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    Seasoned Sprinkles

    Celebrating life with food and a sprinkle of fun

    ♥ Home♥Cooking♥Apple Cider Brined Chicken

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken

    by Nathan

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe
    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this brining technique to make the perfectly brined, moist Thanksgiving Turkey.
    How to Brine the Perfect Bird. How to Brine Turkey. How to Brine Chicken. Follow this brining technique to make the perfectly brined, moist Thanksgiving Turkey.

    It’s that season again. Weather is turning colder. We’re all starting to look for one pot, hot meals. And Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we know it bringing festive desserts. Meaning, it is not too early to start thinking about preparing that turkey. If you have never tried brining or are looking for a new recipe to try, brining the perfect bird can be as easy as it is delicious. This apple cider brined chicken is no exception.

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this technique to make the perfect brined Turkey this Thanksgiving.

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this technique to make the perfect brined Turkey this Thanksgiving.

    Let’s stop here for a moment. You may be asking yourself, if you have never tried a brine, what is the benefit of a brine? Well, first, it makes the bird juicier. Yes, done right, the brine bath actually makes the dry breast meat much juicer. And I think we have all been there when a turkey has been a bit too dry and tasteless, which brings us to the next point.

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this technique to make the perfect brined Turkey this Thanksgiving.

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this technique to make the perfect brined Turkey this Thanksgiving.

    Brining the perfect bird adds flavor. Brine is not just liquid and salt. No. It is much more than that. Brining adds flavor. Lots of flavor.

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this technique to make the perfect brined Turkey this Thanksgiving.

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this technique to make the perfect brined Turkey this Thanksgiving.

    Turkey is like chicken to us in our house. We are not huge fans of it. And, we demand that the turkey and chicken meat are as flavorful as possible. So, many years back, we started playing around with brining our birds. Whenever we cook a roast chicken or turkey, we always brine it for a day or two ahead of time. But the process of brining takes less than ten minutes and could be done with children under foot.

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this technique to make the perfect brined Turkey this Thanksgiving.

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this technique to make the perfect brined Turkey this Thanksgiving.

    Sadly, the Goose had too many other things going on this week than to worry about helping dad prepare a chicken for dinner this week. She was obsessed with her “train ride. Goose.” Every few minutes, up until our train ride, she would ask about “train ride” adding a different name of a family member going with her.

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this technique to make the perfect brined Turkey this Thanksgiving.

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this technique to make the perfect brined Turkey this Thanksgiving.

    Although she definitely did not help make the chicken, she definitely helped to eat it. And the apple cider brined chicken this week was particularly good with a lightly sweet flavor from the cider. Plus it was fall of the bone tender and the cider made for some particularly flavorful gravy that all of us loved including the Goose.

    apple-cider-brined-chicken-4

    Apple Cider Brined Chicken. Follow this technique to make the perfect brined Turkey this Thanksgiving.

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    Brining The Perfect Bird


    • Prep Time: 10 minutes
    • Total Time: 10 minutes
    Print Recipe
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    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 5–10 pound chicken/turkey
    • 1/2 gallon apple cider
    • 4–6 whole cloves of garlic
    • 2 Tablespoons garlic powder
    • 2 Tablespoons mustard seeds
    • 2 Tablespoons black pepper
    • 6 Tablespoons salt
    • 4 bay leaves
    • 2 Tablespoons cinnamon powder
    • 2 Tablespoons thyme

    Instructions

    1. Mix all ingredients (except the bird) in a large bowl (or clean bucket).
    2. Add your bird.
    3. Let sit for at least overnight, but 24 to 48 hours would be ideal.
    4. Drain the brine.
    5. Place bird on it’s breast and bake at 325 for 30 minutes per pound. Bake until the internal temperature reaches 165.

    Notes

    *** Please note: if you are using a much larger bird, consider doubling the recipe. At minimum, you want to make sure you have enough liquid to cover the entire bird.

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    Filed Under: Cooking, Dinner Ideas, Fall Favorites, Main Dishes, Meat and Poultry Tagged With: apple cider brined chicken, chicken, how to brine a bird, how to brine chicken, how to brine turkey, roast chicken, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving recipe, turkey

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      Recipe Review

      1. Amber says

        I have never used cider before. This looks amazing though!!

        Reply
      2. Aileen (Aileen Cooks Blog) says

        Wow. This sounds delicious! We take turns hosting Thanksgiving and this is not our year (thank goodness because I have a newborn), but I’m adding this to my list for next year.

        Reply
      3. The Golden Girl Diary says

        This looks so yummy! I want to try!

        xo, Amanda | http://www.thegoldengirldiary.com

        Reply
      4. Sharon says

        I really need to start brining my poultry. I never do it, but only because I am lazy. I think this year might be the year! Do you still baste the bird while it’s cooking?

        Reply
        • Nathan Horst says

          Yes, I baste the bird occasionally though it’s a bit redundant. Between brining and cooking the bird breast down, the bird would be juicy even without basting.

          Reply
      5. Mary says

        this looks delicious! And I’m definitely the type to not help cook but help eat too. Lol.

        Reply
      6. Shannon says

        This looks amazing!!

        Reply
        • Nathan Horst says

          Thank you!

          Reply
      7. Lora says

        I’m for anything with apple cider 🙂 This looks delicious!!

        Reply
        • Nathan Horst says

          Thank you!

          Reply
      8. linda says

        Lovely bird! Pinned 🙂

        Reply
        • jfletcher says

          Thank you Linda!

          Reply
      9. Melissa says

        We always brine our turkey for Thanksgiving, and this sounds so delicious!! We are often doing whole chickens for dinner on Sunday and stretching for a couple of quick meals, I would love to try this brine next time!

        Reply
        • jfletcher says

          We do the whole chickens pretty often and get a few meals out of it too. Especially now that the weather has cooled. Hope you try it and love it.

          Reply
      10. lesley sullivan says

        I’ve heard great things about brining a chicken/turkey. I’ve never tried it, but now I’m inspired to do so:)

        Reply
        • jfletcher says

          I hope you give it a try Lesley! It’s super easy and really does make for a moist, flavorful bird.

          Reply
      11. Brittany says

        Oh wow! This looks so yummy!

        Reply
        • jfletcher says

          Thank you!

          Reply
      12. Meghan says

        This looks like such a wonderful fall recipe!!

        Meghan | BeyondBasicBlog.com

        Reply
        • jfletcher says

          Thank you! It smelled very fall-y while it was cooking.

          Reply
      13. Andrea Bai says

        That looks so good! I never thought to brine in apple cider before!

        Glam Hungry Mom

        Reply
        • jfletcher says

          It really added to the flavor! I hope you try it some time.

          Reply
      14. tasha says

        This looks and sounds delicious!!!

        Reply
        • jfletcher says

          So delicious! It was one of the best roasts we’ve had.

          Reply

      Trackbacks

      1. Blood Orange Roast Chicken - Seasoned Sprinkles Seasoned Sprinkles says:
        February 17, 2017 at 11:16 am

        […] not all that excited. He didn’t understand my taste vision even though he really liked our apple cider brined chicken. See, when I plan what recipes I will make, we sit down and talk about what I want to share on the […]

        Reply
      2. Homemade Apple Cider 3 Ways Stovetop Crockpot Instant Pot - Seasoned Sprinkles says:
        September 19, 2020 at 12:35 am

        […] Apple Cider Chicken […]

        Reply

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