How to Brine a Chicken for Smoking - Recipe Diaries (2024)

Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Recipe Ingredients for Basic Chicken Brine Other Ingredients for Brine How to make a Basic Chicken Brine Tips for Basic Chicken Brine Recipe FAQs How to Brine a Chicken - Basic Chicken Brine Recipe Description Ingredients Instructions Notes Nutrition More Grilling | Smoker | Blackstone Reader Interactions Comments Leave a Reply FAQs

Published: · Modified: by Jenna · This post may contain affiliate links · 8 Comments

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A simple chicken brine recipe with only 3 ingredients that produces juicy and moist chicken! Flavor it up with your favorite seasonings and BBQ when ready to cook on the grill or smoker.

How to Brine a Chicken for Smoking - Recipe Diaries (1)

I love to smoke my chicken or grill it in the Summertime and I decided to smoke my whole chicken. If you decide to smoke your meat, make sure your grill is properly clean and follow the instructions on how to start it up.

My Traeger requires a pre-smoke if you must call it that and every SUMMER I forget that needs to be done and I just turn it to whatever temperature it needs to be at right away. When that happens the smoker reaches the highest temp it can go and then I have to shut it off and wait for the whole smoker to get back down to room temperature. I will have another post on Wednesday for smoking a whole chicken in the smoker.

This brine is perfect for my Smoked Whole Chicken Recipe. I also liked Smoked Corn on the Cob, Smoked Almonds or Easy Smoked Salmon.

Jump to:
  • Why You Will Love This Recipe
  • Ingredients for Basic Chicken Brine
  • Other Ingredients for Brine
  • How to make a Basic Chicken Brine
  • Tips for Basic Chicken Brine
  • Recipe FAQs
  • How to Brine a Chicken - Basic Chicken Brine Recipe

Why You Will Love This Recipe

A simple yet basic chicken brine recipe should only consist of 3 ingredients. My recipe has water, sugar, and salt. THAT IS IT and it produces a moist and juicy chicken no matter what method you decide to cook yours at.

The outcome of this chicken was so flavorful and it reminded me of this Woodfire restaurant near me that makes some of THE BEST smoked chicken. The chicken was so juicy and tender and now I can't wait to make leftovers with it this week. I'll have my method for how I smoke it up on my blog Wednesday

Make this brine before you go to bed at night so the chicken brines all day and night in the fridge and it’s ready to go whenever you decide to cook it.

Ingredients for Basic Chicken Brine

How to Brine a Chicken for Smoking - Recipe Diaries (2)
  • Water - No chicken stock is needed for this brine. The chicken flavors the water itself.
  • Sugar - can also use brown sugar
  • Salt - always use Kosher salt
  • Whole Chicken - Chicken breasts, chicken thighs, chicken drumsticks, or any type of chicken you have in your fridge or freezer. Just make sure to thaw them out before brining. Turkey is also good brined.
  • See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Other Ingredients for Brine

You can add more ingredients to your chicken brine such as whole peppercorns, lemons, herbs, whole garlic, and oranges but that is a more complex chicken brine recipe.

How to make a Basic Chicken Brine

Step 1: Mix brine ingredients together well with a whisk.

How to Brine a Chicken for Smoking - Recipe Diaries (3)

Step 2: Place 1 whole chicken weighing 3 to 6 pounds (thawed) in the brine for 8 hours overnight. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

Note: It's ok if the chicken isn't fully submerged in the brine. Flip it every 2 or 3 hours.

How to Brine a Chicken for Smoking - Recipe Diaries (4)

Step 3: Remove chicken from the brine and rinse the chicken well. The chicken is ready to for whatever seasoning is in the pantry. I like Dano's or Stone Wall Kitchen's Blackened Dry Rub seasoning.

Tips for Basic Chicken Brine

  • This also works with turkey or turkey breast meat If doing a whole turkey, put your turkey in an insulated cooler with enough water to cover and add in a 5 pound bag of ice. Brine overnight. Use same measurements for salt and sugar.
  • For those on WW and wondering how to count the points for this recipe I simply wouldn’t since you are removing the bird from the brine and getting rid of any excess brine by rinsing it off under the water. If you are a super tracker count the amount of sugar used. Not sure on how you would count servings for a whole chicken. Depends on the number of pounds and how you end up dividing it into servings.
  • Find whatever cooking vessel large enough to store the chicken in while it is marinating. I just used one of my large dutch ovens and filled it with water. Freezer gallon bags also work well with this!

Recipe FAQs

Can you leave chicken in brine too long?

You can leaveyourchickenin the wetbrinefor up to two days (a larger turkeycan handle more without becoming overly salty), but the liquidwillneed at least 12 hours to work its magic.

Do you rinse chicken after brining?

Some people tend to lean away from brines because of the salt and they think that the end product will be so salty. That is simply not the case here since you’re removing the brine from the bird and patting it dry with a paper towel before you cook it.

If you tried this How to Brine Chicken or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Follow along on Tiktok @jennarecipediaries

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How to Brine a Chicken for Smoking - Recipe Diaries (6)

How to Brine a Chicken - Basic Chicken Brine Recipe

5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star

5 from 4 reviews

  • Author: Jenna
  • Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes
  • Yield: 8 1x
Print Recipe

Description

Basic Chicken Brine - A simple chicken brine with only 3 ingredients that produce juicy and moist chicken!

Ingredients

Scale

See Also
Christmas Fluffy Slime Recipe
  • 1 galloncold water(16 cups)
  • 1⁄2 cupkosher salt (reduce to ¼ cup if using regular table salt)
  • 2⁄3 cuplight brown sugar

Instructions

  1. Mix brine ingredients together well with a whisk.
  2. Place 1 whole chicken weighing 3 to 6 pounds (thawed) in the brine for 8 hours overnight. Cover and store in the refrigerator.
  3. Remove chicken from brine and rinse the chicken well under water. You are now ready to make a tender juicy chicken dish of your choosing.

Notes

It's ok if the chicken isn't fully submerged in the brine. Flip it every 2 or 3 hours.

  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 8 hours
  • Category: Chicken
  • Method: Brine
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mary Ann Hardesty says

    this is my first time and going to try it today , hoping for juicy fajitas . will keep you posted

  2. Deb says

    By far the best juicy chicken made at home in my Pampered Chef quick cooker. I did not rinse the brine off. Patted dry and added rotisserie season all over before quick cooking for 35 minutes. Fall off the bone delicious. I’ve made 3 and will use this often.

  3. Jenna says

    Definitely! 🙂

  4. Emily says

    Great base recipe to branch off!
    Love.

  5. Brandi says

    Sounds very easy and yummy. I'm doing this today.

  6. iqos uae says

    Very useful content.. loving it. Thank you

  7. Jenna says

    Rinsing off the brine is fine if you so wish to do so before patting it dry. But it is not necessary.

  8. RN says

    This sounds great! Thank you for sharing! So it sounds like you don’t rinse off the brine but pat it dry only. Is that correct? Thank you!

Leave a Reply

How to Brine a Chicken for Smoking - Recipe Diaries (2024)

FAQs

What is the formula for brining chicken? ›

My standard brine recipe is essentially: 4 cups of cold water and 6 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt OR 4 1/2 tablespoons Morton's kosher salt OR 3 tablespoons fine or table salt. Note that it really matters what kind of salt you have and how much you use.

Get More Info ›
How long should chicken sit in brine? ›

How long to brine your chicken depends on what kind of chicken you're using.
  1. For skinless breasts, brine for two hours.
  2. For bone-in pieces, brine for four hours.
  3. For whole chickens, brine for at least four hours or up to overnight.
Nov 9, 2023

Get More Info ›
Should I brine chicken before smoking? ›

Brining the chicken thighs before smoking them helps to keep the texture tender and juicy.

Explore More ›
What spices to add to brine? ›

Flavoring a Brine

tend to work best. Our Brining Mix features aromatic garlic and bay leaves, the citrus flavors of coriander, lemon, orange, and lemon verbena, as well as sweet allspice and sharp peppercorns. It's a great all-purpose blend for brining turkey, chicken, pork, or shrimp.

Know More ›
What is the simple brine formula? ›

For example, if you are using 1 gallon (16 cups) of water, add 16 tablespoons (1 cup) of salt. Place the meat in the brine and put the whole container in the refrigerator. If it doesn't fit, place it in an ice chest filled with ice.

View Details ›
How much salt do you use to brine chicken? ›

The basic ratio of salt to water for a brine is 4 tablespoons of kosher salt per 1 quart (4 cups) of water. If you are using fine table salt, reduce the amount to 3 tablespoons.

Continue Reading ›
Do you rinse chicken after brining? ›

What to Do After the Meat Is Brined. After waiting the appropriate amount of time, remove the meat from the brine and pat it dry with a paper towel. You won't need to rinse it with fresh water unless you accidentally brined it for too long. From here, cook the meat according to your favorite recipe.

Discover More ›
Do you refrigerate chicken while brining? ›

Some recipes mention brining your bird in an ice filled cooler, but to be sure your brine and bird stay cold enough and avoid any food safety issues, it's best to keep it in the refrigerator.

View Details ›
What happens if you leave chicken in a brine too long? ›

Wet brining can affect the texture and flavor of the chicken, so it's generally not recommended to store chicken in a wet brine for longer than 24 hours. Over-brining can result in meat that is too salty and has a mushy texture.

View Details ›
How much sugar do you put in brine? ›

Basic Brine for Turkey
  1. 1 cup kosher salt.
  2. 1/2 cup granulated sugar or brown sugar.
  3. Small handful of aromatics (garlic cloves, thyme sprigs, whole peppercorns, bay leaves, lemon or orange zest removed in strips)

Discover More ›

How do you keep chicken moist when smoking? ›

3 Ways to Keep Chicken Moist During Smoking
  1. Baste the chicken with barbecue sauce. Using a basting brush, baste the chicken with a homemade or store-bought barbecue sauce (or BBQ sauce). ...
  2. Spray the chicken with apple cider vinegar. ...
  3. Wet-brine the chicken.

See Details ›
Do you put sugar in brine? ›

Along with salt, sugar (either brown or white granulated) is a dry-brine must-have, essential both for its browning capabilities and flavor-enhancing properties.

See More ›
What 3 products are in brine? ›

Three important chemicals, NaOH, Cl2, H2, can be obtained by electrolyzing an aqueous NaCl solution (brine). This forms the basis of the chlor-alkali industry. The diaphragm cell (also called a Hooker cell) in which the electrolysis is carried out is shown schematically in Figure 17.3. 1.

Explore More ›
What is the best brine method? ›

The basic ratio for any wet brine is one cup of kosher salt to one gallon of water. Make sure to fully dissolve the salt in the water. If you're feeling fancy, throw in some smashed garlic cloves, peppercorns, citrus (also smashed), or even a sweetener like honey or brown sugar.

Read On ›
What is the ratio of salt and sugar in brine? ›

Mix 1 cup (227 grams) of salt for each gallon (3.78 liters) of water you use in your brine. If you make sweet brine, mix 1 cup (227 grams) of brown sugar plus 1 cup of salt per gallon. Cut the salt and sugar by half if you need just a half gallon (1.89 liters), or by 3/4 if you need just 1 quart (. 946 liter).

Find Out More ›
How do you calculate 3 brine solution? ›

The easiest way to calculate the exact amount of salt needed is this simple metric calculation: To create 3% brine in 1000 millilitres (1 litre) of water: 1000 x . 03 = 30. So, it takes 30 grams (equal to 2.5 tablespoons of salt).

Show Me More ›
What are the primary ingredients involved in brining? ›

Salt is the key ingredient in a brine with the other components providing flavor and seasoning accents. Although water is the most common liquid, stock, wine, or fruit juices can also be used. Sugar is used to balance the salt and spices, and also acts as a preservative.

Know More ›
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