From Dave Omak in this post:

1. weigh the meat and add 1.8-2% salt
2. if in a brine, weigh the meat, add 20% of the meats weight in water then add 1.8-2% salt to the weight of the meat AND the water…  the meat will not get above 2%…  refer for several days…   generally 7 days per inch of thickness…

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From SMF – For the brine toast mustard seeds until they began to pop and coarsely crushed them. Great fragrance. Do the same for the rub. Heating most whole spices has a real benefit, especially cumin seed and clove, and even fennel. Done often in Indian food.

From FoamHeart at SMF here

I use this brine for everything. Stole it from Jeff’s pulled chicken recipe (which you must try if you haven’t).

• 1/2 gallon of water
• 1/2 cup of kosher salt
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce. I used Valentina which I love!

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Tip’s Slaughterhouse Recipes For Poultry

Originally posted by Tip Piper of Hillbilly Vittles aka  travcoman45 at SMF

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From Brian (IdahoBangBang) at SMF – Gary Wiviott’s buttermilk brine for two chickens or equivalent: 1/2 gal buttermilk, 1 cup warm water, 2/3 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup Old Bay Hot (Gary recommends just regular Old Bay tho’).  He said: “sometimes we toss in some cut-up onions, celery, carrots, and some rosemary and thyme. The fancies are usually added for more special occasions and we find that they work best if we mix the brine up a day early to let it mature for a day before putting the chicken in. We brine chickens for around 12 hours. Works on Thanksgiving turkeys too, except we give them an extra day.”

“The brine by itself doesn’t add flavor so much as it tenderizes the meat and lets the natural chicken flavor out.  The spice that’s added only seems to be detectable in the chicken if you let the spices leach into the brine for a day …and the same applies to the herbs and veggies.  Some people simmer the herbs in the water for 10-15 minutes to bring out their flavor.  Some people add cut up carrots too …but I don’t think they add much.  If you DO add these other ingredients and let them soak in the brine for a day, then the chicken for a half-day in the ‘matured’ brine mixture …then the good flavors of all the above go clear down to the bone AND the chicken is made super tender and has great mouth feel.  It’s my favorite brine…. suitable for all ways of cooking chicken.”

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From Chef JJ – I brine all my poultry, even rotisserie chix. The recipe below is popular and Wade in the UK uses it commercially…JJ

Families Favorite Brine

1/2C Kosher Salt
2T Paprika
2T Gran. Garlic
2T Gran. Onion
2T Dry Thyme
2T Black Pepper
1C Vinegar (Any)
1 – 1-1/2 Gal Cold Water to cover Chix

1/2C Brown Sugar, Optional
1T Red Pepper Flake Optional

Mix well and Soak the Bird overnight or up to 24 Hours.
Remove the Chix, rinse if desired and pat dry with paper towels.
Place in an open container in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours for the Skin to dry.
This will give a crispier skin when Smoking or Roasting…

See separate post here about his way of smoking after brining and the timing.

In response to someone who brined a Butt in water, salt and ACV and got a washed out, white surface color after two days, Chef JJ said: “There is a bit of cooking and the Myoglobin, Red Color, is breaking down/washing out…I have been adding 1C Apple Cider or Red Wine Vinegar to a Gallon of Water in a brine for over 25 years. Gives a bit of flavor and, like marinating in Buttermilk or Yogurt, adds a touch of tenderizing.”

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Brining by Dr. Jeff Bonder. Click here to see full article. All credits go to Dr. Jeff unless otherwise noted.

• For dry brining – “Or around 1/2 tsp of fine sea salt, or a tsp of kosher salt, per pound of meat. Adjusted to your own taste, of course.”

• “So when brining:

  • Wet-brining adds moisture and tenderness to meat when cooking hot and fast. Dry brining is nearly as effective, but the tie goes to wet for wings and small hunks of meat. The inconvenience of wet brining a 20 lb turkey for three days can tip the balance back to dry though…
  • Wet-brining does not add moisture or improve tenderness compared to dry when cooking low and slow.
  • Dry-brining produces a better smoked surface if you distribute the salt in isolated islands. Wet-brining often washes off smoke flavor prematurely, and yields a lighter colored crust. In between there is an optimal technique which balances smoke, flavor and bark.
    • Injecting brine is a faster version of wet-brining, and offers similar results in a shorter time. Injection can make sense in competition cooking where time is a factor, but I prefer dry brining at home. Still, if you inject a concentrated salt solution (only enough to average out to a 0.5% salt level), but not salt the surface, you may achieve the best of all worlds. On my list of future experiments.“