Well, I finished the brining. It isn't very difficult really. It just takes time. Ok, it also takes a big pot. After brining, I put it on my rotisserie. I have one of those rotiesseries you see on TV. I love it. Even before the diet, I'd do a chicken, tear it apart, and make several different meals from it. I'd use it for stir fry, sandwiches, and soups. I don't do the sandwiches much these days, but I still stir fry and make soups. A rotisseried chicken is good as it is, but I really think brining it made it juicier and tenderer. It was hard not to eat the whole chicken and I've never done that before. For the sake of full disclosure, I ate both dark and white meat (Actually, it was a good excuse to eat some more). I'm generally a dark meat girl, but this breast meat was excellent.
The Brining recipe I use came from the Better Homes and Gardens magazine. It was the June 2005 issue. By the way, this is called a basic brine. You can add additional herbs and spices to give it more of a kick.
Ingredients
1 gallon water
1 cup kosher salt (I used pickling salt)
8 medium cloves of garlic peeled and halved
2 Tablespoon cracked peppercorns
1 3.5-4 pound whole chicken
Preparation
1. In a stockpot bring water to boiling. Add salt, garlic, and peppercorns. Stir to dissolve salt. Remove from heat, cool. Refrigerate until chilled.
2. Transfer chilled brine to container large enough to hold chicken and brine. Place chicken, breast side down, in container; cover with brine. Cover with plastic wrap. Weight chicken down with a plate to keep it submerged. Refrigerate for 10 to 12 hours.
Rinse the chicken before preparing. You can put it on a rotisserie, roast it in the oven, or grill the chicken.
The dark meat with the skin is equal to 286 calories per 140 grams. The white meat with the skin is equal to 258 calories per 140 grams. I'm not going to tell you how much I ate. But I did stay within my dietary restrictions, barely. :)
My mouth was definitely watering reading this post!! YUM!
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