Can boneless, skinless chicken breasts be brined the day before baking

Rhoda Frankel
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5 Comments

amysarah April 8, 2016
It definitely helps with flavor and keeping them from drying out, but I'm not a fan of the texture of brined white meat poultry. I find it gets sort of spongy, or bouncy - like 'deli' turkey. Maybe if you only brined for a couple of hours this wouldn't be an issue.
 
Susan W. April 8, 2016
Are you speaking of brining for that amount of time or taking it out of the brine until it's time to cook it? Both work, but the salt concentration should be less if you are leaving it in the brine for 24 hours.

I'm also a dry brine convert, but wet brine is the way to go for boneless, skinless breasts...especially if you're going to grill them.
 
CanadaDan April 8, 2016
add to the "yes" column. I wouldn't let breasts sit in a brine all day since they're not huge like a pork loin or a whole turkey. IMO just a few hours in a standard brine should be fine, then remove them and keep in the fridge until ready to cook.
 
aargersi April 8, 2016
Yep !! I like a wet brine! (We grill a lot and the wet brine allows a lot more leeway on cook time ... You can get a nice char without drying out your bird) If you are going for 24 hours you want to be circumspect with the salt as it will be drinking it up the whole time.
 
702551 April 8, 2016
Yes. Chicken parts can be brined just like whole chickens, either wet brine or dry brine.

Personally, I loathe wet brined poultry, but that's just a personal preference.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt over at Serious Eats has covered poultry brining at length; you may want to read his various articles about the subject.

Good luck.
 
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