There is Good Fried Chicken and there is Great Fried Chicken. Our good friend, Janice Kaltenbach, known to many as Aunt Remus for her ability to tell tall tales, cooks Great Fried Chicken.
Aunt Remus once gathered us around the fireplace and told us that Br’er Flounder had only one eye on each side of his head when he was a baby, then his Momma spanked him, and suddenly he had both eyes on the same side of his head after that.
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Aunt Remus tells good stories, and she also makes really Great Fried Chicken, and she always brines her chicken.
Thinking about Aunt Remus, I had a few thighs and drum sticks in the fridge and remembered that morning to put them in a brine. I fried them for dinner, and they were super delicious – maybe not as great as Aunt Remus’ chicken, but darned good.
But why brine?
Brining, a process of soaking meat in a solution of salt and water, helps meat retain liquid, making the meat moister. It’s like when we humans eat a bunch of salted food, we retain moisture and gain weight. But brining also tenderizes meats. Brining makes meats more juicy and more tender, so absolutely brine that chicken – other cuts, too.
Any meat that tends to be a little dry – such as chicken breasts, turkey, certain cuts of pork, and even shrimp, is better when brined.
How exactly do you brine? The experts say to make the brine solution with 1 C kosher salt in 1 gallon of water, or at least in that ratio. They also advise to let larger portions of meat soak in the brine for 1 hour per pound, so you would brine a 17-pound turkey overnight. Brining ribs before a long session in the smoker also keeps them from drying out.
If you have time, brine – especially turkey and chicken.
Aunt Remus would want it that way.