| How to Brine Chicken Breast Posted: 06 Apr 2022 09:00 AM PDT Chicken is great all-purpose meat, but it can dry out easily when you cook it. Keep your chicken from drying out by brining it first. A good brine not only adds flavor to lean meats like chicken breasts, but also helps keep it juicy no matter how you cook it. Make a brine by dissolving salt, sugar, and seasonings in water and allow your chicken to sit in the mixture for a little while. Then, cook it to your liking. [Edit]Making a Basic Brine - Dissolve four tablespoons of salt into a quart of water. A brine, at its most basic level, is nothing more than salt dissolved in water. Different people like different ratios of salt in water, but a good ratio to start with is four tablespoons (about 60 grams) of salt for each quart (0.95 liters) of water. Add the salt to hot water and stir it until it has dissolved completely.[1]
- Generally, brines call for a coarse salt such as sea salt or kosher salt. Table salt will work, but you will need about a quarter less the amount of salt per quart.[2]
- A quart is enough to brine about one and a half pounds (680 g) of chicken.[3]
- Add two tablespoons of sugar. Not all brines require sugar, but it's a good idea for chicken. Sugar will help the outside of your chicken breasts brown and caramelize better when they cook. While your brine water is still warm, add about two tablespoons (30 g) of brown sugar to your brine, and stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.[4]
- Alternatively, other sweeteners like honey, agave syrup or maple syrup can be used within your brine.[5]
- Season your brine with pepper, lemon juice, garlic, and herbs. The exact seasoning you use will depend on what flavors you want in your chicken, but many brines have a few basic seasonings. You can use a combination of fresh or dried herbs, garlic, spices, and peppercorns.[6] A teaspoon (5 g) of black peppercorns, two to four peeled and smashed cloves of garlic, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and a bay leaf per quart of water will add some subtle flavor to your chicken.[7]
- Flavor your brine. Some brines should be flavored instead of seasoned. If you want your chicken to have a particular flavor once it is cooked, such as honey butter or hot and spicy, you can start building that flavor in your brine. There are a number of brine recipes in books and online to help you find your perfect flavor.[8]
[Edit]Enhancing Your Brine - Make a honey butter brine. For a sweet brine perfect for honey butter chicken, use the standard water to salt ratio. Instead of sugar, swap in an equal amount of honey. Season with whole peppercorns and fresh herbs such as thyme and rosemary to your liking.[9]
- Add a spicy flavor to your brine. Make a spicy brine by adding two to three seeded jalapeno or habanero peppers and a dash of smoked paprika to your basic water, sugar, and salt brine, along with garlic cloves and peppercorns to taste.[10]
- Brine your chicken using beer. If you are going to roast your chicken, make a standard brine but substitute one cup (237 ml) of stout beer in your solution. Add a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce and use maple syrup or molasses instead of sugar in equal parts.[11]
- Cool the brine before adding in the chicken. Never add a warm brine to your chicken. That creates a perfect environment for bacteria to thrive. Allow your brine to cool until it is room temperature, or pop it in the fridge to cool it off faster. Alternatively, you can also add ice to cool the brine down quicker.[12]
[Edit]Adding Chicken to the Brine - Trim fat and tendons off your chicken. You can put your chicken in a brine fresh or frozen. Before you brine, though, prepare your breasts by trimming away any fat or tendons. Fat is typically a white or creamy color and will be around the edges of the breast, while tendons will be tough, reddish spots.[13]
- Put your chicken in a pan or bag. You can put your chicken in either a large, shallow pan or a sealable bag to brine. If you choose to put your chicken in a pan, lay the breasts out side-by-side, making sure they do not overlap.[14]
- Add your brine. Pour your brine into your container over your chicken. There should be enough brine to completely submerge your chicken. Seal your bag and roll it lightly to get your brine into all areas of the chicken. If your meat is in a pan or dish, cover it with foil or cling wrap.
- Put your chicken in the refrigerator and allow it to rest in the brine. The longer your chicken rests, the juicier and more flavorful it will be when you cook. Brine your chicken for an hour for every pound of meat.
- Larger chicken breasts or large quantities of chicken may be brined overnight to get the best flavor and texture.
- You can quickly brine your chicken by splitting it up into half-pound (227 g) servings and letting each one soak in their own dish or bag for one and a half to two hours.[15]
- Remove your chicken and pat it dry. Once you brined your chicken, remove it and let it rest on a plate for at least five minutes. This allows the excess juices to drain off your chicken breasts. Then, use a paper towel and gently pat away any excess moisture from the breast's surface.[16]
- Some people choose to rinse their chicken after brining it. This helps keep the chicken juicy and leaves a more mild flavor.
[Edit]Cooking Your Brined Chicken - Grill chicken immediately out of the brine. Grilling brined chicken gives the meat a crispy outside and a tender, juicy inside. Cook your chicken on medium-high heat of 375 to 450°F (190 to 230°C) until the outside of your chicken is golden-brown and the inside is up to a temperature of 165° Fahrenheit (75° Celsius).[17]
- Working over direct heat, chicken breasts can cook quickly. There is no set time for grilling chicken, though. Just be sure to check the inside and make sure it is cooked fully.
- Bake tender chicken breasts. Baked chicken often comes out dry. Brined chicken, though, typically comes out juicy and tender after the baking process. Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C) and season the chicken with salt, pepper, and other seasonings to taste. Then, place the breasts in a greased dish and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, or until your chicken reaches 165°F (74°C) internally.[18]
- You can use a meat thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of your chicken. If the outside is cooking too fast, turn the temperature down to 400°F (204°C).
- Fry your chicken. Much like baking, frying can dry out chicken. Brining helps keep the breasts tender. Batter the chicken in your favorite batter and deep fry in oil that has been heated to about 350°F (176.6°C) for five to seven minutes on each side, depending upon the thickness of your cuts.[19]
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| How to Grow Bell Peppers Posted: 06 Apr 2022 01:00 AM PDT Bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) can be a delicious addition to any dish. If you or your family eats a lot of bell peppers, consider growing your own! You can grow bell peppers from seeds, or you can purchase transplants. Either way, you will have soon delicious, homegrown bell peppers that you can be proud of. [Edit]Growing Bell Peppers from Seed - Consider growing bell peppers from seed. While a number of garden centers sell specimens ready for transplanting, bell peppers are relatively easy to grow from seed. Although green, red, yellow, and orange are the most common colors, gardeners also have the option of growing dark brown and purple pepper varieties.
- Some fast ripening varieties can produce fruit in as little as two months but others may need over three months before they begin to flower.
- Choose a starting time depending on your local climate. Most bell pepper plants should be started indoors about two months before the frost-free date. Southern gardeners, and gardeners in warm climates with a lengthy growing season, may choose to wait and start their plants outside instead. However, this will naturally affect how soon the plants start producing fruit.
- Plant the seeds in a light-layer of soil. The bell pepper seeds will need to be lightly covered with soil, then watered. The seedlings should make an appearance within a week or two.
- Ensure that the seeds are warm enough. Bell pepper seeds do need a warm period in order to germinate. Plant them in the warm season. By doing this, you can provide bell peppers the right temperature and enough sunlight.[1] Ambient air temperatures of over 80° Fahrenheit (26.6° Celsius) and slightly warmer soil temperatures are recommended for good results.
- Seeds that are slow to sprout may benefit from the use of heating mats.
- Gardeners should note that the plants will not sprout at all if temperatures are below 55° Fahrenheit (12.7° C).
- Try to prevent the seedlings from growing too tall and spindly. Seedlings grown indoors need strong light to keep them from becoming tall and spindly. Bad growth at a young stage can affect their overall health and lead to floppy transplants.
- If this is the case no matter what you do, these tiny seedlings can be staked using thin bamboo or wood skewers and tied in place using plain string.
- Harden off indoor seedlings before re-planting outdoors. In areas where pepper plants cannot be directly started outdoors, it is a good idea to harden them off once temperatures are regularly over 60° Fahrenheit (15.5° C) at night.
- Replant the seedlings into containers once they have grown their first true leaves. Bell peppers do well in containers. They can reach up to in height and width, so gardeners should select a pot that measures about in depth to keep them from being overcrowded.
- Ensure that the seedlings are exposed to the correct growing conditions. These plants require full sun growing conditions and well-drained, fertile soil. They are relatively drought resistant if they are not grown in very small pots.
- Bell peppers can grow well around tomatoes, carrots, eggplants, corns, and cucumbers. Do not plant them near cabbage-related or apricot-related plants because they may develop some fungal disease that may affect their life cycle.[2]
[Edit]Caring for Bell Peppers - Use black plastic or mulch to control weeds. The former material is also a good way to speed pepper growth in cool climate areas.
- Gardeners in warm climates will want to stick to mulch because it helps conserve moisture and protects the plants' roots from hot temperatures.
- Fertilize the bell pepper plants. These plants benefit from an addition of slow release granular fertilizer, such as Osmocote, or organic varieties, like those made with fish meal or alfalfa.
- However, if one has leafy green plants and no peppers, gardeners should probably cut back on the nitrogen fertilizer.[3] This element is known for producing lush, fruitless plants.
- Wait for the bell peppers to ripen before picking. Almost all bell peppers start off green and eventually ripen to the desired color in about two weeks, though some types can take as long as a month for the right color to develop.
- Tall varieties may need to be staked to support the fruit and keep the plants from falling over while the fruit grows and ripens.
- Protect the bell pepper plant from sudden drops in temperature. Wire cages wrapped with plastic were mentioned in Mother Earth News article the author read as a good way to insulate tomato seedlings against sudden drops in temperature. Another way to prevent seedling from getting too cold is to use bell jars (hot caps).
- These devices were originally made from glass but now are more likely to be made from leftover plastic milk or soda bottles.
- Save the pepper seeds for future planting. Pepper seeds can be saved for up to two years under ideal conditions. This means that growers will not have to purchase seed annually if they store the leftovers in a dark, dry location to keep them from sprouting prematurely.
- Get rid of used plants. Once the first chill of winter sets in, gardeners can harvest the remaining fruit and then dig the plants up. Specimens that are not diseased are good candidates for the compost bin.
- Diseased plants can be bagged up and left with the trash to prevent the disease from spreading.
[Edit]Dealing with Pests and Problems - Use Epsom salts to encourage the plant to bear fruit. Peppers that are having difficulty bearing fruit in warm weather may benefit from being spritzed with a combination of 1 quart water and 1 teaspoon Epsom salts.
- Another idea is to place a tablespoon of Epsom salts in the ground at the base of the pepper plant and cover the material over with dirt so that it can soak in.[4]
- Use calcium to deal with blossom end rot. Should gardeners end up with fruits that are black at the ends, a condition known as blossom end rot, they will need to find a way to add more calcium to their soil. The simplest way to do this is by watering affected pepper plants with any milk that expires in the fridge.
- Small amounts of soured milk can be mixed up with water if there wouldn't be enough to use on every plant.
- Spray the plant with water or insecticides to get rid of aphids. Aphids are a typical garden pest that can be removed temporarily by a hard spray of water. Organic gardeners may want to try these bugs with neem or pyrethrum based sprays.
- Repeated applications may be necessary as these garden menaces are especially hard to eradicate.
- You can stake them higher from the ground to keep them away from pests.[5]
- Protect your plants from cold or hot temperatures. Temperatures below 65° or above 95° can keep peppers from producing fruit. If it is just a minor cold spell or heat wave, they will resume production once it has passed.
- Keep in mind that cold temperatures are especially bad for the health of peppers. Those exposed to extremely chilly weather may not recover from the experience, so it may be advisable to bring them indoors until the temperatures have warmed back up.
- Harvest the bell peppers when they are fully grown and cook them or store them in freezer.
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