Topic: brining chicken

[fishy]

Hi all
Has anybody tried this and what do you think, the link below claims that western resturants soak there chicken in brine to make the chicken retain its moisture, there's other stages also to achieve that tenderness, take a look its very interesting.

http://www.indiacurry.com/faqhints/tenderchickencurry.htm

i visited a new BIR recently and the chicken tikka had so much moisture in it, it was amost slimey but it melted in your mouth best ive tasted yet so is it brining?

atb fishy

[Secret Santa]

Hi all
Has anybody tried this and what do you think, the link below claims that western resturants soak there chicken in brine to make the chicken retain its moisture...

We had a big discussion about this when Heston Blumenthal did his take on tandoori chicken. He soaked his chicken pieces in brine for quite some time (from memory). I think the discussion centred on brining for tandoori though rather than brining in general.

I think that juiciness you describe though may more likely be from the BIR using water injected chicken which tends to be much cheaper than quality stuff.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Take a look, it's very interesting.

http://www.indiacurry.com/faqhints/tenderchickencurry.htm

I agree, it is very interesting  : thank you for drawing it to our attention.  What I particularly liked about it (quite apart from all the useful tips for improving flavour and/or texture) was that the author justified his assertions by referring back to culinary science.  On that basis alone, I am inclined to value this document more highly than those that make assertions without any accompanying evidence other than anecdotal.

But one other point comes to mind : when he writes "The chicken absorbs the water make it juicy and flavored with salt.", we had a roast chicken yesterday that was juicy, tender and full of flavour, yet had not been marinaded at all.  It was a Leckford bird, which I have long wanted to try but which have always seemed very expensive; however, on this occasion, my local Waitrose were remaindering a few, so I took the opportunity to try one and I shall now be keen to do so again !  The remaining half of the bird is now destined for currying, so I shall report back once that is complete.

** Phil.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Has anybody tried this ?http://www.indiacurry.com/faqhints/tenderchickencurry.htm

Following my earlier reply, I looked more closely at the site, and read at the bottom, to my horror : "Submit bid to buy this website and domain name  FOR SALE by owner".  So I think that in the interests of posterity I will have to clone all of its content, just in case Mr Gupta receives an offer that he can't refuse ...

Cloning complete : a total of 21,693,160 bytes in 2181 files

** Phil.

[George]

The remaining half of the bird is now destined for currying

Jeez, if these supposedly 'superior' chickens are all they're cracked up to be, it seems a terrible waste to throw it into a curry.

As for brining, I've tried it several times, when the chicken has been roasted afterwards. I can't make my mind up which I prefer (brined or left alone) , but it certainly alters the character of the meat. Don't speculate - try it - all you need is a bucket and a bit of salt.

If BIRs used this technique I think word would have got out by now. They'd have a lot of chickens stored somewhere in buckets of brine. Somehow, I doubt it.

The 'undercover' delivery driver didn't mention it in his book. I wonder if the plumber saw anything. I see that's the latest person trying to sell revealed recipes on eBay. I guess everyone needs a good cover story, whether it's true or total fiction.

[commis]

Hi

With just a quick view at that page, it looks like a USA site, with the measurements and temperatures?

Just had a longer look, thanks fishy. Interesting indeed.

Regards

[PaulP]

This brining stuff for meat doesn't make any sense to me. I've just read a web page where the author claims that due to osmosis, the water moves from the salty water solution into the chicken, thus making it juicier.

By my reckoning and understanding of osmosis, the exact opposite would happen and the salt solution would draw water from the chicken making it drier.

For the same (this time correct) reason many cooks recommend sprinkling salt on your onions. In this case the salt will draw water from the onions making them cook faster.

Paul

[Peripatetic Phil]

By my reckoning and understanding of osmosis, the exact opposite would happen and the salt solution would draw water from the chicken making it drier.

Doesn't this require that there be a semi-permeable membrane which is permeable to water but not to salt between the flesh of the hen and the saline in which it is placed ?  Now I am no biologist, and it may well be that there is such a membrane (the skin, for example, if the bird has not already been skinned) but from a physics perspective there does need to be such a membrane for the osmosis to take place as you describe.

** Phil.

[George]

I can confirm that brining makes the chicken 'softer' and more succulent (difficult to describe, but try it) and certainly not drier. I got the idea from Heston B originally and he wouldn't make that sort of error.

[George]

from a physics perspective there does need to be such a membrane for the osmosis to take place as you describe.

I doubt that very much. Do try it, rather than hypothesize. Just drop a chicken into a bucket full of water with lots (ascertain quantity) of salt added - no membrane required!