Corned chicken. Marinade for smoking chicken, how to make it correctly How to cook chicken meat in brine

Can anyone remain indifferent to a delicious and aromatic piece of smoked chicken? It can be easily found on the counter of any store, but, unfortunately, the quality of such products leaves more and more to be desired every day. In order not to risk the health of your family and not to deny yourself your favorite delicacy, you can smoke the chicken at home yourself. The brine for smoking chicken will play an important role in this.

You need to soak the meat for at least two hours. Brine for hot smoked chicken can be prepared with water, red wine, oil, soy sauce or sour cream. It is complemented to taste with spices and herbs. To better soften the fibers, add mustard, vinegar or lemon juice.

If you add a little sugar or honey during cooking, the chicken will have a more golden brown crust.

How to properly prepare chicken for smoking?

First, the bird carcass must be immersed in boiling water. After this treatment, feathers and down will be removed much easier.
Then you need to singe the carcass, rinse and remove all the insides. Make sure that the skin does not burn when scorching, otherwise it may ruin the taste of the finished product. To create a protective layer, you can spray it with flour.
If the carcass is large, cut it in half lengthwise.
Place the chicken between two cutting boards and then lightly pound it with a mallet. This will soften the bones and large joints, so there will be no reddening of the meat, and flat pieces will smoke easier and faster.
Place the carcass in a container of suitable size and fill it with brine.

Tip: If you buy a ready-made carcass in a store, take chilled meat. The chicken should not be sticky or slimy, have bluish skin, or have an unpleasant odor.

How to get the right brine?

To prepare the brine, use this recipe:

Add salt to boiled warm water (for each liter of water you need to take half a tablespoon of salt), chopped garlic, allspice and a few bay leaves.
If you like, you can add some juniper berries.
Then add three tablespoons of 30% vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar.
Make enough brine so that the chicken carcass is completely covered.

You need to keep the meat in this brine for as long as possible, preferably up to two days. From time to time it is necessary to turn the chicken so that it is completely saturated with the solution on all sides.

After soaking in brine, hang the meat in a cool, ventilated place to drain and dry. Make sure that flies do not land on it. Ideally, meat should hang for two to four days at a temperature of 10˚C. If this is not done, the bird will be tough after smoking.

Never use so-called “liquid smoke” to prepare brine, which is used for quick smoking of chickens. Such a desire to quickly process foods is harmful to the body, since “liquid smoke” is considered a strong carcinogen. It contains toxic chemicals (formaldehyde, phenol and others) that accumulate in the cells of the human body and lead to their undesirable changes.

The prepared chicken is placed in the smokehouse and brought to readiness

Don't forget to sprinkle alder chips or branches of blackcurrant or fruit trees (pear, apple, cherry) on the bottom. This will give a unique aroma to the finished dish.

Hot smoked chicken at a temperature of 130 to 170 degrees will be ready in about an hour and a half

Smoked chicken prepared in this way turns out to be very soft and appetizing, similar in structure to grilled chicken, but with a pronounced smoked aroma and taste.

We will marinate the chicken in salt brine. Then rub with spices and bake in the oven along with vegetables in the usual way. Brine promotes rapid, uniform salting. The poultry meat turns out soft.

Ingredients

chicken - 1.3 kg;
potatoes - 4 pieces;
celery root - 250 g;
carrots - 150 g;
pumpkin - 150 g;
red onion (Danilovsky) - 2 pieces;
garlic - 1 head;
green apple - 1 piece;
bay leaf - 1 piece;
allspice - 5 peas;
salt - to taste;
ground turmeric - 0.5 teaspoon;
mixture of peppers - 0.5 teaspoon;
olive oil - 3 tablespoons;
ground paprika - 1 teaspoon;

for brine:

salt - 1/4 cup;
sugar - 1/4 cup;
water - 1 liter.

I was cooking a small chicken. If you have a large bird, I advise you to slightly increase the amount of vegetables and, possibly, brine.

Wash the chicken and trim off excess fat. Prepare the brine. Dissolve 1/4 cup salt and 1/4 cup sugar in 1 liter of water. Place the chicken in a deep bowl or pan and cover with brine. If there is not enough brine, then prepare another portion, observing the suggested proportions. Or place the chicken with brine in a plastic bag, then there will definitely be enough brine. Place the chicken and brine in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Keep a two-kilogram chicken in brine for 4 hours.

Remove the marinated chicken from the brine, dry with paper towels, rub inside and outside with turmeric and a mixture of peppers. Wash the apple, cut into 8 parts, remove the middle and place inside the chicken. Secure the skin on the belly with toothpicks or sew it up. Tie the legs with confectionery thread so that they fit tightly to the abdomen.

Peel the vegetables. Cut the potatoes into quarters, carrots into large pieces. Boil potatoes and carrots in boiling salted water until half cooked for 10 minutes. As soon as the water boils, add bay leaf, coarsely chopped garlic clove and 5 allspice peas for flavor.

Cut the celery root into slices approximately 1 cm thick. Separate the head of garlic into cloves, but do not peel. Garlic in a shell will not burn during baking. Peel the onion and cut into quarters. Peel the pumpkin, remove the seeds, and cut as desired to the size of the remaining vegetables.

Grease a baking sheet with olive oil, lay out the prepared vegetables, add salt, sprinkle with paprika and mix. Pumpkin cooks faster than other vegetables, so it can be added to a dish already being prepared 20 minutes later. Place the chicken in the middle of the baking sheet.

I determine the doneness time by using a meat thermometer, which should be inserted into the thickest part of the breast. Bake the chicken and vegetables in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for 1 hour 20 minutes - until the temperature inside the chicken breast reaches 85 degrees. For a one and a half kilogram chicken it will take 1.5 hours, and for a two kilogram chicken the time should be increased to 2 hours. In any case, the bones should not have blood.

A dish that can be eaten either alone or in combination with a variety of side dishes. In addition, there are many recipes for preparing delicious salads and cold appetizers, the highlight of which is smoked poultry. You can cook rosy, smoked chicken that evokes pleasant associations of summer, a picnic, and fun.

Methods for smoking chicken

There are two ways to smoke poultry: the hot smoking method and the cold smoking method. The choice of method depends on factors such as the type of meat, the length of the chicken preparation process, and taste preferences.

Cold smoking of chicken or chicken parts involves hanging the carcass in smoke over smoldering fuel. The procedure is long and how long it takes depends on the recipe, approximately several days. It is important to maintain the temperature in the smokehouse at 20-30 degrees. The meat is tougher and denser than with the hot smoking method. During the smoking process, the surface of the meat slowly dries out, and the smoking substances slowly penetrate into the product.
Smoking using the hot method involves a temperature in the smokehouse from 80 to 140 degrees. How long the process takes in hours also depends on the recipe.

Preparatory stage

It is necessary to prepare clean equipment:

hammer;
an ax for cutting a carcass or a large sharp knife made of thick steel;
pot;
cutting board.

Any smokehouse is suitable: one that runs on wood or coal. Oak, alder, apple, and cherry wood are great for fuel. Instead of this device, you can use a large metal container, for example, a bucket, pan, metal barrel or the body of an old refrigerator. An important condition is that the product is tightly sealed in the smokehouse.

In such a smokehouse it is quite easy to smoke chicken outdoors

Not all bird carcasses are suitable for smoking. It should be fresh, even in color. If the bird's skin is sticky and there is mucus, this is a sign that the product is stale. It is advisable to smoke a young female, the meat will be tastier and softer. The naturalness of the product and the absence of additives is also an important factor.

Preparing a chicken carcass for smoking

Remove fluff and feathers. Place the chicken in a bucket of boiling water for a while, then pluck out the feather;
Sear the carcass over a flame of fire and wash it, removing the entrails. We avoid burning the skin, as this will affect the taste and quality of the meat. We recommend rubbing the carcass with flour before searing, which will create a protective layer. We rinse so that there is no burning smell left;
If desired, if the bird is large, the chicken can be cut into two parts lengthwise;
Next, you should beat the bird with a hammer, placing it between the cutting surface and the cutting board. The purpose of this manipulation is to soften the large bones and joints of the bird;
Preparing brine or marinade (recipes are given below);
Place the bird in the prepared container and pour the prepared brine or marinade over it for a while, depending on the specific recipe;
After the expiration date, remove the chicken, make punctures in the carcass, coat with a mixture of salt, garlic and spices;
Then the chicken should be hung in a draft, at an air temperature of no more than +10 degrees, and dried before smoking for 2-4 days.

Hot smoked chicken recipe

Cut the fresh, plucked and gutted carcass in half along the spine line. Beat the carcass halves with a hammer, placing it between cutting boards. The chicken halves should be soft. Then you should generously rub the inner and outer surfaces with a mixture of salt, allspice, cloves, and garlic for 2.5-3.5 hours. Next, remove excess salt with a dry textile napkin.

Cold smoked chicken recipe

Ingredients for the curing mixture:

2.5 kg. Chicken;
180 g rock salt;
1 tablespoon sugar;
ascorbic acid.

Salt the prepared carcass with the mixture. Place in a saucepan for 2 days, sprinkle with pepper and bay leaf to taste. Then the brine is poured in and left for another 9-11 days.

Brine ingredients:

9 liters of cold boiled water;
1.5 kg rock salt;
40 g sugar;
20 g ascorbic acid.

Before smoking, the chicken should be washed with water and dried for 9 hours.

Chips of the masters of hot and cold smoking

1. Some recipes suggest lightly boiling the chicken with salt. Then you should dry it.
2. Use cherry or apple sawdust for smoking. The meat will acquire a specific taste of smoke and fruit combined with juiciness and tenderness.
3. During smoking using the hot method, it is recommended to periodically sprinkle the chicken with brine or marinade.

Salting chicken meat
There are a few rules you should know about salting chicken. Fatty chicken is best suited for salting.
It is better not to wash the chicken before salting; it is washed immediately before salting.
The meat must be cut into small thin slices.
Salt must be poured into the bottom of the dish in which salting is carried out, and the pieces sprinkled with salt are placed very tightly together, so that there are no voids left in the dish with meat.
The meat is placed so that there are pieces of fat on both top and bottom.
Salt for salting is taken coarsely ground, clean and dry. The amount of salt is calculated according to the following scheme - 25% of the weight of the meat. So, if you salt 1 kg of chicken, you will need 250 g of salt.
Only 10% of the salt is rubbed into the meat, and the remaining salt goes into a concentrated brine. As a rule, cold brine is poured.
You need to salt in a container that does not allow water to pass through. Oak barrels and enamel capacious dishes are most suitable for these purposes.
It is best to brine meat in warm weather. The fact is that in the cold, salt is absorbed worse: unevenly and insufficiently. Warm weather speeds up curing, but too much heat can cause the meat to spoil. The most optimal temperature for salting is considered to be 2 - 7 °C.
Salted chicken meat must be stored at a temperature not exceeding 6 C.
Dry and wet salting methods are known. If you smoke chicken, dry curing will do. And wet - exclusively for fresh chicken.
Remember that the brine for chicken should not be weaker than 12 - 13%, this will preserve the meat longer. A little sugar is always added to the brine. It is recommended to add 2% of the weight of the total meat. Sugar is an excellent preservative and also improves the color and taste of chicken.
You can determine the quality of salting by the appearance of the meat and brine. The brine should be clear and smell good.
The meat should be firm, bright red, and the meat should be pink when cut.
And now one of the ways to salt chicken meat.
Prepare the chicken for salting: gut, singe, wash. You need to prepare a salty mixture for rubbing from sodium nitrate, sugar and salt (sugar will give a subtle taste and prevent the meat from darkening): 20 g of saltpeter, 10 g of sugar per 2 kg of salt. Rub the chicken with this mixture.
Make 4-5 cuts throughout the chicken, which you also fill with the curing mixture. You can brine the legs rather than the whole chicken, this will only improve the salting.
Place the chicken tightly together and skin side down. Sprinkle the salting mixture on the bottom. Moreover, add salt to each row of legs. You need 1/2 kg of curing mixture for 5 kg of chicken legs.
Garlic, nutmeg, cloves or other spices placed between the rows of meat will give corned beef a pleasant aroma. Place the corned beef prepared in this way in the cold or place it in the refrigerator. An indispensable condition. good salting is a temperature that should not be lower or higher than 3 - 5 ° C.
After three days, transfer the corned beef into a wooden barrel and fill it with cold brine prepared from 5 liters of water and 1 kg of salt. Cover the tub with a wooden circle (choose an odorless type of wood) and press it down with a weight on top.

Salting Chicken You should familiarize yourself with several rules for salting chicken. Fatty chicken is best suited for salting. It is better not to wash the chicken before salting; it is washed immediately before salting. The meat must be cut into small thin slices. Salt must be poured into the bottom of the dish in which salting is carried out, and the pieces sprinkled with salt are placed very tightly together, so that there are no voids left in the dish with meat. The meat is placed so that there are pieces of fat on both top and bottom. Salt for salting is taken coarsely ground, clean and dry. The amount of salt is calculated according to the following scheme - 25% of the weight of the meat. So, if you salt 1 kg of chicken, you will need 250 g of salt. Only 10% of the salt is rubbed into the meat, and the remaining salt goes into a concentrated brine. As a rule, cold brine is poured. You need to salt in a container that does not allow water to pass through. Oak barrels and enamel capacious dishes are most suitable for these purposes. It is best to brine meat in warm weather. The fact is that in the cold, salt is absorbed worse: unevenly and insufficiently. Warm weather speeds up curing, but too much heat can cause the meat to spoil. The most optimal temperature for salting is considered to be 2 - 7 °C. Salted chicken meat must be stored at a temperature no higher than 6 C. Dry and wet salting methods are known. If you smoke chicken, dry curing will do. And wet - exclusively for fresh chicken. Remember that the brine for chicken should not be weaker than 12 - 13%, this will preserve the meat longer. A little sugar is always added to the brine. It is recommended to add 2% of the weight of the total meat. Sugar is an excellent preservative and also improves the color and taste of chicken. You can determine the quality of salting by the appearance of the meat and brine. The brine should be clear and smell good. The meat should be firm, bright red, and the meat should be pink when cut. Meat processing plants process meat on an industrial scale. One of the best is considered to be the Nikolaevsky agricultural complex, which produces and sells meat, sausage and semi-finished products. And now one of the ways to salt chicken meat. Prepare the chicken for salting: gut, singe, wash. You need to prepare a salty mixture for rubbing from sodium nitrate, sugar and salt (sugar will give a subtle taste and prevent the meat from darkening): 20 g of saltpeter, 10 g of sugar per 2 kg of salt. Rub the chicken with this mixture. Make 4-5 cuts throughout the chicken, which you also fill with the curing mixture. You can brine the legs rather than the whole chicken, this will only improve the salting. Place the chicken tightly together and skin side down. Sprinkle the salting mixture on the bottom. Moreover, add salt to each row of legs. You need 1/2 kg of curing mixture for 5 kg of chicken legs. Garlic, nutmeg, cloves or other spices placed between the rows of meat will give corned beef a pleasant aroma. Place the corned beef prepared in this way in the cold or place it in the refrigerator. An indispensable condition. good salting is a temperature that should not be lower or higher than 3 - 5 ° C. After three days, transfer the corned beef into a wooden barrel and fill it with cold brine prepared from 5 liters of water and 1 kg of salt. Cover the tub with a wooden circle (choose an odorless type of wood) and press it down with a weight on top.