I've been researching poultry brines on the internet and the salt and sugar quantities are all over the place. I'm wanting to brine a few whole chickens overnight but I don't want to over do the salt. So what works for you guys that do this.

Tagging for help making hate chicken at home...

I usually use 1 cup kosher salt per gallon of water. Think it's suppose to be about 5-6%. Never had any issues. These days I basically just dry brine everything.

Pop's brine

I use a cup per gallon as well. It wont be to salty. Just rinse the chicken then oat it dry.

Taste the brine. It should be sweet and salty but not too much of either.

I made 3 quarts of brine using 3/4 cup each of sea salt and sugar. I added some bay leaves, about 1/2 tsp each of marjoram, sage, coriander, cracked black pepper, and crushed red pepper.
I put a whole chicken in each of two gallon size freezer bags and filled the rest of the bags with as much brine as they would hold. Put bags on a large pot to contain any potential leakage & put pot in the fridge. I’ll let you guys know how it turns out.

Edited to add:
The chicken turned out well. It was very moist and tender but I think I can get buy with less salt. Next time I'll go with 1/2 cup per gallon. The sugar was just right.

1 cup of Kosher or sea salt (no iodine) per gallon
I do an apple cider brine using cheap juice or concentrate, 1 pint molasses, 1 cup brown sugar, whole bay leaves, whole blk pepper, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and whole cloves. Now you can heat this all up, it will help bring all the flavors out if you do, or just mix it up and go. I do both depending on my schedule.

Some ask why the molasses, well it gives a nice flavor, plus it will help brown the skin some. It doesn't darken the meat just the skin.

I will normally do 6 or more at a time since I have a big smoker. I dump it all in a 5 gallon bucket 2-3 gallons of brine and fill it with chickens using a weight to keep them under. Let this go for 12-24 hours. I will normally go 24 for better flavor but really only 6-8 for the brine to take hold. I will remove them, tuck the wings, truss the legs through the fat, allow them to drain 30 minutes or so and put them on the smoker.  

Normally when I smoked like this it was in the winter/fall when temps were pretty cool. I partially thawed my chicken too. I opened the cavity and removed the gizzards bag/neck and while they were still stiff I put them down into the brine. I just covered the bucket and left it in the garage. It would still be cold the next day as the salt help keep the temps low.

I use nowhere near that much salt.  Not even 1/4 cup per gallon.  I tend to use soy sauce too, but really not enough to approach that salt level.  I also add a bit of ACV or white vinegar.

Last weekend I brined chicken in ginger ale with shredded ginger, garlic powder, and soy sauce. 48 hours.  I smoked some, and air fried some.  It was very good.

@ElrodCod

OP, THIS is what you're looking for. NO sugar, and not too much salt.

Stick to the brining times in the recipe. It's all I use anymore. And no need for overnight brine.

https://lousmostexcellent.blogspot.com/2009/04/lous-most-excellent-chicken-brine.html

"Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Lou's Most Excellent Chicken Brine

Use this brine for your chicken prior to cooking, unless the chicken is to be used in a sauced based dish. The meat stays tender and moist while the addition of the veggies and herbs enhances the flavor of chicken so it’s not “just chicken.” This recipe makes enough brine for a whole roasting chicken. If just doing a few parts you can easily halve it.

Chicken brined like this tastes great coming off the grill, especially if you’ve thrown some hickory into the fire.

Many brines call for the addition of sugar, the theory being the sugar helps crisp the skin. I say that’s bullshit and hence no sugar."

More at the link.

I use equal parts apple juice and chicken broth,  then add a bbq rub, disolve it and add chicken whole or parts for a couple hours to overnight refrigerate, remove and coat with rub of your choice.  Everything has salt in it so no need to add anymore.

Equal parts salt and sugar, then a correct ratio of h2o

1 cup of water

1 heaping tablespoon of salt and sugar (I usually use raw cane sugar but white works fine)

Juice of 3 lemons, zest of 1

As much garlic as you think you need, then double it(6-12 cloves depending on size, sliced. Leave pieces fairly large).

1 cup of diced green onions.

Herbage as you desire. I usually go one of two routes, cilantro (lime can be added to the mix if you go for cilantro) or a combination of basil, thyme, parsley, and oregano. roughly 1/2 cup total to your liking.

Soak chicken in the mix 2 to 4 hours mixing at least once per half hour. Do not rinse after removing from brine.

Make sure you pick off pieces of garlic, it will burn on grill or under broiler.

Good stuff. One of the few recipes I regularly follow. Works well with pork chops too.

This sounds really good.  Thanks for sharing

1 cup of water seems a little on the low side.

It scales up. Used a double recipe on almost 2 whole cut up birds. 4 wings, 4 leg quarters, 2 breast. If you squeeze out all the air, it goes farther than you would think

5 gallon bucket of water
1 box of Morton salt
1 c whole black pepper
1 bunch of thyme
1 bunch sage
1 c dry bay leaf


Take 1 gallon of water bring it to a boil add your salt and dissolve. Add the rest of ingredients and let sit. It should look like a nice iced tea.

Strain into 5 gallon bucket. Add 3 gallons of cold water and 1 gallon of ice and your good to go.

This brine is what I used at my restaurant for chicken breast and it’s a short brine so chicken breast would take 2 hrs.
Whole chickens you can go over night

We would then season lightly with salt and pepper and roast.

Hope this helps.