Tried a dry brine on a couple of birds yesterday rather than my regular wet brine. I think I may have to retire the bucket. Dry brining is much less of a hassle. Less hassle = more gooder!
Looks great! I think a dry brine would give you all the flavor but what about the moisture? I do a wet brine as much for flavor as for a nice juicy bird.
Didn't notice a difference between the two methods. The dry brined bird was incredibly juicy throughout the entire bird. It doesn't make sense which is why I've always wet brined but it worked great.
Maybe it works like when I salt and pepper dry rub a beef roast. The salt brings some of the moisture to the surface and when you cook (initially high, broiled or seared), this layer creates a crust that keeps the remaining moisture inside making it more tender and juicy. Then again maybe just the fatty skin on chickens keeps it juicy. Regardless, I am going to have to try this. Care to share your dry brine recipe?
Hmm, we've been wet brining turkeys, chicken, pork, etc, and we love it. The meat is so juicy. I can't imagine how a dry brine could make it as juicy as a wet brine. You know, osmosis is hard to argue with. Yes, please. We'd be willing to try it.
As far as the dry brine recipe it's super complex. Salt. I just salted the surface pretty well, wrapped it loose in a pyrex overnight. Then I just put my normal rosemary dry rub on it (minus the salt) and smoked it like I normally do when I wet brine. I was surprised by the results. To be honest if I were to put them side by side I don't think I could tell the difference. That actually might be a good experiment.
Interesting topic. I had lunch with a couple fellow smoker users today. My buddy Larry was telling me about how well his home made Pastrami came out. His process is completely dry brine and curing in a fridge while wrapped in cellophane. He also keeps it in a giant zip lock while fridge curing. Not that I have ever tackled Pastrami yet!
I've never noticed a wet brine making chicken or turkey more juicy. I always coat the outside with something salty and smoke 'em. The slower cooking rate keeps them juicy I think. But I pull them out when they're barely done, also.
I do notice a difference with turkey breasts being more juicy after a wet brine then without but i agree that chickens and chicken pieces i usually just salt the skin and cook to just 160 with indirect heat on the bbq or smoker. Crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I did do an eye of round pastrami last year that included a 10 day wet brine after injections of wet brine. I was very pleased with the way it turned out after the smoker. Colours anf flavours were great but i do need a better meat slicer/shaver.
