Smoked bacon wrapped chicken breasts

[Kimber45]

So, a local caterer fed us smoked CB's last week at work along with the most amazing sweet potatoes casserole I've ever had in my entire life. He wouldn't give up the SP recipe because they're known for it here, but talked me thru the smoked CB's.. Spilt the boneless breasts, brined them, then wrapped in LOTS of bacon and had added my favorite poultry season pre-bacon. Also slit them 90% thru and put real butter in the slits pre-wrap. Absolutely fan-flippin-tastic! This is something I will smoke often now. Little bit of a pain brining, wrapping in bacon, fooling with all the toothpicks etc...WELL worth the end result.

 

[diamond hunter]

OK,whats the brine recipe and how long?It sounds great

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

Sounds good

 

[Kimber45]

OK,whats the brine recipe and how long?It sounds great

I do a simple easy brine.. cold water, kosher salt, light brown sugar. I only let them sit in the brine a few hours, longer is likely better. You could do a lot more with a brine than I do for sure but I was only after retaining moisture during the smoke.

I will smoke them again this weekend, probably brine 4 hours.

 

[TAFKAP]

A brine is a calculated solution based on the mass of the meat plus the mass of the water you'll use for the brine. You'll need a 5lb or even a 10lb kitchen scale, capable of reading units in grams.

1) Weigh your meat in grams (or use the merchant's sale weight.....multiply the weight by 454 to get grams. ie: 2.35lbs. = 1,067 grams).
2) Place meat in your brining vessel....a bucket, a large pot, tupperware bin, etc. and cover it with water. I would recommend weighing a measuring cup and tallying your total water mass.
3) Calculate total mass of meat + water. For instance, above 2.35lbs of meat may use 2,000 grams of water to cover. Total Mass of MEAT + WATER = 3,067 grams

Brines are generally in the neighborhood of 2% total mass, and are considered the "ideal" salt level. If you want to season your chicken after brining, I would suggest a 1.5% brine. Regardless of your salt level, I always use 1.5% brown sugar. So for this example, let's try a 1.5% salt/1.5% sugar level.

Multiply total mass (3,067 grams) x 0.015 = 46 grams of both salt and brown sugar.

Now, go back to your TOTAL MASS OF WATER (2,000 grams). You'll dissolve the 46g of salt & 46g of sugar into 2,000 grams of water. BUT WAIT! You'll want to use ice to cool the brine, since most brines need to be boiled. BRING 1,000g OF WATER TO A BOIL, and stir in your salt & sugar. As the water heats up, I usually crank around 5g - 10g of fresh black pepper into the brine. This is a perfect time to sprinkle in a 1/4 cup of garlic powder, some thyme, and a bay leaf or two. Once the water reaches a boil, give it a stir, and remove from heat.

Since you only boiled 1,000g of water, you'll need to add 1,000g of ICE to cool. Once your ice melts, taste the brine. It's INCREDIBLY salty. However, once the brine gives up the salt to the meat, your meat will have a good salt level in it. Overnight brines are ideal to ensure complete salt penetration.

Once you've brined overnight, you'll want to rinse the meat. This will get rid of the particles (pepper, garlic, etc.) and ensure the brine doesn't crust additional salt on the meat.

Pat meat dry, and season however you'd like. Just go easy on the salt, as you've already added that.

DISCARD THE BRINE! IT'S NO LONGER USEFUL AT THIS POINT.

 

[Kimber45]

I think I'll stick with the simpler brine methodology since it worked on round 1, even though that would probably net a better result.

 

[Hawk]

I think I'll stick with the simpler brine methodology since it worked on round 1, even though that would probably net a better result.

"This simple chicken brine will help make the meat more tender and juicy."
Ingredients
1 gallon warm water
3/4 cup kosher salt
2/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
Directions
Pour the warm water into a container that is twice the volume of the water. Pour in the salt, sugar, soy sauce, and olive oil. Stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved, then allow the brine to cool to room temperature.
To use, place chicken in the brine, cover, and refrigerate two hours for skinless breasts, 4 hours for bone-in pieces, and 4 hours to overnight for whole chickens. Drain and pat the chicken dry before cooking. One gallon of brine is enough for 6 pounds of whole chicken or bone-in chicken pieces, and up to 10 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

 

[Kimber45]

I think I'll stick with the simpler brine methodology since it worked on round 1, even though that would probably net a better result.

"This simple chicken brine will help make the meat more tender and juicy."
Ingredients
1 gallon warm water
3/4 cup kosher salt
2/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
Directions
Pour the warm water into a container that is twice the volume of the water. Pour in the salt, sugar, soy sauce, and olive oil. Stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved, then allow the brine to cool to room temperature.
To use, place chicken in the brine, cover, and refrigerate two hours for skinless breasts, 4 hours for bone-in pieces, and 4 hours to overnight for whole chickens. Drain and pat the chicken dry before cooking. One gallon of brine is enough for 6 pounds of whole chicken or bone-in chicken pieces, and up to 10 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

I like that one.. I used filtered ice cold water, blended my ingredients in 16oz of hot water then stirred into the cold water. The catering folks who talked me into doing the brine were certainly right. It makes a HUGE difference. Thanks for the recipe!

 

[TAFKAP]

Here's the thing, arbitrarily heaping salt and water together isn't necessarily a brine. You can easily over-salt or under salt, just by virtue of leaving meat in too long, or not enough meat for the salt content.

A calculated brine isn't difficult or involved, but it's more to explain. It's also not dependent on time, either. Once the meat accepts all the salt it can accept (within hours), it equalizes and won't over salt. You can leave it sit for a few days if you so desire.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Here's the thing, arbitrarily heaping salt and water together isn't necessarily a brine. You can easily over-salt or under salt, just by virtue of leaving meat in too long, or not enough meat for the salt content.

A calculated brine isn't difficult or involved, but it's more to explain. It's also not dependent on time, either. Once the meat accepts all the salt it can accept (within hours), it equalizes and won't over salt. You can leave it sit for a few days if you so desire.

Interesting. Brining is something that I've done very little of. I really need to take some notes on this and try it.

 

[TAFKAP]

"Dry brining" is also an option too, but it needs some time to draw out the moisture of the meat, then re-absorb the salt. Just use 1% of the meat's mass to calculate the salt amount. If it's not enough, work your way up to 1.5%

 

[A/M/G]

TAFKAP is that calculated brine good for all types meat?

 

[TAFKAP]

TAFKAP is that calculated brine good for all types meat?

I use it for all types.....

Here's a list of stuff I've brined using the calculations:
brine curing venison roasts for corned venison
brining chicken wings before i smoke them
brining whole turkeys for Thanksgiving
brining pork loin roasts since they tend to dry out

For things that I'm going to grill (steaks, pork chops, chicken thighs, pork tenderloins, etc.), I'll "dry brine". Which is a fancy way of saying "liberally sprinkle all surfaces with salt, then let it dissolve and reabsorb for a while".

Wet submerged brining is better for long, slow cooking methods.

 

[A/M/G]

I used the calculated brine last night for some chicken breast, and smoked them to internal temp 155 and let rest. By far the best breast I have ever eaten. I will def continue to use it. Thanks