Juicy and Tender Chicken Breast - 100% Guaranteed !!!

Large chicken breasts in brine solution ready to go into fridge.

Breasts on hot grill pan, turn 90 degree to get the beautiful char mark

Probably the most protein packed pcs of meat in chicken, the breast is often found chewy and dry especially after grilled. Naturally this is a lean meat full of protein fiber and the moisture is lost during the cooking time thus many do not like it but prefer the drumstick. There is a method to solve this problem scientifically in the kitchen and the result is 100% guaranteed juicy and tender chicken breast like you never eat before !!!!  The answer is brining. 

Overview

The basic brine solution is add 10% salt into water enough to cover the breast and leave it covered in the fridge overnight (8hr minimum). And then take it out rest to room temperature before start grilling. The science behind is simple: OSMOSIS, particle of higher concentration will move through a membrane to lower concentration. That says the salted water (higher concentration in salt) will 'move' into the cell of the meat making them full of water. So when you grill, there will be sufficient water inside the meat to compensate the lost. So you will end up with juicy, succulent and tender pcs of chicken breast.    

How to brine?

1. First determine the amount of meat you want cook.
2. Prep a container (prefer with lid) which can store a water that is enough to complete submerge the meat
3. Add in salt (5-10% of water by weight) and wait until fully disolve
4. While waiting, clean and cut a way any fat/skin/membrane on the chicken breast
5. Meat into the salt brine (make sure the brine is at room temperature, you dont want to cook the chicken at this point) and put into fridge with lid on (prevent odour escape)
6. After 8-12 hrs,  drain water and let the meat warm up back to room temperature. 

Variations

Because the principle is to add in the brine solution into the meat so actually we can perform 'add in' more than water but FLAVOUR too !!!   Infuse the brine solution with herbs like thymes, pepper corn, coriander seeds or veg with strong aroma like garlic onion or even honey, maple syrup which will add a distinctive character to the meat you are creating. The combinations are endless but maybe you can try out my Sweet and Savoury Chicken Breast Brine below next time when you wanna eat some protein pack meat:

For 4pcs of large size chicken Breast (1" thick)

• 1/2 tea spoon of nutmeg powder
• 1/2 tea spoon of mustard powder
• 6 cloves of peeled garlic
• 2 roughly chopped sweet onion
• 3 table spoon of salt
• 3 table spoon of brown sugar
• 1 table spoon of grounded black pepper
• 1 table spoon of dried thymes
• 1 bay leaf
• half cup of honey (optional)
• 1 liter of water

Direction: Roughly chop the onion and garlic then add everything into a small pot bring to boil for 5 minutes to infuse all flavours into the water and then soak in the chicken breast after the water came to room temperature. Leave in the fridge for 8-12hrs and then take out the meat and let them warm up to room temperature. Grill 3-4 min each side (breast thickness 1"). I find it is good when the internal temperature reach 65 degree Celsius. And DONE the super duper easy grill chicken breast.  

Useful Tips

1) Boil all ingredients ONLY with just enough water and then add in the remaining to shorten the cool down period. 

2) Close lid while put in the fridge: prevent odour to spread all over 

3) Discard the brine solution, all flavours have been 'brined' into the meats.