Brining Boneless Skinless Chicken For Chicken Salad Recipes

BONELESS, SKINLESS HONEY-BRINED CHICKEN BREASTS

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Add the water, salt, and honey to a 4-quart container. Whisk until the salt is completely dissolved. Add the chicken breasts, and place a small plate on top to assure the chicken is submerged.
• Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but no longer than 2 hours. Remove the chicken from the brine, rinse, and pat dry with paper towels. They're now ready to cook in any recipe that calls for boneless skinless chicken breasts.

SIMPLE CHICKEN BRINE

Steps:

• Pour the warm water into a container that is twice the volume of the water. Pour in the salt, sugar, soy sauce, and olive oil. Stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved, then allow the brine to cool to room temperature.
• To use, place chicken in the brine, cover, and refrigerate two hours for skinless breasts, 4 hours for bone-in pieces, and 4 hours to overnight for whole chickens. Drain and pat the chicken dry before cooking. One gallon of brine is enough for 6 pounds of whole chicken or bone-in chicken pieces, and up to 10 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

PERFECT CHICKEN BRINE

Steps:

• Mix water, kosher salt, white sugar, garlic, sage, basil, peppercorns, and bay leaf in a large pot over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the salt and sugar are dissolved completely, about 20 minutes.
• Remove pot from heat and cover with a lid. Cool brine at room temperature for 2 hours before refrigerating to cool completely.

BRINING BONELESS, SKINLESS CHICKEN FOR CHICKEN SALAD RECIPE

Steps:

• In a ceramic dish or bowl, mix first 3 ingredients. Then add chicken. Let chicken sit in mixture for one hour. When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the brine, rinse under cold water and poach. To poach chicken: put chicken into a large skillet with 1-2 cups water or chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 5-8 minutes according to the thickness of the chicken breasts (you may want to pound them out to uniform thickness. If so, don't cook too long or you will end up with tough chicken.)