Softball brine question: Best way to keep chicken cold while in brine

[dmger14]

My fridge won't handle a big bucket, but maybe a big pan. I heard one guy mention using a cooler. Do you just ice it while it is soaking?

 

[walking dude]

YES........specially with chicken..........put it in a cooler.......with the brine, with the brine covering the chicken............then fill up several zip lock bags of ice and put in cooler

you need to keep a watch on it and change out bags as they melt

 

[walking dude]

btw..........whats a softball brine?

 

[habaneroman]

I went to HomeDepot, and bought a couple of their Orange Buckets.....

Use ziplock bags for your brining, and just toss them in the bucket.
in the summer time, I use ice on top then... but since I am in NEBRASKA, and we havent' been above 30 degrees all winter(gosh I hate that) I just leave them in my garage.

The buckets work great though, and like the other post stated, make sure you just check the ice, and replace when needed!

 

[richoso1]

What WD said. I just keep the bags in and out of the fridge, reusing as needed. Keeping the cooler outside really helps, especially when the lady likes her fridge space... I need space too.

 

[mulepackin]

This is exactly what I do when I do turkeys. I don't have room for the buckets in my coolers. I used to have a couple of 6-7 gal. buckets that originally held bird seed, they came from Sams club. They held 3 10 lb. birds perfectly and could put a lid on them. They been abused over the years and no longer usable for this purpose. Sure would like to find some more like them though.

 

[chief61]

95% of the time I use the extra large plastic bags by Ziploc and Hefty, usually in the 2-4 gallon range. I always start with well chilled brine. For small work like chickens and ducks I use the refrigerator, for larger stuff like turkeys and whole pork loins I use an ice chest.

BTW, what is Softball brine?

Billy

 

[walking dude]

wished I would of asked that question..................LOL

 

[dmger14]

I used the term "softball" to say that my question was any easy brine question, not that there is some kind of brine termed "softball." Sorry for the confusion. Thanks for the replies!

 

[placebo]

Thanks for clearing that up......I think I scratched a hole in my head, no wait that hole was already there

 

[walking dude]

me also dude, me also