Corned chicken breast (chicken ham)

[FeChef]

Anyone try making some? I didnt find any recipes online that make use of nitrites/nitrates. I wanted that "ham-e" flavor so i used some morton tender quick that i had on hand. Morton says you can use it as a replacement for salt so i went with a 4% water/MTQ brine. I have a few boneless chicken breats soaking for two days so far. I am wondering if thats enough MTQ to give it that pink "ham" color or if i should up the percentage? Also, how many days should i cure them. They are not very thick breasts. At most 1 1/2 inches at the largest end.

 

Also, what do you think about adding some liquid smoke into the brine? To give it that smoked flavor.

[Anna N]

Anyone try making some? I didnt find any recipes online that make use of nitrites/nitrates. I wanted that "ham-e" flavor so i used some morton tender quick that i had on hand. Morton says you can use it as a replacement for salt so i went with a 4% water/MTQ brine. I have a few boneless chicken breats soaking for two days so far. I am wondering if thats enough MTQ to give it that pink "ham" color or if i should up the percentage? Also, how many days should i cure them. They are not very thick breasts. At most 1 1/2 inches at the largest end.

 

Also, what do you think about adding some liquid smoke into the brine? To give it that smoked flavor.

In the past I have made chicken ham although I know it by its Japanese name, Torihamu. There is a recipe on the Just Bentel blog, however, it does not call for any curing salts.

[FeChef]

I did look at a few recipes for Torihamu but to me they just sound like a salt brined chicken breast which i always do anyway. And thats not what i would call chicken ham and not the flavor im going for.

 

I am basicly going for something similar to deli smoked turkey breast or even better would be a real smoked whole turkey. But of course im trying this with chicken breast.

 

I just want to see what flavor and color using morton tender quick will produce on chicken. I am not sure if i used enough mtq though.

[rotuts]

Id like to see how this turns out.

 

thanks

[huiray]

I did a double-take when I read that you were using MTQ in your prep and that you also were not sure if you had used enough.  I thought that you must really need to get blissed out on this chicken ham... :-) ;-)

Edited September 6, 2014 by huiray (log)

[Norm Matthews]

I have used Tender Quick (1 tsp per pound) as part of a dry cure when making Canadian Bacon and allow seven days per inch to the center as curing time.  I don't know how different it might be for chicken and a wet cure.

 

When making corned beef brisket in a wet cure, I use canning salt and let it cure for up to two weeks but have had OK results after just one week.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I've always found that adding too much salt too soon gives me a hammy flavour that I'm generally not after.  Of course no pink.  For that I'd just salt fairly heavily then later sous vide to a nice low temperature.  Bingo - hammy and pink.  

[FeChef]

I did a double-take when I read that you were using MTQ in your prep and that you also were not sure if you had used enough.  I thought that you must really need to get blissed out on this chicken ham... :-) ;-)

Got any ludes?

[FeChef]

Id like to see how this turns out.

 

thanks

Well its either going to have a hammy flavor, or just taste like an extremely long brined chicken breast. Shouldnt taste too salty since its only 4%.

 

Im just curious if its enough to turn it pink. If you cure something long enough it will turn pink before cooking, but you can also cure something for a short amount of time and turn pink during cooking, for example, fake smoke ring on pork and beef.

Edited September 6, 2014 by FeChef (log)

[Martin Fisher]

It doesn't take much nitrite for pinkness and a ham-like flavor so the breast It should have a mild hammy flavor but dark meat is better for that.

Nothing wrong with adding some liquid smoke if you like that flavor.

[FeChef]

It doesn't take much nitrite for pinkness and a ham-like flavor so the breast It should have a mild hammy flavor but dark meat is better for that.

Nothing wrong with adding some liquid smoke if you like that flavor.

Well i do like the taste of processed deli meats like smoked turkey breast. If you read the label on the packages they do say smoke flavor added. Pretty sure thats liquid smoke. Just not sure how much and when to add it. Im thinking i probably should add it during the brine/curing.

[Martin Fisher]

Yeah, I would add a bit to the brine.

[FeChef]

Yeah, I would add a bit to the brine.

Thats the problem. I dont know how much liquid smoke to add. For the brine i used 500g water and 20g of MTQ.

[Martin Fisher]

Depends on personal preference, one teaspoon would be a good place to start.

[FeChef]

Depends on personal preference, one teaspoon would be a good place to start.

Sure why not. Just dumped a tsp in and shaked the bag around. I'll probably give it atleast another day soak.

[pbear]

What's the weight of the chicken?  That plus the water is what will determine how far the cure goes, i.e., the final salinity of the meat.

[Martin Fisher]

What's the weight of the chicken?  That plus the water is what will determine how far the cure goes, i.e., the final salinity of the meat.

 

...and time.

 

I prefer to do an equilibrium brine with injection for something like this....no guesswork...perfect every time.

[FeChef]

Two breasts each breast was probably 8oz or less. So 1lb in total.

[gfweb]

I've done a quick corned beef with thin meat eg bavette. Usual spiced nitrate rub but put overnight into SV bath immediately. In the morning it looks and tastes like traditional corned beef. Chicken breast would probably lend itself nicely to this method.

[pbear]

Two breasts each breast was probably 8oz or less. So 1lb in total.

 

As you doubtless realize, that works out to a 2% cure.  You can only ascertain whether this suits your palate by cooking the chicken.

[FeChef]

As you doubtless realize, that works out to a 2% cure.  You can only ascertain whether this suits your palate by cooking the chicken.

Math never was my strong suit. I was always under the impression that 1000g water for every 10g salt would equal a 1% sodium brine. I never took weight of protien to be brined into account.

[pbear]

Well, yes, that's how one calculates the strength of a brine.  But to calculate the cure, i.e., how much will be taken up by the protein, its weight has to be taken into account.  This isn't important for strong, quick brines, but it's essential for equilibrium brines, which is what you're doing here.  In fact, for something like this, you could eliminate the brine altogether, simply rubbing the chicken with the amount of cure you want it to absorb.  That's particularly handy if you're going to cook by SV/LT, as you can cure in the bag.

[FeChef]

The experiment was a sucess in terms of flavor. It did not turn pink for some reason. I suppose i did not add enough MTQ but there was enough MTQ to give it a "hammy" flavor. The tsp of liquid smoke was perfect amount. Next time i will add the liquid smoke from the beginning. I think i will also double the amount of MTQ next time. It was not too salty so i think doubling the MTQ would be in the perfect range. The long brine also gave the chicken a ham texture. Really all that was missing was the pink color.

[rotuts]

interesting indeed

 

I hope you continue to add to this tread as you continue to perfect  "Hammy Chicken"

 

Pics eventually ?

[FeChef]

interesting indeed

 

I hope you continue to add to this tread as you continue to perfect  "Hammy Chicken"

 

Pics eventually ?

I did not see a point to posting a pic since it just looks like a sous vide chicken breast. The muscle fibers are tight due to the brine/cure just like ham. But other then that, nothing really to showcase.