Brining Chicken

I had heard about brining and had for some reason always thought of it as an industrial process of adding extra water and thus weight to meat whereby evil supermarkets would increase the profit by selling H2O for the price of good meat. What I didn't know was that it's actually just as much a way of preparing meat that would otherwise easily turn dry while at the same time infusing it with the flavours of choice. A bit like marination, if you like.

I first heard about it on Alton Brown's Good Eats show (if you don't know it, look for it on youtube). So I did a bit of investigation and found out that it's really the basic chemistry of osmosis - the saltiness of the brine difuses salt ions into the meat protein cells, which then in return start absorbing the liquid from the brine... or something like that. The end result is that more liquid and flavours are retained in the cells which means juicier and more tender meat. I decided to try it out on a free range chicken and the result was quite amazing. I've never had such a juicy breast on roasted chicken. Try it out for yourself. The following recipe is only an indication for brining a whole chicken and brining other types of meat will need more or less time in the brine. If in doubt, google it. You can also change the spices you use or substitute part of thewater for fruit juices. I went for a simple garlic and fresh rosemary combination.

The brine:

3.5 l. cold water

2 dl coarse sal

1 dl sugar

3 cloves of garlic

1 twig of fresh rosemry

And then

1 whole chicken

1 glass of white wine

Herb de provence

Freshly ground pepper

Add the salt and sugar to the coldwater.

Crush the garlic (leave the skin on if you want). Crush the rosemary between your fingers. Add them to the water and stir until the sugar and salt is completely dissolved. Some recipes tell you to boil it to dissolve the salt, but I didn't find it necessary.

Submerge the whole chicken into the brine and make sure it is completely covered and that water has filled the cavity inside the chicken. Leave it n the fridge for 4-6 hours depending on the size of the chicken. If the chicken is already parted, the brining time is between 2-4 hours.

Discard all the brine and place it in clean, cold water or an hour, changing the water every 15 minutes. Otherwise the chicken will be too salty. Then you need to let the chicken dry completely by putting it uncovered on a plate in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. If the chicken isn't dry, the skin won't crisp up.

I then cut the chicken up, sprinkled it generously with herb de provence and pepper. You don't want to add more salt. I put it in a greased tray in the oven at low heat 150º for about 2-3 hours or until it was golden on the outside. The internal temeprature has to be at least 74ºC. After about an hour or so I added a cup of white wine and turned the pieces every now and again.

The end result served with some cream potatoes.