I over brined

Basically ruined a whole meal of Grouse. This is the first time I brined poultry. I used 1 Tbs of salt per cup of water and since the Grouse breast were so small I only went 5 hours compared to chicken recipes calling for 3 times as much. Even after rinsing they were terribly over-salty. Tender and juicy but ruined. Live and learn I guess. On the upside I found a great new breading called Kentucky Kernal. I used it on chicken last week (un-brined) and it’s very tasty, not unlike KFC. Please tell me where I went wrong, even though it’s obvious.

I’ve been looking at the Kentucky Kernal breading for a while now. Did you check out the recipe section of their web page? Virtually every one of the recipes called for a soak of buttermilk, which is what I use all the time when I am doing a heavier breading on fried foods. Found it interesting.

How’s the spice load in the breading? Hot? So-so?

Did you use kosher or table salt? It matters. I use Morton’s kosher. Here’s an explanation:

My standard brine recipe is essentially: 4 cups of cold water and 6 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt OR 4 1/2 tablespoons Morton’s kosher salt OR 3 tablespoons fine or table salt.

Note that it really matters what kind of salt you have and how much you use. The salt crystals in these types are all of different sizes and if you use the incorrect type or incorrect amount, you will end up with a brine that is either way too salty or not salty enough.

picklerick wrote:

Did you use kosher or table salt? It matters. I use Morton’s kosher. Here’s an explanation:

My standard brine recipe is essentially: 4 cups of cold water and 6 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt OR 4 1/2 tablespoons Morton’s kosher salt OR 3 tablespoons fine or table salt.

Note that it really matters what kind of salt you have and how much you use. The salt crystals in these types are all of different sizes and if you use the incorrect type or incorrect amount, you will end up with a brine that is either way too salty or not salty enough.

Once I used iodized salt in my brine. Never again. Terrible results. It’s non iodized or pickling salt for me.

Grouse is such a mild meat I dont think it would need to be brined at all.

It’s more for juiciness than changing the flavor. Salt changes the protein structure so that it can’t let as much juice escape when cooking. I’ve not had grouse, but I’d expect that it’s easier to dry out like other lean/game meats.

I use 1 quart cold water, 1 quarter cup Kosher salt, 1 quarter cup sugar. This is for chicken or pork. It is fairly salty so I sometimes use 3 tbs of salt. Note: 4 tbs = quarter cup. For a meal of chicken breasts or pork tenderloin 4-6 hours is plenty of brining. A couple hours will do the trick. My understanding is the salt allows the meat to absorb the water, so the meat is juicy and not dry.

I used canning salt for the brine. Rinsed the meat in water then again in milk which is part of the seasoning directions. I’m gun-shy now. I better practice with chicken and thicker pieces.

Jimmy Jones wrote:

I’ve been looking at the Kentucky Kernal breading for a while now. Did you check out the recipe section of their web page? Virtually every one of the recipes called for a soak of buttermilk, which is what I use all the time when I am doing a heavier breading on fried foods. Found it interesting.

How’s the spice load in the breading? Hot? So-so?

Spice load is non-existent. No heat at all. Its like a subtle Kentucky fried chicken original recipe.

We were in Nashville and went to the Grand Ole Opry and every other commercial they played was for Kentucky Kernal. To say it was annoying is an understatement. I swore I would never buy any of it because of that.

CaptainMusky wrote:

We were in Nashville and went to the Grand Ole Opry and every other commercial they played was for Kentucky Kernal. To say it was annoying is an understatement. I swore I would never buy any of it because of that.

I am going to try it on fish the next time I cook them.

Ive heard its good, but dang those commercials were annoying LOL

It’s definitely because canning salt is a completely different volume than other types when measured in cups. Most recipes that call for canning salt will specify using it. You can’t really over brine if your brine recipe is right, so it’s not the amount of time but the amount of salt you used. Brining draws out some moisture from the protein, then osmosis draws it back into the meat with the salt.

Cooking is the only reason I would get on board with the metric system. If the recipe says 280g of salt, then it doesn’t matter what type you use. Canning salt weighs 325 grams per cup, which is 100g more than Morton’s kosher.

Here are the weights of some other kinds of salt:
Salt Mass and Volume
Type of Salt Weight per Cup Weight per Tablespoon
Table Salt 10 ounces; 280g 2/3 ounce; 18g
Morton’s kosher salt 8 ounces; 225g 1/2 ounce; 14g
Diamond Crystal kosher salt 5 ounces; 140g 1/3 ounce; 9g
Maldon sea salt 4 ounces; 115g 1/4 ounce; 7g
Fleur de sel 8 ounces; 225g 1/2 ounce; 14g

picklerick wrote:

It’s definitely because canning salt is a completely different volume than other types when measured in cups. Most recipes that call for canning salt will specify using it. You can’t really over brine if your brine recipe is right, so it’s not the amount of time but the amount of salt you used. Brining draws out some moisture from the protein, then osmosis draws it back into the meat with the salt.

Cooking is the only reason I would get on board with the metric system. If the recipe says 280g of salt, then it doesn’t matter what type you use. Canning salt weighs 325 grams per cup, which is 100g more than Morton’s kosher.

Here are the weights of some other kinds of salt:
Salt Mass and Volume
Type of Salt Weight per Cup Weight per Tablespoon
Table Salt 10 ounces; 280g 2/3 ounce; 18g
Morton’s kosher salt 8 ounces; 225g 1/2 ounce; 14g
Diamond Crystal kosher salt 5 ounces; 140g 1/3 ounce; 9g
Maldon sea salt 4 ounces; 115g 1/4 ounce; 7g
Fleur de sel 8 ounces; 225g 1/2 ounce; 14g

Wow. What an expensive lesson. Looking forward to trying again with this knowledge. Thanks.

I’m leery of wet brining myself. I’ve only done a couple turkeys and that didn’t turn out too well. I’ve also wet cured bacon, but that recipe called for kosher salt in cups, so it turned out great. Like I said, I dry brine and just sprinkle a light coat of kosher salt onto both sides of the meat then let it sit in a baggie for a few hours. Flip the bag over every so often. I mostly do this with thick pork loin chops and bone in chicken thighs, and do a min of 2-3hrs for those cuts. I’ve gone 24hrs and it was a bit salty but not too salty. Always juicy, though.

I really want to try brining some wild pheasants next year.

I tried a recipe from Larry Smith’s show today. Chicken breast brined in pickle juice then rubbed with Texas Gold Dust and grilled. It was pretty good with a mild pickle flavor. The chicken was cut in strips and brined for 4 hours. Then I rinsed it, patted dry and seasoned it. Let it sit in the fridge for 4 hours. Then onto the grill.

I recently started saving the brine from Grillo’s dill pickle chips I pick up at Costco. I use a 50/50 mix of brine and water and soak bone in chicken thighs in it for a few hours. It’s really good grilled or pan seared and finished in the oven.

picklerick wrote:

I recently started saving the brine from Grillo’s dill pickle chips I pick up at Costco. I use a 50/50 mix of brine and water and soak bone in chicken thighs in it for a few hours. It’s really good grilled or pan seared and finished in the oven.

Reminder to pick up more Grillo’s. I’ve been on a Gedney Zingers kick lately.

I once did that with Steelhead, and was able to mix it with cream cheese, chopped onion, capers, etc into a pate and it spread out the salt enough.

Another option with the salty grouse would be to make a cream of wild rice soup, with no salt added, and that would dilute the saltiness of the grouse.

I struggled for years to find a good brine. Then I found what is called Pops brine. First thought it was way to simple to be right. I have used it on fish, chicken, turkey and even bacon.
1 gallon water
3/4 cup sea salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 Tbls of pink cure

You can add spices to this or add less sugar or salt to your taste. For turkeys I soak for 24-48 hours.