Stuff You Need
This is a 3.5% wet brine
- 10 cups of tap water
- 4.5 tbsp of table salt
- 2 tbsp + 3/4 tsp dextrose
Combine well until the sugar and salt dissolve.
Allow the chicken to brine for ~16-24 hours – after which you rinse in the sink and pat dry. Don’t go longer than 24 hours, the meat will be far too salty.
If you need more water, use my brine calculator, adjust to your water quantity and then set your brine to 3.5% and then your type of salt.
Then take that salt and divide by 2 to get your dextrose/sugar (more on dextrose below).
That’s it, A True Brine is Really Just Salt
The only real molecule that’s going to penetrate to a significant extent is the salt.
The type of salt you use matters too – as table salt is 2x as dense as say Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
Meaning if you’re using Diamond Crystal for this recipe, you’d double the salt to 9 tbsp.
Suffice to say, use my calculator and input your salt type.
The sugar in this recipe is just here to help balance out the salt and promote browning / caramelization.
Dylan Why Dextrose? Can I Just Use Regular White Sugar?
Sure, you can even use brown sugar if you’d like.
The reason I use dextrose is because that’s what all the roaster birds at your local Costco, BJs, or Market Basket are using.
The reason is because:
- It browns faster
If you were to use regular white sugar, just take your table salt, halve it to get your dextrose amount and then remove 1 tbsp to get your sugar.
So above: 10 cups of water, 4.5 tbsp table salt, 2 + 3/4 tsp dextrose – 1 tbsp = 1 tbsp + 3/4 tsp white sugar.
Dextrose is 20% less sweet so by removing 1 tbsp we account for that.
Why No Other Ingredients in the Brine?
Most other ingredients like:
- bay leaf
- peppercorns
- citrus zest
- herbs
- etc.
Are really just surface treatments at best – if anything, add these ingredients to a marinade instead.
A brine like the above is based on percentages to help evenly season the chicken – this affects texture of the meat, the salt level, etc. You’ll also just waste far more ingredients in this much liquid.
Instead, brine first – marinate 2nd.
This sort of process is what I do with my Tex-mex fajita chicken.
This is right out of the marinade that uses soy sauce, Mexican oregano, peppercorns, bay leaf, etc. But I brine first and only marinade for ~ 2 hours if I’m brining.
If I’m not brining I’ll go 12+ hours.
The meat here is also thin, and since it’s a “surface” treatment, you’re more apt to taste it vs a whole bird where-in most of the tasting is done internally.
3 Ingredient Roaster Chicken Brine
Ingredients
Brine
- 10 cups tap water
- 4.5 tbsp table salt
- 2 tbsp + 3/4 tsp dextrose (*See notes)
Instructions
- Combine 10 cups tap water, 4.5 tbsp table salt, and 2 tbsp + 3/4 tsp dextrose in a pot.
- Stir until salt and dextrose dissolve completely.
- Submerge chicken in brine.
- Refrigerate for 16-24 hours.
- The next day, remove chicken from brine and rinse under cold water.
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels and then proceed with the rest of your process.
