Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons by Colleen Rush, Gary Wiviott Page A
Authors: Colleen Rush, Gary Wiviott
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quickly. You don’t have six to twelve hours to brine. You have three to five hours, tops. For a quick brine, double the amount of salt and sugar so that each bag contains ⅔ cup salt and ½ cup sugar.
Generally, I don’t recommend quick brining because it’s not as easy to control. Chicken can soak in the basic brine from Lesson #2 for as long as twenty-four hours without hurting the meat. But when you substantially increase the salt, you don’t have that leeway with time. If you need to postpone the cook for some reason and the chicken ends up soaking in the brine for more than five or six hours, you’ll wind up with salty smoked chicken. But stuff happens. If you’re in a hurry and have no other choice, quick brining can cut the brining time in half.
BRINING TIPS
• DON’T USE “ENHANCED” OR KOSHER CHICKEN. Brining this meat will make it too salty because it is injected with saltwater to improve texture and flavor or coated with salt to meet kosher guidelines.
• Always use kosher salt.
• Trim jagged bones to prevent sharp edges from puncturing the zip-top bag.
• Start with a cold brine. Add cold water to the dissolved brine solution, toss in a few ice cubes, or refrigerate the brine solution until it is cool before adding the meat.
• Completely submerge the meat in the brining liquid.
• Unless you use a quick brine solution, plan for at least 1½ to 2 hours of brining time per pound of chicken.
• Never—ever—reuse brine.
RUBS, PASTES, AND COMPOUND BUTTERS
BRINES AND MARINADES ARE GREAT for infusing chicken with subtle flavor and making meat tender and juicy. But if you want your chicken to have the more assertive, concentrated flavor of a seasoning like lemon or spicy-hot chiles, the herbs and spices need to stick to the meat. This is where rubs, pastes, and compound butters come in. A coating or under-the-skin smear of a punchy seasoning mix will turn simple, well-cooked barbecued chicken into the legendary chicken your friends and family will worship. Rubs are dry herb, spice and salt mixes that can be sprinkled on meat. Pastes are thick, “wet” rubs—seasoning blends mixed with a liquid like oil, beer or mustard—that stick to meat. Compound butter is butter flavored with herbs and spices, and can be spread under chicken skin.
Rubs, pastes, and compound butters won’t affect the texture or juiciness of the meat in a noticeable way, which is why I recommend (insist, really) that you brine the chicken to ensure that it will stay moist during the cook. But once you’ve dabbled with the brine recipes and started making your own, you should start thinking about how to build brines and rubs that go together. As when you pair wine and food, you can make brines that will contrast or complement the flavor of a rub. A soak in the Soy-Ginger Brine (page 89) followed by a coating of the Smoking Szechuan Pepper Rub (page 161) or the Five-Spice Rub (page 97) is an excellent pairing.
I don’t mean to suggest that matching brines and rubs or pastes is an essential low and slow technique. You could use the basic brine every time and cover the chicken in whatever seasoning you’re in the mood for. But once you develop some level of proficiency with your cooker, you might start to get bored with the process. Digging into the endless possibilities of pairing brines and rubs will keep you motivated and advance your low and slow education, as well as your general culinary skills.
RUBS
THE BEST-TASTING RUBS ARE MADE WITH the freshest ingredients you can get your hands on. Instead of using the pre-ground, flavorless seasonings you find in the spice aisle, always opt for freshly ground spices, real citrus zest, and dried whole peppers that have been toasted and ground in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Remember: commercial blends might be more convenient, but there is no comparison to the flavor of homemade.
BASIC BIRD RUB
This simple, savory rub gets added
Generally, I don’t recommend quick brining because it’s not as easy to control. Chicken can soak in the basic brine from Lesson #2 for as long as twenty-four hours without hurting the meat. But when you substantially increase the salt, you don’t have that leeway with time. If you need to postpone the cook for some reason and the chicken ends up soaking in the brine for more than five or six hours, you’ll wind up with salty smoked chicken. But stuff happens. If you’re in a hurry and have no other choice, quick brining can cut the brining time in half.
BRINING TIPS
• DON’T USE “ENHANCED” OR KOSHER CHICKEN. Brining this meat will make it too salty because it is injected with saltwater to improve texture and flavor or coated with salt to meet kosher guidelines.
• Always use kosher salt.
• Trim jagged bones to prevent sharp edges from puncturing the zip-top bag.
• Start with a cold brine. Add cold water to the dissolved brine solution, toss in a few ice cubes, or refrigerate the brine solution until it is cool before adding the meat.
• Completely submerge the meat in the brining liquid.
• Unless you use a quick brine solution, plan for at least 1½ to 2 hours of brining time per pound of chicken.
• Never—ever—reuse brine.
RUBS, PASTES, AND COMPOUND BUTTERS
BRINES AND MARINADES ARE GREAT for infusing chicken with subtle flavor and making meat tender and juicy. But if you want your chicken to have the more assertive, concentrated flavor of a seasoning like lemon or spicy-hot chiles, the herbs and spices need to stick to the meat. This is where rubs, pastes, and compound butters come in. A coating or under-the-skin smear of a punchy seasoning mix will turn simple, well-cooked barbecued chicken into the legendary chicken your friends and family will worship. Rubs are dry herb, spice and salt mixes that can be sprinkled on meat. Pastes are thick, “wet” rubs—seasoning blends mixed with a liquid like oil, beer or mustard—that stick to meat. Compound butter is butter flavored with herbs and spices, and can be spread under chicken skin.
Rubs, pastes, and compound butters won’t affect the texture or juiciness of the meat in a noticeable way, which is why I recommend (insist, really) that you brine the chicken to ensure that it will stay moist during the cook. But once you’ve dabbled with the brine recipes and started making your own, you should start thinking about how to build brines and rubs that go together. As when you pair wine and food, you can make brines that will contrast or complement the flavor of a rub. A soak in the Soy-Ginger Brine (page 89) followed by a coating of the Smoking Szechuan Pepper Rub (page 161) or the Five-Spice Rub (page 97) is an excellent pairing.
I don’t mean to suggest that matching brines and rubs or pastes is an essential low and slow technique. You could use the basic brine every time and cover the chicken in whatever seasoning you’re in the mood for. But once you develop some level of proficiency with your cooker, you might start to get bored with the process. Digging into the endless possibilities of pairing brines and rubs will keep you motivated and advance your low and slow education, as well as your general culinary skills.
RUBS
THE BEST-TASTING RUBS ARE MADE WITH the freshest ingredients you can get your hands on. Instead of using the pre-ground, flavorless seasonings you find in the spice aisle, always opt for freshly ground spices, real citrus zest, and dried whole peppers that have been toasted and ground in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Remember: commercial blends might be more convenient, but there is no comparison to the flavor of homemade.
BASIC BIRD RUB
This simple, savory rub gets added
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