In this post about Alton Brown brining chicken, you will learn great insights on how to make the best of this recipe. Chicken brine can be as simple as dissolving salt in water or as complex as a two-day process that involves a brine infused with herbs followed by air drying. All this aims to give you a juicy chicken with a tender and perfectly crisp exterior.
Alton Brown’s brining chicken recipe is the best for the most succulent and juiciest chicken roast. It involves brining your chicken for hours or even days for better results and then roasting as desired. This recipe injects rich flavor while moisturizing and tenderizing the meat-you’ll love how juicy it gets.
Alton Brown Brining Chicken Recipe
Contents
Equipment
- One zip-top freezer bag (2 gallons)
- Pizza stones
- Heavy kitchen shears
- Meat thermometer
- Ordinary household or box-style fan
Ingredients
- 2-4 pounds of chicken
- ½ cup kosher salt 75g
- 2 cups hot water 500g
- 500 g ice
- 57 g unsalted butter
- 5 g pepper
- 4 g za’atar
- 1 tsp. kosher salt divided
Instructions
- Prepare your chicken. Do this by placing the chicken on a cutting board with the breast side down. Use the shears to cut the ribs on one side of the backbone and remove both simultaneously.
- Cut through the membrane along the breast to remove the keel bone, separating the breast into halves. You may be forced to work with bare hands to remove this bone.
- Flip the chicken face up and flatten it as you pull the legs towards you to make the chicken look like a big meaty butterfly.
- Set the chicken aside, wash your hands and move on to prepare the brine.
- Take the zip-lock freezer bag and place it in a pot or container, pour in hot water, then the salt. Star the two to mix until the salt dissolves. Add in the ice, then your chicken and seal the bag. Ensure the chicken is properly covered in the water mixture and refrigerate for 7-12 hours.
- After storing in the fridge to brine, remove it and drain thoroughly. Set it aside on a rack and pat dry with paper towels. Do not remove the skin. Leave the meat in front of a fan to dry for 2 hours or until it feels tight, dry and leathery.
- Place a rack in the oven and arrange the pizza stones on it. Add another rack 6 inches below it and preheat the oven to 550 °F for 1 hour.
- In the meantime, prepare the butter and spice mix. Combine butter, za’atar and pepper in a measuring cup and cook on low heat for 3-5 minutes or until butter is red and sweet smelling.
- Back to the chicken, place it side down and brush it with a generous amount of the butter mixture. Season it with ½ tsp.—kosher salt.
- Put a cup of water in a pan and place it on the bottom rack in the oven to help absorb smoke and dripping as the chicken roasts. Roast the chicken on the top rack for about 10 minutes.
- Carefully but quickly remove the chicken rack from the oven, place the bird side up, baste with the remaining butter mixture, and season with the other ½ tsp. salt. Set it back in the oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until it gets an internal temperature of 160 °F.
- Once cooked, remove the chicken from the oven, and allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes to give it time to reabsorb the juices and serve.
Alton Brown Brining Chicken Recipe
Course: side course/dessert
Cuisine: American
Brining time: 7 hours
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 30 minutes
Wait time: 8hr 30 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
- 2-4 pounds of chicken
- ½ cup kosher salt (75g)
- 2 cups hot water (500g)
- 500g ice
- 57g unsalted butter
- 5g pepper
- 4g za’atar
- 1tsp. kosher salt (divided)
Equipment
- One zip-top freezer bag (2 gallons)
- Pizza stones
- Heavy kitchen shears
- Meat thermometer
- Ordinary household or box-style fan
Instructions
- Prepare your chicken. Do this by placing the chicken on a cutting board with the breast side down. Use the shears to cut the ribs on one side of the backbone and remove both simultaneously.
- Cut through the membrane along the breast to remove the keel bone, separating the breast into halves. You may be forced to work with bare hands to remove this bone.
- Flip the chicken face up and flatten it as you pull the legs towards you to make the chicken look like a big meaty butterfly.
- Set the chicken aside, wash your hands and move on to prepare the brine.
- Take the zip-lock freezer bag and place it in a pot or container, pour in hot water, then the salt. Star the two to mix until the salt dissolves. Add in the ice, then your chicken and seal the bag. Ensure the chicken is properly covered in the water mixture and refrigerate for 7-12 hours.
- After storing in the fridge to brine, remove it and drain thoroughly. Set it aside on a rack and pat dry with paper towels. Do not remove the skin. Leave the meat in front of a fan to dry for 2 hours or until it feels tight, dry and leathery.
- Place a rack in the oven and arrange the pizza stones on it. Add another rack 6 inches below it and preheat the oven to 550 °F for 1 hour.
- In the meantime, prepare the butter and spice mix. Combine butter, za’atar and pepper in a measuring cup and cook on low heat for 3-5 minutes or until butter is red and sweet smelling.
- Back to the chicken, place it side down and brush it with a generous amount of the butter mixture. Season it with ½ tsp.—kosher salt.
- Put a cup of water in a pan and place it on the bottom rack in the oven to help absorb smoke and dripping as the chicken roasts. Roast the chicken on the top rack for about 10 minutes.
- Carefully but quickly remove the chicken rack from the oven, place the bird side up, baste with the remaining butter mixture, and season with the other ½ tsp. salt. Set it back in the oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until it gets an internal temperature of 160 °F.
- Once cooked, remove the chicken from the oven, and allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes to give it time to reabsorb the juices and serve.
Tips and tricks for brining chicken
- For classical wet brine, we recommend using 1 ¼ cups of salt for every gallon of water, then add it to whatever place the chicken will submerge to brine.
- It’s acceptable to brine partially thawed meat. Also, you can add sugar to your brine as it helps in browning the chicken skin.
- Brining chicken is not mandatory; however, brining helps get incredibly juicy and flavorful meat. Ideally, the amount of salt used may differ from one person to another, but the more the salt, the quicker the brining process takes. If more salt is used, the exterior layers of the meat may be very salty.
- If you are short on time, you can brine the chicken for approximately 1 hour per pound. Alternatively, you can purchase an already-brined chicken.
Benefits of brining chicken
- Brining adds moisture to the meat- While the chicken rests in the brine mixture, it continuously absorbs water through osmosis. Though some moisture will be drawn out by heat while cooking, there will still be enough left. Ideally, the more moisture it absorbs in the brine, the more it will have after cooking.
- Helps denature proteins- While the protein is brining, the mixture helps the meat’s muscle fibers to swell and unwind. In the process, the water binds well with the muscle fibers preventing them from rebinding, which otherwise would result in chewy meat.
- A punch of flavor: Alton Brown chicken brine contains rich flavor. The longer you leave the chicken brining, the better the flavors penetrate the protein fibers, and the more flavorful your chicken will turn out. Ideally, even using salt and water alone to brine is great since salt helps bring out natural flavors in every dish. Also, sugar helps caramelize the meat for a browned exterior.
Nutritional Information
- Calories: 432kcal
- Carbohydrates: 5g
- Protein: 63g
- Fat: 17g
- Saturated fat: 5g
- Cholesterol: 188mg
- Sodium: 190mg
- Potassium: 644mg
- Fiber: 1g
- Sugar: 1g
- Vitamin A: 198IU
- Vitamin C: 26mg
- Calcium: 50mg
- Iron: 5mg
Conclusion
Alton Brown’s brining chicken recipe may seem complex, but it’s pretty easy to follow. If you’re planning this as your next meal, we recommend going through the recipe first to get an idea of all that is needed. With patience and keenness, you will get the juiciest roast chicken you may have ever desired.
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