Does making your own broth take time? Sure, it does! So does eating a meal. But, I can “Guar-Ron-Tee” dat eating a bad meal takes longer than eating a good meal. Do you want them plates and bowls to end up at the sink with…
How I create the perfect roasted chicken each and every time. It’s going to be crispy, it’s going to be juicy, and it’s going to be evenly roasted.
The essence of this recipe is very simple: One 12-ounce beer and 1-Tablespoon of salt. However, I will not leave you with that. There’s a few questions you have; I am sure. But, for now, the simple recipe is: Take a 12-ounce beer, heat it up, add 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of salt, let it cool, and brine your meat with the cooled beer brine.
Above is a quick video to show you an example of a 32-ounce batch of brine with herbs and garlic. The available ingredients in your kitchen is the limit of your brine varieties. Think about what flavor goes well with the meat you are brining and get a little crazy with it.
However, my suggestion is to get the brining down first. Make sure your SALT is perfect as you subjectively feel it’s been “Salted to Taste.”
Here’s a link to my salt suggestions: https://beerandiron.com/2022/11/salt-to-taste
Take good notes as you try this process. You’ll end up modifying your own brining process. This article is ONLY A STARTING POINT.
There are four factors that will affect the saltiness of your final, cooked meat:
I am going to tell you this: if you’ve never brined, you will end up with an over-salted piece of meat as you go through the trial-and-error process.
You will learn how much is too much and how much is just right…for your taste preference. How much salt and how much time are your factors that will make it or break it. If you break it, no worries. Make a soup with it and let the salt in the meat infuse into the broth. Definitely don’t throw it out. I’ve even taken over-salted roasts and made a delicious chili out of it by adding less or no additional salt to the recipe. Just keep on keeping on and you’ll find the right mixture of salt and time.
You will need 3-5 items. I’ve placed links at the bottom of this article if you need to find these items:
When I create a brine, I don’t create the volume of brine that most water brine recipes calls for. I have a small sauce pot I use to create my brine and it works great.
However (and wash my mouth out with soap), but creating your brine in a stainless steel pot is okay. Your cast iron pot’s seasoning will thank you for that.
We do use our cast iron to create the brine. Expect a film of very little oil to form on the top of the beer brine. It’s A-OK.
First, we’ll discuss the steps. Then, later in the article, we’ll discuss the fine points of brining. I have two methods of brining. This one uses heat. My other recipe does not use heat to create the brine. I use the heat method when I am adding herbs, spices, or other ingredients I really want the brine to be saturated with. The cold method is the easy, no-heat method of creating a brine…easier, yes. Better? Not really; they both have their place.
First, let’s get the how-to covered and then we’ll discuss the why-to. If you need to know more about brine and the brining process, I’ll offer that information later. I kinda figured you are here for the how-to more so than the why-to.
This brine recipe is a template only. Once you get the basic brining method down, then you can use this template recipe to create 1000s of different brine “flavors” or varieties.
This recipe will create a 36-ounce batch of brine. It will be very simple and will include garlic and a few herbs. This is not a recipe; it’s a TEMPLATE. The “flavor” of your brine depends on what you are cooking.
If you are only creating a beer brine without adding anything else, I suggest you create your brine using my “cold” method. Here’s the link: https://beerandiron.com/2023/01/how-to-beer-brine-whole-chicken.
The video presents this recipe with 36-ounces of brine created WITH herbs and garlic. All in all, 36-ounce brines are relatively small amounts compared to most brine recipes. We’re using beer to create these brines and using a zipper bag to reduce the needed volume of brine to keep the meat submerged.
Before you get started, you will need to prepare for these things:
Step 1: Pour two 12-ounce beers (24-ounces) into a sauce pot or other container large enough to hold the brine you are going to create. We will be heating only a portion of the brine. The rest of the beer will be added to the brine later and will work to cool the brine. We’ll add all the salt initially to the pot of hot beer on the stove. The cold beer we’ll add later will balance the brine to the 12 ounce to 1 tablespoon ratio.
Step 2: Slowly add your salt to the warm beer. WATCH THE FOAM! We will add 3 tablespoons to this simmering beer. Later, we will add the third 12-ounce beer to cool the brine down a bit.
Step 3: Heat the beer over a medium low heat and until just a bit of steam is rising from the beer.
Step 4 : When the brine is hot and simmering is the point where you will add the herbs and spices if you were planning to do so. The simmering liquid will “draw” the flavors from the herbs, spices, fruit, or other ingredients you want to add to your brine.
Step 5: Let the brine simmer until the salt has dissolved completely. If you have added herbs and spices, you can let the brine simmer a bit longer. You’ll lose some of the volume to steam and alcohol gas-off. Remember, alcohol has a lower boiling point than water. Consider a beer with a 6% ABV also known as alcohol by volume 6% of the volume will be gone pretty quickly. We’ll top this off to 36-ounces later.
Step 6: Once your brine has been simmering for a bit and you are pleased with the way it is turning out, remove the brine from the heat. We transfer the brine to another container to cool the brine. Cast iron takes a bit of time to cool down and transferring the brine helps it cool quicker.
We are going to add the third 12 ounce beer to another container. We are going to add that 12 ounce beer to a larger Pyrex container. That Pyrex can handle that hot brine. Take that third 12 ounce beer and add it to the Pyrex first and before adding the hot brine to that Pyrex.
Step 7: Add the hot brine with the herbs to the container with the cold beer. You can just leave it out to cool or speed up the cooling by placing the brine in the refrigerator. It will still be HOT even after adding the hot brine to the cold beer in the Pyrex.
Check the volume. Do you still have 36-ounces? Do you need to add any beer or water to bring the volume up to 36-ounces?
Step 8: Let the brine cool completely. Do not add the meat to the still-warm brine. You can refrigerate the brine a bit to cool it more. Even with the addition of the third cold beer, the brine will still be very warm.
NOTE: Some folks add ice to cool the brine more rapidly. And, that is A-OK. However, note the amount of ice you’ve added. You will need to make sure that your overall ratio is 1 tablespoon of salt to 12 ounces of liquid.
Step 9: Once the brine is cool, place the meat in a zipper bag large enough to accommodate both the volume of brine and the size of the meat you’re going to brine. Then, pour the cool brine over the meat.
Let the meat brine for as long you feel it needs to brine.
Step 10: Wrap up that meat-in-the-brine and let the meat brine in the refrigerator for as long as you feel it needs to brine. And, after those hours or days…it’s time to cook. It’s that easy.
I have a few how-to cook the brined meat “suggestions.” You can find those links on the website. There’s a recipe for how to cook a whole chicken, a coffee-crusted pork roast, and one to describe how to low-and-slow a beef roast. There’s also a link on how to salt a dish or a recipe. Don’t you struggle with those recipes that say, “salt to taste?”
Let’s talk a little more about the process. The rest of this podcast will explain some of the factors that you should consider when creating a brine and brining meat.
https://beerandiron.com/2023/01/how-to-beer-brine-whole-chicken
https://beerandiron.com/2023/02/beef-brined-coffee-crusted-pork-roast
https://beerandiron.com/2023/01/low-and-slow-roast
https://beerandiron.com/2022/11/salt-to-taste
Let’s talk a little more about the process. The rest of this article will explain some of the factors that you should consider when creating a brine and brining meat.
Keep the beer mild and keep it flavorful. And, consider the meat that you are brining. A whole chicken may not turn out well if brined in a deep, dark peanut butter stout. But, pork ribs ROCK a peanut butter stout brine. Look for beer “flavors” that go well with the meat you are preparing. I love a good citrus taste with my chicken and fish. Consider a nice citrusy IPA or a lager for these meats. A good stout or porter will work well with beef and pork.
Keep this in mind: A beer that pairs well with a meal may not work well when cooking with. Let me say that again but in a different way. You’ve heard about wine paring and even beer pairing. Beer that pairs well with a particular dish may NOT be the right beer to brine or cook that same dish with.
I love craft beer but keep mainstream, large brewery brews in my beer fridge at all times. Nope. I am not a beer snob; not at all. I learned this a long time ago: keep familiar brews in my beer fridge like Rainier, Corona, and even DosXX (to name a few). You’ll be surprised how your guest will pass on your $4, $6, and even your $10 cans or bottles of craft beer for a $1 tried-and-true, big-brewery brew. Craft beer is sometimes a gamble; dedicated Coors Lite drinkers know this and stick with what they know and enjoy; nothing wrong with that at all!
These beers may be less expensive, and some may consider these beers to have less flavor than a craft beer, but they have a perfect flavor for our brining needs. A great craft beer for drinking may not be a great beer for brining.
Your first few brining attempts should start with a simple lager or something mild. And, once you get the saltiness / time-in-the-brine down to meet your palate’s preferences, then experiment with the beer.
Not to beat the “dead horse” but I have been known to ruin a nice pot of gumbo after brining the chicken in a pumpkin beer that I was trying to “use up.” There’s something that just didn’t quite set right with a gumbo and that mild but distinct pumpkin aftertaste. On the flip side, I created a pumpkin chili with those beers and…WOW!
For this recipe, we will refer to 12-ounces as our liquid-to-salt ratio. Beer is commonly sold in 12-ounce cans or bottles. And YES! There are many other sizes. How about those nice 16-ounce cans and bottles? Yes, there are other sizes. As a reminder, here are the measurement conversions.
1 Cup = 8 Ounces
12-Ounce Beer = 1.5 Cups
16-Ounce Beer = 2 Cups
24-Ounce Beer = 3 Cups
3 Teaspoons = Tablespoon
Most brine recipes call for 1 tablespoon of salt to 1 cup of liquid. My recipe is different:
1 tablespoon of salt (15-grams) to 12-ounces of beer.
You can get more marbles in the same jar you’d stuff golf balls in; it’s true! Likewise, a pinch of fine-grind salt like table salt may taste more salty than an equal pinch of coarse grind kosher salt (usually and maybe with a few caveats). With a fine grind of salt, there’s more salt in that pinch than coarse grind salt. Less is better to start with. Weight is a good way to measure the salt. Do you have a scale? They are pretty cheap. Here’s one (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/3iUDTxf
1 tablespoon of salt (15-grams) to 12-ounces of beer.
I prefer a nice course-ground salt. It’s what I am used to and can “eye-ball it” better when I am just adding to my palm to toss into dishes. Give me that white table salt and I will use it at the table if I need to, but I always cook with a coarse-ground salt. You’ll often see it labeled as Kosher Salt which really has nothing to do with a Jewish Diet but was used to “Kosher meat” “meaning to remove the blood from meat, so it’s really koshering salt. Certain salt companies labeled the boxes of this coarse salt kosher salt rather than koshering salt, and the name stuck.”
If you are using a fine-grind salt and you don’t have a scale, no worries! Just cut back a bit on the salt and see how the final flavor comes out. If it’s just right then you’ve found YOUR recipe. If it’s not salty enough, then next time you can add more.
Do you remember that word, “osmosis?” Sure, you do; you were an awesome middle school student! Nonetheless, let’s review.
If you take a salty solution and put something with less salt in the solution, the two will begin the process of equalizing.
If you take a salty beer brine and add a piece of meat like chicken with less salt into the higher-salt beer brine, the differing salt-containing sources (the high-salt beer brine vs the low salt chicken meat) begin the process of equalizing with the brine being “pulled” into the lower-salt chicken meat. This will, in turn, will draw the beer and herb flavor into the meat and infuse flavor and moisture into your meat. The flavor of the beer and any added spices or herbs will “follow” the salt into the depths of the meat along with additional moisture.
Brilliant!
When the brine is “pulled” into the meat (especially a tight, lean cut), it causes the meat to swell and begin the process of “denaturing” the proteins. Don’t let that word, “denature” set you off. That is the essence of what cooking does to meat. An example of denaturing is when the white of an egg that starts off clear and then turns white during cooking. That’s denaturing. That’s cooking.
When we cook meats, a lot of moisture is lost while cooking and some ends up out of the meat and into the bottom of the pan (we love the broth it produces but would prefer that broth to stay in the meat and keep it juicy). Cooking often results in less moisture and therefore less juicy meat…and we all like juicy, right? The essence of brining is to add additional moisture to the meat to offset the moisture lost during cooking.
Salt is not the only thing that “goes into” the brining meat. There’s some serious math to prove this but we’re going to keep it simple.
The molecule of salt is made of sodium chloride or “NaCl.” If I remember my days when I was in Nursing School, I know that Na+ is a positively charged ion of sodium and Cl- is a negatively charged ion of chloride. That “+” and “-“ are what “glues” the atoms together to make the molecule. A molecule is an electrically neutral group of two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds and in this case, the salt we are using, is made of an atom of sodium and chloride.
Whew. This is about to make sense. When you mix water and salt, it will take nine water molecules (H2O) to dissolve one Na+ ion and one Cl− ion. To put it simply, one salt will have nine water piggy-backers.
When the less-salty meat is soaking in the salty brine, the salt will “move into the meat” as it tries to balance the salt between the meat and the brine. When the salt “moves into the meat” it takes with it the piggybacking moisture (the beer) along with the other flavors (any added spices or herbs).
Really and truly, when you are cooking, you are performing chemistry magic. Cooking is when you change the molecular properties of raw foods. Cooking changes these molecules into something else and that’s what causes foods to taste good. And, when we combine different foods together and we eat those foods, we are triggering and teasing biological processes to tell our brains…this is yummy. Not only yummy but comfortable. Cooking also changes the texture of foods. Taste and feel are what makes or breaks a meal.
For the most part, the sky’s the limit. You can add sugar, herbs, and even fruit like lemons. During the warming process, a lot of the essence of the additions will infuse in the beer brine and therefore “find” their way into the meat adding a whole layer of additional flavor!
Many of the recipes on Beer and Iron will have a specific brine recipe that will be referred to. However, for the most part: ONE 12-ounce beer to ONE (1) tablespoon of salt.
Beer is fizzy due to the carbon dioxide that is “trapped” or dissolved in the beverage. When that trapped gas finds a place to attach (also known as a ‘nucleation’ site), it forms a bubble. It’s kinda like when you put your finger in a soda from a soda fountain that fizzed up too much and you’re trying to get every drop you can into that cup you are paying for (yeah…I was that kid).
Salt has many, many edges; it’s a crystal shard. And there are countless numbers of these little crystal shards in that tablespoon of salt. With all those little crystals with all their little nucleation sites, the carbon dioxide (gas) will attach to these sites and a HUGE HEAD WILL FORM almost instantly. Yes! Almost like that barkeep who needs to tilt the glass more when he’s pouring your brew.
A 12-ounce beer is only a cup and a half of liquid. But, it may expand (only for a short moment) up to 3-times or even 4-times that volume. Make sure you have a container that is able to hold that much liquid.
Or, you could add your salt little-by-little. But I like to make that huge head; it’s pretty fun to watch!
Method 1) Just let it sit and cool to room temperature or put it in the refrigerator to cool.
Method 2) Some folks add ice cubes to their hot brine. That’s A-OK. But, the liquid-to-salt needs to be adjusted depending on the amount of ice you are adding.
Note: A cup of ice cubes is not equal to a cup of water.
We are looking for juicy, flavorful meals here, right? Sure, we are! And brining will add a level of awesomeness to your meat that’s for sure. It does take some prep. But that’s okay; you’ve got the next two weeks’ meals planned out already (tongue-in-cheek).
A beer brine recipe can be altered in all kinds of ways. The kind of beer you use to a specific meat you are brining can create all kinds of different flavor experiences! Water is not the only thing the salt “pulls” into the meat. It pulls all kinds of different flavors that are soaking in the brine as well such as rosemary, sage, thyme, peppercorns, lemon, sugar, and the list goes on and on and on.
If you’ve ever suffered a culinary disaster that is dry, tasteless chicken breast, spent most of the meal trying to cut into a tough pork chop that resulted in a trip to the chiropractor for a shoulder adjustment, or ended up with a tired jaw after trying to swallow a piece of turkey with the consistency of a paper spitball (yeah, I was that kid), then you are in for a real treat now that you have discovered Sulae’s Beer Brine Recipe.
Conversion Cheats (US Measurements)
1 Tablespoon = 3 Teaspoons
1 Cup = 16 Tablespoons
1 12-Ounce Beer = 1 ½ Cups
1 16-Ounce Beer = 2 Cups
“The myriad of flavors explode on my tongue, shimmy through my mouth, slap my taste buds and call them filthy bastards, and I love it.”
Zipper Bags: https://amzn.to/3FzmDX1
Salt: https://amzn.to/3Y4eIIw
Scale: https://amzn.to/3BrLzNH
Roasted, Beer-Brined Whole Chicken Cooked in a Cast Iron Dutch Oven on Grass, Straw, or Hay. Nutty, earthy aroma and flavors.
I’m talking about coffee. There are so many things to create with coffee as an ingredient.
Here’s the universal simple brine recipe: 1 cup of liquid to 1 tablespoon of salt. Submerge the meat in the brine for 3 hours per 1 inch thickness of the meat.
The problem with this “simple” is that not all beers are created equal, and neither is all salt. And, neither are our meal preparation schedules or our palate’s saltiness preferences. I will still try to keep it short and as simple as possible.
In this article, I’ll show you how I brine a whole chicken (and I brine nearly every piece of meat I cook from tougher cuts like chicken breast to low-and-slow cuts like beef and pork roasts). You will be the ultimate judge of the flavor. In trying these suggestions, if you find your meat to be too salty, then next time, cut back on the brine time and/or the amount of salt in the brine. This recipe is your starting place; I will leave it up to you to fine-tune the recipe to meet your and your family’s palate preferences.
Above is a quick video to show you the simple process.
Take good notes as you try this process. You’ll end up modifying your own brining process. This article is ONLY A STARTING POINT.
There are four factors that will affect the saltiness of your final, cooked meat:
I am going to tell you this: if you’ve never brined, you will end up with an over-salted piece of meat as you go through the trial-and-error process.
You will learn how much is too much and how much is just right…for your taste preference. How much salt and how much time are your factors that will make it or break it. If you break it, no worries. Make a soup with it and let the salt in the meat infuse into the broth. Definitely don’t throw it out. I’ve even taken over-salted roasts and made a delicious chili out of it by adding less or no additional salt to the recipe. Just keep on keeping on and you’ll find the right mixture of salt and time.
You will need 5-7 items. I’ve placed links at the bottom of this article if you need to find these items:
First, we’ll discuss the steps. Then, later in the article, we’ll discuss the fine points of brining. I have two methods of brining. This one does not use heat. My other recipe does use heat to create the brine. I use the heat method when I am adding herbs, spices, or other ingredients I really want the brine to be saturated with. This is the easy, no-heat method of creating a brine.
Start with a bowl large enough for the piece of meat you are planning to brine. I use zipper bags to hold my brine for two reasons: 1) It keeps the brine from sloshing and spilling and 2) I don’t need as much brine to keep the meat submerged. Less brine means I used less beer. In this case, less beer will not make a difference other than the cost to make the brine (a factor that outweighs the cost of the zipper bags). And yes, I will reuse my bags if I am brining back-to-back.
Step 1: Zipper bags leak. Use a large container like a pot or bowl to let the zipper bag rest in.
Step 2: Add your beer to the bag. How much beer? 3-4 12oz beers will take care of a whole chicken. Just let the beer head up as you pour; we ain’t drinking it and it’ll flatten out anyway after we add that salt.
Use enough beer that will allow for the meat to be fully submerged when we wrap up this bag.
Step 3: Add your salt. Keep in mind that if you are using a smaller container, the beer will head up like a volcano and it may just erupt over.
Here’s your mixture: 1 tablespoon of salt (15-grams) to 12-ounces of beer. Keep in mind that not all salt weighs the same. And “heavier” salt does not mean saltier. If you stick with the same measurement each and every time you create a brine, you will fine-tune your unique ratio of beer to YOUR particular brand and grind of salt.
Step 4: Pick up the bag and mix things up a bit. Dissolve as much salt as possible. It’s okay if some is left at the bottom.
Step 5: Place the meat into the bag. It may not look submerged in that zipper bag, but that is okay. We’re going to wrap it up a bit.
Step 6: After the foam has subsided, get the air out of the bag and zip up the bag. The meat may not appear submerged right now, but it will after we wrap it up.
Step 7: Don’t roll the top of the bag down. We want the air out of the bag and the top of the zipper bag to remain standing up so the bag does not leak from the top.
Step 8: Loop the bag edges together. This will keep the pointed ends from drooping and leaking.
Step 9: Use the chip clip or something similar to keep the edges looped.
Step 10: Let the meat rest in the brine for as long as it takes (the rest of this article will attempt to clarify that). You can leave it at room temperature for a very short period of time, or in the refrigerator for 1-5 days; it depends on your end goals and the time you plan to cook.
Let’s talk a little more about the process. The rest of this article will explain some of the factors that you should consider when creating a brine and brining meat.
Keep the beer mild and keep it flavorful. And, consider the meat that you are brining. A whole chicken may not turn out well if brined in a deep, dark peanut butter stout. But, pork ribs ROCK a peanut butter stout brine. Look for beer “flavors” that go well with the meat you are preparing. I love a good citrus taste with my chicken and fish. Consider a nice citrusy IPA or a lager for these meats. A good stout or porter will work well with beef and pork.
Keep this in mind: A beer that pairs well with a meal may not work well when cooking with. Let me say that again but in a different way. You’ve heard about wine paring and even beer pairing. Beer that pairs well with a particular dish may NOT be the right beer to brine or cook that same dish with.
I love craft beer but keep mainstream, large brewery brews in my beer fridge at all times. Nope. I am not a beer snob; not at all. I learned this a long time ago: keep familiar brews in my beer fridge like Rainier, Corona, and even DosXX (to name a few). You’ll be surprised how your guest will pass on your $4, $6, and even your $10 cans or bottles of craft beer for a $1 tried-and-true, big-brewery brew. Craft beer is sometimes a gamble; dedicated Coors Lite drinkers know this and stick with what they know and enjoy; nothing wrong with that at all!
These beers may be less expensive, and some may consider these beers to have less flavor than a craft beer, but they have a perfect flavor for our brining needs. A great craft beer for drinking may not be a great beer for brining.
Your first few brining attempts should start with a simple lager or something mild. And, once you get the saltiness / time-in-the-brine down to meet your palate’s preferences, then experiment with the beer.
Not to beat the “dead horse” but I have been known to ruin a nice pot of gumbo after brining the chicken in a pumpkin beer that I was trying to “use up.” There’s something that just didn’t quite set right with a gumbo and that mild but distinct pumpkin aftertaste. On the flip side, I created a pumpkin chili with those beers and…WOW!
For this recipe, we will refer to 12-ounces as our liquid-to-salt ratio. Beer is commonly sold in 12-ounce cans or bottles. And YES! There are many other sizes. How about those nice 16-ounce cans and bottles? Yes, there are other sizes. As a reminder, here are the measurement conversions.
1 Cup = 8 Ounces
12-Ounce Beer = 1.5 Cups
16-Ounce Beer = 2 Cups
24-Ounce Beer = 3 Cups
3 Teaspoons = Tablespoon
Most brine recipes call for 1 tablespoon of salt to 1 cup of liquid. My recipe is different:
1 tablespoon of salt (15-grams) to 12-ounces of beer.
You can get more marbles in the same jar you’d stuff golf balls in; it’s true! Likewise, a pinch of fine-grind salt like table salt may taste more salty than an equal pinch of coarse grind kosher salt (usually and maybe with a few caveats). With a fine grind of salt, there’s more salt in that pinch than coarse grind salt. Less is better to start with. Weight is a good way to measure the salt. Do you have a scale? They are pretty cheap. Here’s one (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/3iUDTxf
1 tablespoon of salt (15-grams) to 12-ounces of beer.
I prefer a nice course-ground salt. It’s what I am used to and can “eye-ball it” better when I am just adding to my palm to toss into dishes. Give me that white table salt and I will use it at the table if I need to, but I always cook with a coarse-ground salt. You’ll often see it labeled as Kosher Salt which really has nothing to do with a Jewish Diet but was used to “Kosher meat” “meaning to remove the blood from meat, so it’s really koshering salt. Certain salt companies labeled the boxes of this coarse salt kosher salt rather than koshering salt, and the name stuck.”
If you are using a fine-grind salt and you don’t have a scale, no worries! Just cut back a bit on the salt and see how the final flavor comes out. If it’s just right then you’ve found YOUR recipe. If it’s not salty enough, then next time you can add more.
There are different rules of thumb that are used to brine meat. Some sources say 1 hour per pound and others say 2–3 hours per inch of thickness.
Whole chicken isn’t universally “thick” like a steak or roast (and roasts have “sections” which causes the “thickness” to be different). I’ve brined roasts for 3-4 days and they’ve turned out wonderfully. Same length of time for turkey and chicken and have done great.
I brine my tenderized chicken breast for an hour or so. Tenderized meat have more “surface area” and will “take the brine” quicker.
Considering tenderized, flattened chicken breast versus a whole chicken. The hour is plenty of time for a tenderized chicken breast brined at room temperature. But, a whole chicken brined for only one hour will turn out to be the same as a chicken not brined at all. Thickness and nature of the meat has a lot to do with how long you should brine the meat.
Why Brine?
First of all, let’s clear this question up. Why brine? Flavor? Juicier meat? Yes and yes! Then comes the question as to how brining creates more flavorful and juicier meats. I will mention osmosis only two times (and that was the first time). If you have a source (the meat or even vegetables) that is low in salt and a source (the brine or soup base) that is higher in salt, the salt will want to move into the area that has less salt. It’s through the magic of chemistry that this movement takes place. One salt molecule can hold on to 9 piggybacking water molecules (simply speaking here with a more in depth explanation here: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/134581/how-many-sodium-ions-is-each-oxygen-atom-attracted-to-in-aqueous-sodium-chloride).
A higher salt solution will cause the salt to “move” toward the area with less salt. With brining, the salt moves into the raw, lower-salt meat and tak es a few piggybacking water, beer, and seasoning molecules with it to create a juicier, deep-salted meat. And, in a brine made with beer and salt, a lot of that beer will be infused into that meat through this osmotic movement. Just the same, if you add spices and other ingredients to your beer brine, those flavors will follow the salt into the meat as well.
And that ’bout does it. This is my “cold” method of brining. If you want the method I use to infuse herbs and spices into that meat, then my “hot” method of brining is for you. Here’s the link to that article and recipe: https://beerandiron.com/2021/05/basic-beer-brine-recipe
Let it be known that I often will only use this cold method to brine meats. Either way is A-OK. You will need to practice this method to get it right FOR YOU. Just like I cannot tell you what your favorite color is, or your favorite song is, or your favorite beer is, I cannot tell you what your favorite “saltiness” is.
Lache pas la patate!
“Losh-pa-la-pa-tot” – don’t give up (a testament to the enduring spirit of the Cajun people).
Enjoy!
Zipper Bags: https://amzn.to/3FzmDX1
Salt: https://amzn.to/3Y4eIIw
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Beef BEERguignon is born. Though I do enjoy cooking with wine, we’re going to stir things up a bit (pun intended). We’re going to cook this recipe with BEER!
Recipe Low and Slow Cast Iron Dutch Oven Roast
A friend asked me the other day, “Sulae, what’s your go-to mac and cheese recipe?” My granddad gave me my first cast iron skillet in 1987 and after 35 years of cast iron cooking, I ain’t ever made a pan of mac and cheese. I was almost a little embarrassed when she asked me about my go-to mac and cheese recipe; I felt my skin get all flushed. Got a little mad at myself and pushed out my bottom lip a bit. And, what did I tell her?
“Yeah. Sure. No worries. I’ll get that to you lickety-split.”
Ahhh, truth be known…I’d been thinking about a nice mac and cheese recipe for some time and this recipe request got a fire lit under me. So, I pulled out the old 14-inch and got to cookin’.
There’s a story behind that old 14-inch cast iron skillet. It used to hang as decoration. Old-looking and rusty with some of that old pan’s “essence” in the form of rusts, running down old and sun-faded cedar boards that made up an old fence.
Now it’s a go-to skillet that has been my friend for all the years since it’s rescue. There’s about that old skillet if you’re interested:
Also, this article has affiliate links.
I prepare this meal in a 14-inch cast iron skillet. You will need to reduce the amount of ingredients in this recipe if you are using anything less than a 12-inch cast iron skillet (even with a 12-inch cast iron skillet you should expect some spillage before the recipe thickens up). You could use a 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven, a 7-quart cast iron Dutch oven, or larger; that would work very nicely. For this recipe, deeper (like in a 5-quart Dutch oven) is not better…but will work.
Here’s a link to a 14-inch by Camp Chef (Amazon.com affiliate).
I’d didn’t know Lodge made a 13.25-inch skillet: https://amzn.to/3FIIaws
We have our trusty 14-inch cast iron skillet we use for this recipe (long story behind that dude…what do you know…here’s the story: HERE).
Do you have a grill pan? We use ours all the time: https://amzn.to/3VWmIdk
You don’t want to add too much “more” flavor to this recipe. That’s a strange thing to say; seems flavor is like money. How is “too much” part of that sentence?
Cheese is like bacon…it’s a flavor that has SO MUCH flavor that it’ll “dress up” any meal. It’s like the add-all to any recipe to really give it body and to enhance the flavor. Alone…yeah…it’s like bacon…rich, tasty, yummy!! But, like bacon, it’s rich and so bold that there is the possibliety of “too much.”
Because there is SO MUCH cheese in this recipe as well as rich cream and oil, we’ll keep our beer on the lighter side. We want the cheese to be the hero of our dish and not the beer. Yes, the beer will add a wonderful layer of flavor, but we want to keep it mild.
A simple beer of the Corona-kind will work A-OK.
use anything seasonal like pumpkin, spruce, or flavored porters. I’d stay away from porters and stouts unless you are drinking a porter or stout with this meal; they pair very well.
I tend to write WAY more steps on the website itself (here) than I do in the printable recipe page(s). If you are anything like me, the first time I cook a new recipe, I need a nice clear roadmap…recipe-map…to make sure I cook it and am successful the first time. When I make it again, all I really need are the “landmarks” and the small, tedious steps will come back to memory.
Step 1: Tenderize and start brining your chicken breast. Here’s How To Tenderize. Here’s How to Brine. We’ll let the chicken brine while we get our ingredients prepared. Preheat your oven to about 250° Fahrenheit or 100° Celsius. Place a grill pan in the oven. This is where we will place our skillet-ed chicken breasts to finish and get up to temp while we cook our pasta.
Step 2: Open the Jar of Sundried Tomatoes. Separate and SAVE THE OIL. There will be a lot of oil still on those tomatoes.
Step 3: Chop the Sundried Tomatoes…not too fine and not too coarse. Using some paper towels, squeeze out much of the oil from the chopped sundried tomatoes. They should be a squashed ball of very dark red pieces. The paper towels should have a nice, brighter, red color as they soak up all the excess oil (did you know that oily paper towels make for a great fire starter?).
Step 4: Chop the onion and the garlic.
Step 5: Prepare the greens. I like Kale. It’s got a bit more “bite” to it and will “hold up” better in this cook. You will need to remove the rib (that hard spine of each leaf). We use a variety called Black Magic. But, only consider that variety a reference and not that you have to find that particular kale. The Black Magic variety de-ribs very easily.
Chop the kale, spinach, or whatever green you decide to use and have them at the ready.
Step 6: Shred your cheeses. You could buy the cheese already shredded. But, there’s that anti caking substance to deal with. Trust me on the fresh shredded cheese.
Step 7: Measure out your 3 Tablespoons of Flour, 2 teaspoons dried Italian Herbs, and pepper with the pepper amount per your preference. Hold on to the salt for later.
Step 8: Everything is measured and ready for the cook. If your chicken breasts have been brining for the past 45-75 minutes, remove the chicken breast from the brine and pat dry. If you need more brining time then now is a good time for a 2nd beer and time with the family.
Step 9: Pour the oil that you reserved from the jar of sundried tomatoes into the skillet. Place over a nice medium to medium high heat. Your chicken breasts are already out of the brine and have been pat dry (not to over-dry it…there will still be a glistening and moisture to the meat…we are just patting off the excess moisture). Pat dry it only to where it is not dripping when you hold it up.
Step 10: While the oil heats, sprinkle the paprika over both sides of the raw chicken breast. Just a nice, per-your-taste dusting. Don’t batter the chicken with paprika.
Step 11: The oil should now have wisps of smoke (just barely) rising from the pan. Lay your chicken breast in the pan and let the chicken cook for a bit. Once one side is good and seared, turn the chicken breast over for the other side. By the end of this skillet-ing, the chicken breast should be getting close to done temperature. I usually pull mine at about 120°-130°ish Fahrenheit or 50°-55°ish Celsius. Then place the seared chicken breast in the preheated oven and on the preheated griddle to continue to cook while you get your pasta ready. We want it to all come together at the same time.
Note: When skillet-ing the chicken, don’t crowd the chicken breasts in the skillet or pot. If you have to sear in two batches, then that’s okay. Start with the biggest pieces; they will take longer to finish cooking in the oven.
Step 12: After you have seared your chicken breasts, pour off much of the oil (if much remains) and leave about a tablespoon or two (if there’s that much left in the skillet). Don’t “clean out” your pan; we need all of those bits and pieces for flavor.
We’ve just finished searing the chicken and the chicken is continuing to cook in the oven. Now it’s time to get the pasta going.
The skillet should still be hot.
Step 13: Add the chopped onions and the garlic to the hot pan and start to stir them about. They will naturally deglaze that pan and pull the bits and pieces free. Saute’ them to a nearly translucent appearance.
Step 14: Turn the heat down to medium to medium low, add the separated ⅓ to ½ cup of beer to the pan. If it’s cold beer, add it slowly.
Step 15: Add the flour and mix about until all the flour is mixed in. I add only part of the can of beer at this point to make sure get all the lumps of flour dissolved. Too much liquid and you may be “chasing” the tiny lumps. It’s going to start to thicken up.
Don’t add the flour with the cream; you’ll be hard pressed to visually make sure the white flour mixes completely with the while cream.
Step 16: Add the cream, the remaining amount of beer, the cup of chicken broth, the Italian spices, the chopped sundried tomatoes, and the pepper. It’s going to thin out quite a bit but will thicken up as this recipe cooks.
Step 17: Now the pasta. Add your noodles and mix them in well. Let them cook and add more chicken broth as needed to keep the liquid just so as to create a sauce and not a soup. A little at a time. Slowly but surely.
We have a lid for our 14” skillet and a lid helps hold in the moisture but also keeps it from steaming off and thickening up (as quickly). It will thicken up. No worries. This is the purpose of separating out the chicken broth. We will use that initial cup of broth in the cook and keep the rest ready for adding to our skillet if our sauce gets too thick before our pasta cooks enough.
Step 18: Stir the dish every few minutes to keep an eye on it and to make sure it does not stick (a little stickage is A-OK…it’s expected). Check the saltiness and add per your taste. See How to Salt a Dish HERE.
Step 19: Once the pasta has cooked to what we call, “Al dente,” it’s time to add the chopped greens. Mix them in and let them wilt.
Al dente (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_dente). “Molto al dente is an Italian culinary term that describes slightly undercooked pasta.” It’s the point in the cook where we need to add and cook other ingredients and we don’t want to cook those ingredients for as long as the pasta itself. So, we’ll cook the pasta like we did the chicken…just enough and not all the way done. This way the pasta can cook more while the greens cook and wilt and the cheese melts and blends.
Step 20: The greens will wilt pretty quickly in this recipe. Once the greens are well mixed in well, check the pasta for doneness. You know what the mouthfeel of cooked pasta is. If you like the consistency, it’s time to add the cheese.
Step 21: Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and add both cheeses to the pasta and mix in until all the shredded cheese is melted in. You can add chicken broth if things are getting too thick.
Step 22: Check the temperature of the chicken. It needs to be at a minimum 165 degrees. Add the cooked chicken on top of the noodles and serve! Add the chopped parsley to really bring it home visually.
Mac and cheese is comfort food. My go to with a nice meal of Mac and Cheese is a not-to-heavy porter or stout. Not too sweet (or not sweet at all). Mac and Cheese is a wee bit heavy (a good thing). I’ll avoid the porters / stouts that are “sippers” like those of the barrel-aged variety.
Sulae’s Suggestion: Porter / Stout
There’s not many options for a dish that has it all. Protein and starch AND THE VEGETABLE…this dish is LOADED. It’s one-pat-perfection.
Cauliflower Rice – There’s an idea. It’s like TWO starches in one meal. But, a quick go-to if you are thinking about adding a side.
Salad – You know as well as I do that a salad is an all-around go-to side for any meal. It’s easy and boring. That beer mac and cheese is what “they’ll” be reviewing anyway.
Nothing at all – And yes, no side is always an option for a recipe like this one.
Near ’bouts anything you can cook in your home oven you can cook in a cast iron Dutch oven.
This is a one-pot, one-plate, feed-’em-all recipe. You can’t go wrong with this one.
This is BOTH a “Frying” recipe and a “Baking” recipe. Frying to sear the chicken and baking when you are ready to cook the pasta. Just remember when baking that the heat source is primarily on the top of the Dutch oven.
When you add your chicken to the recipe, you can lay it flat on the top of the cheesy pasta and then flip it over to coat the chicken in the cheese sauce.
If your pasta is done and ready for the chicken and the chicken is not quite done yet, place the slightly under-done chicken on the top of the pasta and put the whole pan in the oven to finish off.
Does making your own broth take time? Sure, it does! So does eating a meal. But, I can “Guar-Ron-Tee” dat eating a bad meal takes longer than eating a good meal. Do you want them plates and bowls to end up at the sink with…
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I am always sharing fresh, flavorful, recipes cooked up in well-seasoned cast iron awesomeness with a bit of my liquid, hop-based, happy-maker as an ingredient.
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