A Brine For Poultry

This is a brine I use for poultry.  You can use it for any kind of poultry you like.  One thing that is important when it comes to brining poultry is to take the poultry out of the brine and allow the poultry to dry before it is cooked.  The main reason for this is to make sure the skin is not too moist when it is cooked.  Dry skin on poultry will allow the skin to cook and develop a nice brown skin that is crispy.  If the meat is pulled from the brine shortly before cooking, then the skin will remain quite wet which will prevent the skin from becoming brown and crisp.

The most important thing to remember when brining is to ensure that the entire piece of poultry is submerged.  Depending on the size of the container and the size of the bird, this brine may not yield enough liquid to cover the poultry.  In that case, simple scale the recipe up to ensure there is enough.

One more point to note is that this recipe uses kosher salt.  I feel this salt gives the best result but you can also use standard table salt.  One important point to remember is that one tablespoon of table salt has significantly more salt in it than one tablespoon kosher salt.  This recipe calls for five tablespoons of kosher salt—if you are going to use table salt, then you should half the amount of salt into 2.5 tablespoons of table salt.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Inactive: 1 hour

Ready in: 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients:

8 Cups Water

3 Tablespoons chicken bouillon

5 Tablespoons Kosher Salt

1 Tablespoon Onion Powder

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

1 Tablespoon Black Peppercorns

1 Tablespoon Pickling Spice

1 Tablespoon Sage

3 or 4 Cloves Minced Fresh Garlic

Method:

1. Add all ingredients except the fresh garlic and bring to a boil.
2. Once a boil is obtained, stir to make sure all salt is dissolved and all flavors meld.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about an hour.
4. Add minced garlic and use on your favorite piece of poultry.