You would think that brining chicken is simple, but it seems I get asked more questions every time I release a new article. Today we are talking about freezing chicken after brining it. Can you do it? Should you do it, and how would it affect the meat?
Can You Freeze Chicken After Brining?
Yes, but it is important to remember that poultry loses moisture when you thaw it. You can reduce the amount of moisture lost by brining the chicken. So, if you have to freeze your chicken, it is a good idea to brine it in the fridge for up to eight hours before placing it in the freezer.
That is a brief answer. There is so much more that I need to cover in the rest of this article.
While the information might be aimed at new cooks and chefs, everyone can pick up a few tips that you might not have already known. So, for everything you need to know about freezing brined chicken, keep reading.
Freezing Chicken After Brining It: 4 Things You Must Know
Following the four methods mentioned in this section can help you have the best experience when freezing your brined chicken. When reading through these tips, one thing to remember is that you should not be afraid to experiment. Now, let’s get into four things you need to know when freezing brined chicken.
How Long Should You Brine Chicken Before Freezing It?
If you are going to brine the chicken before freezing it, you want to ensure that you don’t do it for too long. However, just because you will place the chicken in the freezer doesn’t mean you can negate a few precautionary steps that need to be taken.
If you brine your chicken for too long, it might go bad. However, detecting whether or not the chicken has gone off can become tricky once you have frozen it. Also, all your time would have been wasted as you can’t eat bad chicken.
If you brine chicken on the counter, don’t let it sit for more than a few hours. If the chicken is at room temperature, you should not brine it for more than two hours, and if it is still cold, you have about four hours before it goes bad.
The best option is to brine the chicken in the refrigerator. This way, you have around 48 hours before the chicken starts to go off. However, I recommend doing it for 8 hours.
Use Proper Storage Methods
A common mistake that many people make is not using proper storage methods when freezing chicken, whether brined or not. That said, brining the chicken makes storage even more important; let me explain.
Brining chicken adds a lot of moisture. That also means that the chicken will be wet when stored in the freezer; this opens up an opportunity for a problem to arise, which comes in the form of freezer burn.
Using a zip lock freezer bag is by far the best option. You could also use an airtight container; however, this might take up a lot of space in your freezer, and I find it to be one of the least efficient ways of storing any meat.
If you plan on freezing your chicken for more than six months, I recommend investing in a food vacuum sealer. Properly vacuum sealed poultry will help your food last up to five times longer than traditional storage methods.
Don’t Freeze The Brine
When you freeze brined chicken, you don’t want to freeze the brine itself. It might seem like a good idea to place everything in a container and put it in a freezer, but once the brine starts to freeze, it will crystallize, shredding the fibers of the chicken.
Once those crystals shred the fibers of the chicken, it becomes mushy, and when you thaw it out, you might not even want to eat the chicken anymore. And no, it’s not an easy way to make pulled chicken; the shredding happens at a cellular level.
For How Long Can You Freeze Brined Chicken?
Once you have the chicken in the freezer, you don’t want to leave it in there for too long. It can start to go bad in the freezer, and even if it doesn’t, the chicken will start to go mushy once it is thawed.
When stored properly, you can keep a whole chicken in the freezer for up to a year, even if you brine it first. If you have chicken pieces instead of a whole one, you should not leave them in there for around nine months.
In terms of cooked chicken, well, that’s another story. I have stated in previous articles that there is almost no point in brining cooked chicken. It has practically no preservative qualities, and all it does is overpower the taste of the chicken or any spices. It also changes the texture a bit too much.
Should You Brine Chicken Before Or After Freezing?
After reading the answer in the second paragraph of this article, I guess this is the section most readers are looking for. The problem is, there are two answers to this question, and whichever one you choose to use will depend entirely on your preferences.
Brining chicken before freezing is a convenient way of preparing everything so that when the day comes that you want to cook the chicken, you don’t have to brine it or marinate it first. Also, it helps retain a lot of moisture when the chicken is thawed. Oh, and it locks in a lot of flavors from the brine.
The problem with that answer is a better way of retaining moisture when freezing raw chicken exists. By salting the chicken before freezing it, you can retain up to 10% more water than you can by brining it.
If you choose to salt the chicken before freezing it and then brining it afterward, you can be sure that it is the method that guarantees the most moisture and flavor.
Taking Brined Chicken Out Of The Freezer
I always like to give a few tips when I can, and the way you thaw chicken when you take it out of the freezer can determine how the chicken cooks and tastes. So, here are three tips for thawing brined chicken.
- Thaw the chicken before removing it: Once you have removed the chicken from the freezer, you want to give the outer edges enough time to thaw a little bit before taking it out of a plastic freezer bag. It just makes sure that you are not going to rip the skin of the chicken.
- Take the chicken out the day before: If you remove the chicken the day before, you don’t have to use any unnatural methods such as a microwave to defrost the chicken; instead, you can let it thaw naturally.
- Thaw the chicken in the fridge: It is a good idea to give the chicken a head start by letting it sit on the counter for around one or two hours. Try not to let it fully thaw, though. Instead, you want to let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. In my experience, this produces the best results.
I found that thawing meat in the refrigerator helps keep it as firm as possible. This take is just from personal experience, but it should work for you as it works for me.
Final Word
The main goal of this article was to discuss whether or not you can brine the chicken before freezing it, but I felt it was necessary to dive a little more in-depth.
Hopefully, you found all the answers you were looking for, and if you didn’t, we have a few more articles on the topic that you should check out.
Can You Freeze Chicken After Brining?
Yes, but it is important to remember that poultry loses moisture when you thaw it. You can reduce the amount of moisture lost by brining the chicken. So, if you have to freeze your chicken, it is a good idea to brine it in the fridge for up to eight hours before placing it in the freezer.
That is a brief answer. There is so much more that I need to cover in the rest of this article.
While the information might be aimed at new cooks and chefs, everyone can pick up a few tips that you might not have already known. So, for everything you need to know about freezing brined chicken, keep reading.
Freezing Chicken After Brining It: 4 Things You Must Know
Following the four methods mentioned in this section can help you have the best experience when freezing your brined chicken. When reading through these tips, one thing to remember is that you should not be afraid to experiment. Now, let’s get into four things you need to know when freezing brined chicken.
How Long Should You Brine Chicken Before Freezing It?
If you are going to brine the chicken before freezing it, you want to ensure that you don’t do it for too long. However, just because you will place the chicken in the freezer doesn’t mean you can negate a few precautionary steps that need to be taken.
If you brine your chicken for too long, it might go bad. However, detecting whether or not the chicken has gone off can become tricky once you have frozen it. Also, all your time would have been wasted as you can’t eat bad chicken.
If you brine chicken on the counter, don’t let it sit for more than a few hours. If the chicken is at room temperature, you should not brine it for more than two hours, and if it is still cold, you have about four hours before it goes bad.
The best option is to brine the chicken in the refrigerator. This way, you have around 48 hours before the chicken starts to go off. However, I recommend doing it for 8 hours.
Use Proper Storage Methods
A common mistake that many people make is not using proper storage methods when freezing chicken, whether brined or not. That said, brining the chicken makes storage even more important; let me explain.
Brining chicken adds a lot of moisture. That also means that the chicken will be wet when stored in the freezer; this opens up an opportunity for a problem to arise, which comes in the form of freezer burn.
Using a zip lock freezer bag is by far the best option. You could also use an airtight container; however, this might take up a lot of space in your freezer, and I find it to be one of the least efficient ways of storing any meat.
If you plan on freezing your chicken for more than six months, I recommend investing in a food vacuum sealer. Properly vacuum sealed poultry will help your food last up to five times longer than traditional storage methods.
Don’t Freeze The Brine
When you freeze brined chicken, you don’t want to freeze the brine itself. It might seem like a good idea to place everything in a container and put it in a freezer, but once the brine starts to freeze, it will crystallize, shredding the fibers of the chicken.
Once those crystals shred the fibers of the chicken, it becomes mushy, and when you thaw it out, you might not even want to eat the chicken anymore. And no, it’s not an easy way to make pulled chicken; the shredding happens at a cellular level.
For How Long Can You Freeze Brined Chicken?
Once you have the chicken in the freezer, you don’t want to leave it in there for too long. It can start to go bad in the freezer, and even if it doesn’t, the chicken will start to go mushy once it is thawed.
When stored properly, you can keep a whole chicken in the freezer for up to a year, even if you brine it first. If you have chicken pieces instead of a whole one, you should not leave them in there for around nine months.
In terms of cooked chicken, well, that’s another story. I have stated in previous articles that there is almost no point in brining cooked chicken. It has practically no preservative qualities, and all it does is overpower the taste of the chicken or any spices. It also changes the texture a bit too much.
Should You Brine Chicken Before Or After Freezing?
After reading the answer in the second paragraph of this article, I guess this is the section most readers are looking for. The problem is, there are two answers to this question, and whichever one you choose to use will depend entirely on your preferences.
Brining chicken before freezing is a convenient way of preparing everything so that when the day comes that you want to cook the chicken, you don’t have to brine it or marinate it first. Also, it helps retain a lot of moisture when the chicken is thawed. Oh, and it locks in a lot of flavors from the brine.
The problem with that answer is a better way of retaining moisture when freezing raw chicken exists. By salting the chicken before freezing it, you can retain up to 10% more water than you can by brining it.
If you choose to salt the chicken before freezing it and then brining it afterward, you can be sure that it is the method that guarantees the most moisture and flavor.
Taking Brined Chicken Out Of The Freezer
I always like to give a few tips when I can, and the way you thaw chicken when you take it out of the freezer can determine how the chicken cooks and tastes. So, here are three tips for thawing brined chicken.
- Thaw the chicken before removing it: Once you have removed the chicken from the freezer, you want to give the outer edges enough time to thaw a little bit before taking it out of a plastic freezer bag. It just makes sure that you are not going to rip the skin of the chicken.
- Take the chicken out the day before: If you remove the chicken the day before, you don’t have to use any unnatural methods such as a microwave to defrost the chicken; instead, you can let it thaw naturally.
- Thaw the chicken in the fridge: It is a good idea to give the chicken a head start by letting it sit on the counter for around one or two hours. Try not to let it fully thaw, though. Instead, you want to let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. In my experience, this produces the best results.
I found that thawing meat in the refrigerator helps keep it as firm as possible. This take is just from personal experience, but it should work for you as it works for me.
Final Word
The main goal of this article was to discuss whether or not you can brine the chicken before freezing it, but I felt it was necessary to dive a little more in-depth.
Hopefully, you found all the answers you were looking for, and if you didn’t, we have a few more articles on the topic that you should check out.
This is an article in a series about brining chicken. You would think that brining chicken is simple, but it seems I get asked more questions every time I release a new article. Today we are talking about freezing chicken after brining it. Can you do it? Should you do it, and how would it affect the meat?
Can You Freeze Chicken After Brining?
Yes, but it is important to remember that poultry loses moisture when you thaw it. You can reduce the amount of moisture lost by brining the chicken. So, if you have to freeze your chicken, it is a good idea to brine it in the fridge for up to eight hours before placing it in the freezer.
That is a brief answer. There is so much more that I need to cover in the rest of this article.
While the information might be aimed at new cooks and chefs, everyone can pick up a few tips that you might not have already known. So, for everything you need to know about freezing brined chicken, keep reading.
Freezing Chicken After Brining It: 4 Things You Must Know
Following the four methods mentioned in this section can help you have the best experience when freezing your brined chicken. When reading through these tips, one thing to remember is that you should not be afraid to experiment. Now, let’s get into four things you need to know when freezing brined chicken.
How Long Should You Brine Chicken Before Freezing It?
If you are going to brine the chicken before freezing it, you want to ensure that you don’t do it for too long. However, just because you will place the chicken in the freezer doesn’t mean you can negate a few precautionary steps that need to be taken.
If you brine your chicken for too long, it might go bad. However, detecting whether or not the chicken has gone off can become tricky once you have frozen it. Also, all your time would have been wasted as you can’t eat bad chicken.
If you brine chicken on the counter, don’t let it sit for more than a few hours. If the chicken is at room temperature, you should not brine it for more than two hours, and if it is still cold, you have about four hours before it goes bad.
The best option is to brine the chicken in the refrigerator. This way, you have around 48 hours before the chicken starts to go off. However, I recommend doing it for 8 hours.
Use Proper Storage Methods
A common mistake that many people make is not using proper storage methods when freezing chicken, whether brined or not. That said, brining the chicken makes storage even more important; let me explain.
Brining chicken adds a lot of moisture. That also means that the chicken will be wet when stored in the freezer; this opens up an opportunity for a problem to arise, which comes in the form of freezer burn.
Using a zip lock freezer bag is by far the best option. You could also use an airtight container; however, this might take up a lot of space in your freezer, and I find it to be one of the least efficient ways of storing any meat.
If you plan on freezing your chicken for more than six months, I recommend investing in a food vacuum sealer. Properly vacuum sealed poultry will help your food last up to five times longer than traditional storage methods.
Don’t Freeze The Brine
When you freeze brined chicken, you don’t want to freeze the brine itself. It might seem like a good idea to place everything in a container and put it in a freezer, but once the brine starts to freeze, it will crystallize, shredding the fibers of the chicken.
Once those crystals shred the fibers of the chicken, it becomes mushy, and when you thaw it out, you might not even want to eat the chicken anymore. And no, it’s not an easy way to make pulled chicken; the shredding happens at a cellular level.
For How Long Can You Freeze Brined Chicken?
Once you have the chicken in the freezer, you don’t want to leave it in there for too long. It can start to go bad in the freezer, and even if it doesn’t, the chicken will start to go mushy once it is thawed.
When stored properly, you can keep a whole chicken in the freezer for up to a year, even if you brine it first. If you have chicken pieces instead of a whole one, you should not leave them in there for around nine months.
In terms of cooked chicken, well, that’s another story. I have stated in previous articles that there is almost no point in brining cooked chicken. It has practically no preservative qualities, and all it does is overpower the taste of the chicken or any spices. It also changes the texture a bit too much.
Should You Brine Chicken Before Or After Freezing?
After reading the answer in the second paragraph of this article, I guess this is the section most readers are looking for. The problem is, there are two answers to this question, and whichever one you choose to use will depend entirely on your preferences.
Brining chicken before freezing is a convenient way of preparing everything so that when the day comes that you want to cook the chicken, you don’t have to brine it or marinate it first. Also, it helps retain a lot of moisture when the chicken is thawed. Oh, and it locks in a lot of flavors from the brine.
The problem with that answer is a better way of retaining moisture when freezing raw chicken exists. By salting the chicken before freezing it, you can retain up to 10% more water than you can by brining it.
If you choose to salt the chicken before freezing it and then brining it afterward, you can be sure that it is the method that guarantees the most moisture and flavor.
Taking Brined Chicken Out Of The Freezer
I always like to give a few tips when I can, and the way you thaw chicken when you take it out of the freezer can determine how the chicken cooks and tastes. So, here are three tips for thawing brined chicken.
- Thaw the chicken before removing it: Once you have removed the chicken from the freezer, you want to give the outer edges enough time to thaw a little bit before taking it out of a plastic freezer bag. It just makes sure that you are not going to rip the skin of the chicken.
- Take the chicken out the day before: If you remove the chicken the day before, you don’t have to use any unnatural methods such as a microwave to defrost the chicken; instead, you can let it thaw naturally.
- Thaw the chicken in the fridge: It is a good idea to give the chicken a head start by letting it sit on the counter for around one or two hours. Try not to let it fully thaw, though. Instead, you want to let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. In my experience, this produces the best results.
I found that thawing meat in the refrigerator helps keep it as firm as possible. This take is just from personal experience, but it should work for you as it works for me.
Final Word
The main goal of this article was to discuss whether or not you can brine the chicken before freezing it, but I felt it was necessary to dive a little more in-depth.
Hopefully, you found all the answers you were looking for, and if you didn’t, we have a few more articles on the topic that you should check out.
Related Articles
- Can You Brine Frozen Chicken? And What Is Brining?
- Can I Refreeze Marinated Chicken Breasts?
- How To Defrost Brisket?
Sources
https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/cold-food-storage-charts