I didn't realize that I thawed so much chicken to brine. I don't need half of it so is it safe to freeze the half portion again? It was thawed in salt water in room temperature for couple of hours and then put back into the fridge for one day for longer brining.
Chicken – Is it safe to thaw chicken to have it brined and then freeze again
briningchickenfood-safetyfreezing
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I suspect that the biggest problem here is that your brine isn't anywhere close to being strong enough. Cooks Illustrated has a good guide to the entire process but in a nutshell:
Sea salt is expensive and inefficient for brining; the impurities actually make it more difficult to dissolve and disperse properly. Kosher salt is generally recommended, although table salt is also fine.
A typical brine is 1/4 cup table salt and 1/2 cup sugar per quart, which translates to about 70 g and 140 g respectively per L. For very high-heat methods (grilling/broiling), you halve the amounts. Also, for kosher salt you need to double the volume (no change if measuring by weight). Even the lower, high-heat cooking concentration is almost twice as concentrated as what you're doing.
You also need to scale the amount of brine with the weight of the bird itself. The rule of thumb is 1 quart or L per pound (2.2 kg) of meat. For a whole chicken, which is generally around 6 or 7 pounds, 1.5 L of brine is nowhere near enough, especially if you're brining in a pot as opposed to a bag (does your 1.5 L even cover the chicken?).
It doesn't really matter if you butcher the chicken first (although most people don't). You're exposing slightly more surface area that way but not really enough to matter.
Make sure you are actually dissolving all the crystals! From what you're describing, you're getting high concentrations of salt in some areas and none in others. That means you didn't get proper dispersion. You really need to make sure that all of the salt (and sugar, if you're using any) is completely dissolved, otherwise you don't have a "brine", you have water with a bunch of little piles of salt. Some people will suggest heating or even boiling your brine to ensure proper dissolution; just make sure you let it cool off afterward if you do this, before submerging the bird.
In answer to your specific questions:
The container should be well-sealed to prevent evaporation, not to mention off-odours in your fridge. However, I've used pots with loose-fitting lids and had no problems. It doesn't make a huge difference as far as the efficacy of the brine.
Fridge temperature is ideal. Do not even think about using room-temperature water, that is highly unsafe for storing raw meat for 6-8 hours at a time.
As long as you don't overcrowd the vessel and do disperse the crystals properly, the actual amount of space is not a major issue. If it's exposed, it's exposed.
Longer than 12 hours is not recommended. Actually, according to CI, longer than 8 hours is not recommended. Don't overdo it - you're brining, not marinating.
No matter how you cook any piece of meat, it will give up a certain amount of water and therefore a certain amount of salt (from the brine). Left unstated is why you would even consider boiling a brined chicken; brining is primarily a technique for dry-heat cooking (roasting/grilling), and if you want to boil/poach/braise/whatever then you should be focusing more on flavouring the cooking liquid than the meat itself. I wouldn't bother brining if you're making chicken soup, there are better ways to flavour that.
How do you 'notice' when the brine hasn't reached certain areas?
Its easy to see if the brine is working and you're possibly just overcooking - weigh the bird pre and post brine, before cooking. If it weighs more, you've got the liquid.
A properly brined bird shouldn't taste like 'omg, thats salty!'. I think two things are going on here:
Your expectations may be off. Brining isn't magic. It just gives you more liquid in the bird so that when you cook some out there's more at the end. (It can enhance flavor if you add herbs & spices to the brine also).
You may just be overcooking the chicken. If you overcook it enough, the brine will appear to have done nothing - you've just cooked out all the juiciness you put it. Use a meat thermometer and make sure its 'just right'.
Brining definitely works though, and it shouldn't be overly bird specific.
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Best Answer
In this case I would err on the side of safety and advise against refreezing the chicken for one reason - it was thawed in water for a couple of hours. Had it been thawed in the refrigerator it would be perfectly safe to do so.
It is well documented that it is safe to refreeze both raw and cooked foods as long as they have been kept out of the danger zone. With some foods, however, there may be a loss in terms of taste and texture.
People refreeze food all the time without even realizing it. Here, in the US, 'fresh' meats are most often shipped to grocery stores in a frozen state and then thawed in the meat case or thawed before placing in the case. Chicken is most definitely one of those foods. Consumers buy it 'fresh" out of the case and take it home and (re)freeze it.
From The New York Times :
In this case, I would suggest that you cook the extra chicken, cool it quickly, and then freeze it for later use.