[Sca-cooks] I'm back and been brining

[KarenO]

Howdy everyone!

Well, I'm back again, and hopefully will be around for a bit longer before I
take another leave of absence.  I decided to try brining a chicken  before
roasting it today.  The end result was very nice; crispy skin & tasty meat
and I do think the brining gets a lot of credit.  The breast meat wasn't dry
at all!  The whole  bird was juicy and moist,  pretty darn good for a cheap
chicken  {the original intention was to use it for broth making}.

    For the brine: dissolved in 2 quarts of water, 1/4 {one fourth} cup of
sugar and 1 cup kosher salt.  In a container large enough for the bird to be
submerged in the brine, it sat for about 3 hours.  {Cook's Illustrated
recommended 1 hour per pound} Then roasted in a roasting pan covered, for 30
min at 375.  Uncovered for another 20 minutes.  The only thing I added to
the bird was  to place a bulb's worth of garlic in the cavity.

Caointiarn