Simple Brine Chicken

I have never made a brine for anything before or wait I guess I have made a brine when I made pickles, but that is different. The correct thing to say is I have never made brine for anything that I have cooked or roasted.

I have to thank my sister Lauri for this one; she is the person that introduced this to me to this new deliciousness.

She had made a brine for a chicken and then smoked it. The chicken was out of this world... juicy, tender, and just a wonderful flavor. Unfortunately I don't have a smoker, but I do have an oven and I love roasting whole chickens. So I decided why not... what is there to lose.

You know me I love simple and the brine that I used cannot be any easier than this... water and salt, that's right that is all that I used.

All you need to do is have a large container and submerge the chicken in the salt water for an hour or so, once the time is up pat it dry and roast it or as the recipe suggested to refrigerate the chicken for an hour after patting it dry for crispier skin on the chicken, which I did.

It is incredible how juicy the chicken turns out. You can dress up the chicken's flavor by adding herbs and whatever you like. Once again I went the simple route... butter, salt, and pepper... I did throw some chopped up onion in the cavity for a bit more flavor.

I know I will be using this method again, maybe the next time I will try a different brine or maybe I will throw the chicken on the grill and see how it turns out. This is totally a new deliciousness for me!

Simple Brine Chicken (Source: allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
Brine -
1 chicken 4 to 5 pounds
2 quarts water
1/4 cup table salt or 1/2 kosher salt
Directions:
1. Dissolve salt in the water.
2. Immerse chicken the chicken in the water and set in the refrigerate for at least an hour, but no more than 5 to 6 hours.
3. Pour off brine and rinse chicken under running water.
4. Pat dry with a paper towel
5. For crispier skin set the dried chicken in the refrigerator for another hour.
Roasting-
Ingredients:
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Spread butter over the chicken lightly and evenly.
3. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Put in a 450 degree F preheated oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. After the 10 to 15 minutes turn down the temperature to 350 and continue to roast for another 1 1/4 hours to 1 1/2 hours or until juices run clear or temperature of the meat reaches 165 degrees F.

View Printable Recipe