Grilled Brined Chicken
Being a busy mum at times you hardly get time to prepare decent meals for your family, and that is how I made it my intention, if time and resources allow, Sundays are the days that mummy whips up fancy meals. I think that everyone in the house has kind of gotten used to that. In my second attempt to grill a full chicken in the oven, I decided to soak it in a brine and this time I made the time longer than the usual five hours I do. I did eighteen hours meaning I started this beautiful devotion at night around eleven pm, until the following day at four pm when I started the actual cooking. Throughout that time, the chicken was soaking in the flavors of the brine, absorbing all the moisture it could in preparation for the roasting the following day. A brine allows any meat to be tender while cooking, not to be dry, retain all its moisture throughout and most importantly maintain good flavors throughout and the results are always worth the time
Grilled brined chicken doesn't have a specific point of origin tied to one particular culture or region, but the techniques of brining and grilling come from ancient culinary practices that have been used across the world.
- Ingredients for the brine
- 2 About liters water or more depending on the size of the chicken
- 4 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 tsp rosemary herbs
- 1 tsp Sage leave herbs
- 2 tsps White pepper corns
- 1/4 cup white whine vinegar
- Ingredients for the butter rub
- 2 tablespoons butter room temperature slightly warmed
- 1 tsp Garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Ingredients for the Basting sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon white whine vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Ketchup
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Rub Butter on the chicken.
- Preparing the Brine.
- Add all ingredients except the vinegar in a large pan bring to a medium boil until all the salts and sugars dissolve. Remove from heat let it cool. Transfer to a plastic bowl.Add the white wine vinegar then add in the the whole chicken. I made slits on the chicken so that flavors can get in too. Cover the bowl using a cling film then place in the fridge.
- Once out of the brine, Prepare the butter rub, in a bowl combine the butter, black pepper, garlic paste and smear this gently on the chicken, making it get into all places, including the skin.
- Prepare your grilling apparatus I like putting the chicken on the grilling mesh, beneath it the baking pan which i put a good amount of water, the into the oven at 230 degrees for 80 minutes. After every 20 minutes of cooking I opened the door of the oven to smear the basting sauce. This went on until the chicken was ready.
- To serve this, any accompaniment of choice, a good vegetable, a good salad, a good sauce will do too.
As soon as the chicken is cooked, Let it rest before cutting it up. If you like you can cover it with foil too as it rests. The brine makes the chicken so tender the meat literally falls off the bone…
