wings everytime and the chicken was never this salty(but I do not brine my wings)  Just Salmon and whole chickens so far  :)  I remebered to rinse my Salmon and it was great.

Thanks for the pointer guys!

 

[kryinggame]

rkiii, you mentioned something interesting.

When I'm doing wings, I do use a bit more salt. For some strange reason, salty wings taste so dang good. But when I do a bird, I try to limit the salt because it seems to ruin the bird. Weird!