To Brine or Not to Brine...

     I am not the first nor will I be the last to ponder over whether brining is all it's cracked up to be. I'm new to brining, having been more of a dry rub or marinating kind of a gal. But a good friend that is the best cook I know swears by brining so I thought I'd better give it a try. 

     After some way too salty chicken breasts and a few birds with moist meat but soggy skin I am not convinced. 

     With my last local chicken - a beast of a bird - I decided to try once again. I made my salty concoction and immersed the giant foul for 2 hours. While it bathed in saline solution, I logged on to Cooks Illustrated  to see what they said about dull, mushy skin on a brined chicken. Apparently you are supposed to start the whole process the day before, since, according to them, it should be able to dry out completely in the frig before cooking. Considering my chicken just started it's bath 4 hrs before dinner, complete air drying was not an option. 

     I came up with what I thought was the next best thing - my blow dryer. I figured 15 minutes of 1200 watts of hot air should do the trick. After it was coiffed I rubbed it with a bacon grease, hoping that that would help with the crisping.

     Once again, the meat was moist and flavorful but the skin was unappetizing. To me the best part of a roast chicken is the crackly, fatty skin and I, for one, am not willing to give that up. 

     So until I can start my chicken dinners a full 24 hours in advance (and purchase a bigger frig) I doubt brining will be the future of my yard birds.

     Pork is a different story......