Dry Brine Chicken - Spatchcocked & Smoked

A few years ago I discovered how easy (and cheap) it is to cook a chicken whole when you remove the spine. At Costco you can get 2 full chickens for around $13! The legs would be a couple of meals for me and then I'd use the breasts for chicken salad for the rest of the week. I cooked this meal weekly for years but got out of the habit recently. This week I scrolled across Serious Kitchen's article on Dry Brining and I was intrigued. I've always wanted to try to brine a bird, but it honestly just seems like such a pain when I'm perfectly happy with the results as they are! Ultimately it's worth the effort. This dry brine chicken had crispy skin and the meat fell off the bone.

Jump to:

• Dry Brine vs Wet Brine
• Spatchcock
• To Smoke or to Bake
• Recipe
• Reviews

Dry Brine vs Wet Brine

The difference between a normal brine and a dry brine is that a normal brine is a wet brine. You basically make a salty bath and let the chicken sit in the water for a day. This loosens up the meat fibers of the chicken and makes it moister. Dry brining is just putting the salt directly on the bird and allowing it to work its magic more directly. Dry brining seemed way more achievable so I gave it a shot.

Spatchcock

First thing you do is spatchcock the bird. This might seem intimidating, but spatchcocking a chicken is honestly SO easy when you give it a shot. First, flip the bird over and then use a pair of scissors to cut down each side of the spine. Once you've got the spine out, flip the bird back over and press down until it flattens. You can use regular scissors, but I highly recommend getting a pair of chicken shears. These are my favorite! You will get a clean cut without much grip strength.

For the brine, mix together the salt and baking powder. Take a pinch of the mixture and, holding your hands 10 inches above the bird, let out an even stream of salt onto the bird. Once you've coated the bird well let it rest for 12-24 hours in the fridge uncovered. You can rinse the bird off after it's sat or you can leave the salt on. It will make your bird saltier so it's up to you!

If you want to mix up the spices you can honestly do any that you like! Chili Lime, Thyme Mustard, and Jamaican Jerk are some of my favorites to use. The one listed here is for Thyme Mustard and imparts a really great chicken flavor that will go with almost any sides you're serving.

To Smoke or to Bake

Adam has a Traeger and I like to put it to work whenever I can so I smoked this chicken. If you don't have access to one (or don't like smoked chicken), just use the oven! Besides adding smoke flavor, the brine adds most of the moisture to this dry brined chicken and relies less on the smoker than normal. Just preheat the oven to 400 and roast for 45 minutes, just like in the smoker.

I will definitely dry brine chicken for all of my future birds, smoked or baked. This was one of the moistest and most flavorful birds I have had in a long time. Plus it was super easy! Adam and I were out late last night with friends, plus I spent the day painting my table blue. I was really happy that all I needed to do was pop the bird in the oven to get lunch on the table.

Try dry brining all of your cuts of meat the day before cooking! It will add a depth of flavor to your meals that you haven't experienced before. I recommend checking out Roasted Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Thyme to see how this works in a one pan meal!

I can't wait for you to try this! Let me know what you think and what spices you used. I'd love to see your pictures so tag me @thatzestlife!

Don't throw away the chicken bones or the spine when you are done eating this delicious bird! Throw them in a bag in the freezer and when you have a whole chicken or two, make Chicken Bone Broth! It's super simple and a great base for soups and other dishes.

Recipe

We thought you might like these as well!