Comp chicken--Marinade or Brine?

[Captain Morgan]

and your reasoning? Thanks.

 

[LarryWolfe]

and your reasoning? Thanks.

Either way will work -

Marinade - will add flavor while "grilling"

Brined - will add moisture while "smoking"

So depending on how you plan to cook your chicken IMO should depend on how you prep it.

 

[Bill The Grill Guy]

I marinate over night then add my rub about 2-3 hours before smoking. Then right at then end I add my sauce. Drop me an email for some recipies Cappy.

 

[wittdog]

marinade with a vinegar based marinade...flavor

 

[bigwheel]

I sorta went full circle. Started out marinating in eyetalian dressing type concoctions then got into brining has went back to marinating here lately. I think so many people got to brining all the chickens tasted the same. Worked ok when there wasnt many doing it but it got sorta overwhelming for the judges I think. Thats why I went back to marinating.

bigwheel

 

[Rockin Rooster]

Disclamer (I have only cooked in amatuer contests but have won the chicken catagory)
That being said, I marinate in "Allegro Original" for at least a few hours before applying my rub. Overnight is even better.

 

[ddog27]

I marinade mine overnight.

 

[Rich Decker]

I vacuum tumble the chicken for 20 minutes then air dry it in the cooler overnight. This hopefully dries out the skin and makes it crispy.

 

[bigwheel]

Well that vacuum tumbler is a good plan. You can do about the same chore with a Food Saver vacuum bucket. It can do in about 20 mins as opposed to 10 for the tumbler. Only trouble is it purty small. Aint sure whole or split chicken fit down in there. Works great on chunks of stuff.

bigwheel

 

[Jack W.]

Marinate.

Don't follow my lead. Chicken is still a work in progress.

You have to watch the salt, and without salt, brine becomes marinade.



Good Q!

Jack

 

[LarryWolfe]

Marinate.

Don't follow my lead. Chicken is still a work in progress.

You have to watch the salt, and without salt, brine becomes marinade.



Good Q!

Jack

Too much salt is definitely a bad thing, but you can use a good brine full strength brine and shorten the time the meat is in the brine and the meat would be fine! I don't like using a brine for "grilling", because it tends to concentrate the salt more, ending in an overly salty product. I think marinades definitely work better when grilling due to the caramelization of the skin and marinade, and the flavor is more intense as it caramelizes. However with the longer cook time and lower heat of smoking brining is more beneficial IMO.

 

[Captain Morgan]

a lot of good sense here...I'm thinking about using the kettle for
chicken, since I'm allowed to. However, the drop in smoke
flavor was dramatic in my first head to head test.

I might end up using both.

My main concern is the meat seems so flavorless compared
to the skin.

Could be an injection in my future. (hard to imagine
injecting chicken, but why not)

 

[Jack W.]

a lot of good sense here...I'm thinking about using the kettle for
chicken, since I'm allowed to. However, the drop in smoke
flavor was dramatic in my first head to head test.

I might end up using both.

My main concern is the meat seems so flavorless compared
to the skin.

Could be an injection in my future. (hard to imagine
injecting chicken, but why not)

Smoke is not necessarily a good thing with chicken Cappy. The first hurdle is to decide on your skin texture. The rest falls into place after that.

Good Q!

Jack

 

[knine]

i use the injection thing . it works real good cause fowel does not marinade well if you dont have a long time . marinade from the inside out it does work . take it from this coonass we have been doing it a long time . also it works good cause you dont get the skin all soggy and you can put a good dry rub on the skin and make it chrispy .tony's makes makes a good injection . like ....garlic butter , praline and butter and cajun spice . i am sure you can come up with you own .

when i fry turkeys its the only way to go for me .

 

[Diva Q]

my whole chicken is not good at all.

I am seriously in need of help and much more practice.

 

[LarryWolfe]

[quote="Captain Morgan":31wa62hj]a lot of good sense here...I'm thinking about using the kettle for
chicken, since I'm allowed to. However, the drop in smoke
flavor was dramatic in my first head to head test.

I might end up using both.

My main concern is the meat seems so flavorless compared
to the skin.

Could be an injection in my future. (hard to imagine
injecting chicken, but why not)

Smoke is not necessarily a good thing with chicken Cappy. The first hurdle is to decide on your skin texture. The rest falls into place after that.

Good Q!

Jack[/quote:31wa62hj]

I agree Jack! Chicken is very easily oversmoked!

Jim when you're grilling introduce a small handful of a mild wood chips at the beginning when you start to grill the chicken. Adjust on your next cook.

 

[Finney]

Just grill with wood inplace of the charcoal. Works great with fish, why not chicken?

 

[DaleP]

everyone has their own taste but I want some smoke flavor with my chicken.