How long can you leave chicken in a brine?

This chicken brine recipe is made with lemons, honey, fresh herbs and spices, and produces a juicy tender chicken every time! A foolproof way for succulent and flavorful roasted, smoked or fried chicken.

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How do you make chicken brine?
Why do you brine chicken?
How long do you brine chicken?
Helpful Tips and Tricks
How do you cook brined chicken?
Chicken Brine Video
What happens if you brine a chicken too long?
Can you brine chicken for 3 days?
Can you brine chicken for 72 hours?
How long is too long to brine?

If you’ve never had a brined chicken before, you’re missing out! It takes just minutes to make a chicken brine, but the end result is nothing short of fabulous. Serve your brined chicken with glazed carrots and rice pilaf for a complete meal.

I always get anxious about cooking large items of poultry like whole chickens and turkeys. It’s just so easy to either overcook the birds until they’re dry as a bone, or undercook them so they’re raw in the middle. This chicken brine infuses a whole bird with tons of flavor and helps to keep it from drying out in the oven. Brined chicken is the best chicken you’ll ever eat!

How do you make chicken brine?

To make this recipe, you’ll need salt, honey, lemons, herbs, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaves. Everything goes into a large pot with water and is simmered until the salt has dissolved. After the mixture has cooled to room temperature, you can add your chicken to the pot, then refrigerate it until you’re ready to make dinner.

Why do you brine chicken?

Chicken is a naturally lean type of meat which mean it’s prone to drying out. When a chicken is placed into brine, it absorbs some of the brine which helps to both keep it moist and also to season it all the way through. When you’re working with a brined chicken, even if you overcook it a bit, it should still come out tender and juicy.

How long do you brine chicken?

A whole chicken should be submerged in brine for at least 8 hours, or up to 24 hours. Do not go past the 24 hour mark, as your chicken may be overly salty if it sits in the brine for too long. If you’re looking to brine bone-in chicken pieces such as chicken thighs, drumsticks or breasts, you’ll want to soak them for about 4 hours. If you’re working with boneless chicken pieces, you can brine them for about 2 hours.

Helpful Tips and Tricks

This recipe tends to work well with smaller chickens in the 3-5 pound range. This is simply because you’re more likely to have a deep pot to brine a smaller chicken in. If your chicken is larger than the biggest pot in your house, you can use a brining bag.
Be sure to use kosher salt, do not use table salt in this recipe. Table salt measures differently than kosher salt and your chicken will be too salty with table salt. I typically use Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
Feel free to mix up the flavorings to fit your preferences. You can try orange instead of lemon, brown sugar instead of honey, add dried chiles for a little spice, or use fresh sage instead of thyme.
Make sure the liquid is completely cooled before you add the chicken for food safety reasons. Sometimes when I’m in a hurry, I add a cup of ice cubes to help speed the process along.

How do you cook brined chicken?

You can cook this type of chicken in any way that you would normally cook a whole chicken. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Herbs
Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
Peruvian Chicken
Rotisserie Chicken
Fried Chicken

Once you try a brined chicken, you’ll be hooked! Everyone will think you’re a gourmet chef when they get a taste of your perfectly cooked chicken. While making a this brining solution is an extra step in the cooking process, it’s totally worth it in my opinion.

Chicken Brine Video

Course Main

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Cool Time 30 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 12

Calories 185kcal

▢ 8 cups water
▢ 1/2 cup kosher salt do not use table salt
▢ 1/4 cup honey
▢ 3 dried bay leaves
▢ 5 cloves of garlic smashed and peeled
▢ 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
▢ 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
▢ 3 sprigs fresh thyme
▢ 3 sprigs fresh parsley
▢ 2 lemons sliced
▢ 4 lb whole chicken

Place the water, salt, honey, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, parsley and lemons in a large pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Cook for 3-4 minutes or until salt has dissolved.
Turn off the heat and cool completely.
Add the chicken to the cooled brine. Make sure the chicken is completely submerged.
Cover the pot and refrigerate for 8-24 hours.
Remove the chicken from the brine and rinse with cool water; pat dry with paper towels. Proceed with roasting, smoking or frying the chicken.

Nutritional information includes the whole chicken.

This post was originally published on January 2, 2019 and was updated with new content on January 13, 2022.

What happens if you brine a chicken too long?

Most over-brining simply makes everything a little too salty, and you can soak the meat in cold water to draw out the excess salt. If you really let it go too long—as in, brining for days instead of hours—things may go beyond repair. Doing so can make your meat mushy, and there's no way to fix that!

Can you brine chicken for 3 days?

Dry brines can be as short as a few hours, but ideally at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. The longer you brine, the stronger the seasoning, the more robust the flavor, and more tender and juicy the meat will become. For small cuts of chicken, the times will vary.

Can you brine chicken for 72 hours?

Place the chicken pieces into the brine, cover and leave in the fridge for 72 hours. This allows the flavours to thoroughly permeate the flesh. After 72 hours and when you're ready to cook the chicken, take the raw chicken from the brine, throw the brine away and rinse the chicken thoroughly and pat dry.

How long is too long to brine?

The amount of time will depend on the type of brine you use; however, do not brine any longer than two days and always keep the turkey and brine refrigerated (at 40°F or less). Remove turkey from brine after the recommended time.