The secret to making the most succulent chicken breasts comes from adding a key ingredient that’s probably sitting in your kitchen counter. Also, have you ever heard of brining?
When it comes to getting that necessary protein, chicken breasts are the best option. However, they’re also known for being quite dry and bland in taste. Food experts have now revealed the secret to making it taste juicy and flavourful, using this one kitchen staple.
Seasoning the chicken is important; otherwise, where would the flavour come from? One of the most important ingredients is salt. According to YouTube chef Brian Lagerstrom, the secret to making the most succulent chicken breasts is brining them beforehand.
Brining is an amazing way to make meat juicy and flavourful, and although it’s generally done on bigger and thicker meats, chicken breasts can benefit a lot from it.
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How to make chicken breasts juicier
In the 13-minute video, the chef shared seven different ways “to instantly upgrade your chicken breasts”. In the third technique, he explained the two different types of brining, dry and wet.
He explained: “Dry brining is the process of adding salt directly to the surface of the meat, and wet brining is where you dissolve that salt into water to create, you know, a brine.”
To make the chicken breasts juicier, Brian suggests to follow the wet brine method. To do so, simply add 5% salt by weight of the amount of water. In the video, the chef used 1000g of water, therefore, it equalled 150g of salt. Later on, he put the chicken breasts to marinate under the water for about one to two hours.
Ingredients:
- 1qt/L water
- 150g or 1/2c salt
- 50g or 1/4c granulated sugar
- Two bay leaves
- One head of garlic, halved
- Sprigs of rosemary, sage, and thyme for brine + additional to finish
- 1000g or 2 qt ice
- Two halves of skin-on deboned chicken
- Vegetable oil
- 50-70g or 4-5 tbsp unsalted butter
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Start by adding salt, salt, sugar, garlic and herbs to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for 10 minutes and turn off the head. Then, allow it to steep for another five minutes.
Add ice into a large container and pour the already-made brine over the ice. Once it’s melted, add the deboned chickens and refrigerate, allowing it to brine for one up to four hours. Then, remove it from the fridge and dry it with dry paper towels and refrigerate it again until it’s ready to cook.
By following this super easy and effortless hack, only using water and salt, your chicken will be the star of any lunch and dinner table. You don’t need to be an expert in the kitchen to make the best chicken breasts, plus, they will have an even better taste whilst still giving you the protein needed in your diet.
