Brine
½ cup salt
½ cup sugar
6 cups water
Whisk everything together in a pot and bring to a boil. Allow to cool, combine with chicken in a bowl, and put in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
* This recipe is meant for a whole chicken cut up into pieces – for a whole bird, extend the brine time to 4-6 hours. If it is not enough to cover the meat simply scale the recipe to fit your needs.
If you are new to brining it will change your life. For some reason brining is not very common and usually reserved for pork or turkey. I remember my first brine like is was yesterday, my mom was given some pre-made Williams-Sonoma brine that we decided to use on our thanksgiving turkey about 4 years ago. Given that the turkey was about 20 lbs, we used a giant cooler to brine it in, loading it up with ice and letting it sit overnight (I then had to wash the cooler in the shower, hopefully the first and only time I have to do that).
That day changed my whole outlook on chicken. I now brine a single breast that I am making just for my self. Pardon my preachiness but I feel as though I need to help people see that there is salvation for chalky chicken.
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