Chicken Brine Recipe For Smoking

An easy smoked chicken brine recipe that uses common ingredients but gives the perfect flavor for smoked poultry!

This brine made out of warm water, brown sugar, salt, garlic, and onion, is a MUST when we make cornish hens on the smoker or smoke any type of whole chicken for a major flavor boost and how to keep it juicy and give it extra moisture! This brine combined with the smoke flavor is absolutely delicious!

Jump to:

What is a chicken brine?
Why you'll love this brine
How to Make this Flavorful Brining Solution
Do you rinse chicken after brining?
Side Dishes for Smoking Meat
Smoked Chicken Brine

What is a chicken brine?

Brine is a combination of salt and water, and is a great way to make chicken tender and more flavorful but it doesn't have to stop there! Add fresh herbs, spices, and other ingredients to help enhance the flavor even more!

Why you'll love this brine

This recipe is easy and it uses ingredients that you probably already have on hand! Although we use it most of the time for smoking, a brine solution also works great to marinate chicken if baking or grilling. After testing a few different versions, we've found this is the best brine to use for chicken!

Use it for all types of chicken or poultry such as:

cornish hens
chicken wings
chicken breast
tenderloins
chicken legs
roaster chickens
whole chickens
chicken halves
chicken thighs

Should I brine chicken before smoking?

No, you don't have to but it makes a BIG difference in flavor and can help the chicken stay moist and not dry out as much during the smoking process. A brine is highly recommended for best results!

Can you brine chicken too long?

Yes. You can, because it can make it too salty if your brine has a lot of salt in it (as most do) and the texture of the chicken can become mushy if it sits in it for too long.

How long to brine chicken?

Timing can depend on the type of chicken and how long to brine it. For instance, a chicken breast may not need as long to brine as a whole chicken. A good gauge to go by is:
– 2 hours for skinless chicken breasts
– 4 hours for bone-in chicken
– 8 hours to 24 hours for a whole, roaster chicken

How to Make this Flavorful Brining Solution

I've found that these are my favorite ingredients for a smoked cornish hen brine (small chickens) but it also works well for other chicken as well!

What you'll need for this brine: (see full recipe card with details and measurements below.)

warm water
white onion (or yellow if that's what you have on hand!)
kosher salt (table salt will work too)
brown sugar
minced garlic (I prefer this over cloves but you can chop garlic cloves if you like)

Collage of chicken brine, brown sugar, garlic, salt, onion

Start by adding warm water to a large pot (big enough for about a gallon of water and still big enough to leave room for the raw meat once it's placed in).
Next, pour in brown sugar
Salt
Minced garlic
Stir to dissolve sugar and salt
Add in white onions
Now it's ready for your chicken and the brining process! (If you used HOT water, make sure it cools off a bit before adding the chicken. You don't want to "cook" the chicken in the brine with hot water. Warm is best.)
Place chicken in brine, and cover pot with lid, aluminum foil or plastic wrap and place the pot with the chicken and brine in the refrigerator and let it marinate in the brine (see post for time length depending on type of chicken).

Chicken brine recipe for smoker - chicken in pot soaking — Chickens in brine

Do you rinse chicken after brining?

This is optional. If you prefer crispy skin, you can wash the brined chicken, pat dry with paper towels, put the chicken on a tray, and place it back in the refrigerator for an hour or so to help the skin dry out a bit.
NOTE: remove the chicken from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking to allow the chicken to become closer to room temperature so it will cook more evenly.

Discard excess brine.

Season with your favorite chicken dry rub recipe and smoke according to your favorite smoked chicken recipe for tons of flavor!

Side Dishes for Smoking Meat

If you're smoking chicken, then you'll love this secret recipe side salad, smoked stuffed mushrooms, and this Amish potato salad!

We love using the smoker, so make sure you check out the other dinners made with a smoker, so you can add them to your favorite list of ideas!

smoked bird recipe

Smoked Chicken Brine

An easy smoked chicken brine recipe that uses common ingredients but gives the perfect flavor for smoked poultry!

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 0 mins

Total Time 5 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 1 gallon

Calories 948 kcal

▢ 1 gallon warm water NOT hot
▢ 1 white onion sliced in to quarters
▢ 1/2 cup kosher salt table salt is ok too
▢ 1 cup brown sugar
▢ 1/3 cup minced garlic

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Start by adding warm water to a large pot (big enough for about a gallon of water and still big enough to leave room for the raw meat once it's placed in).
Next, pour in brown sugar, salt, and minced garlic, and stir to dissolve sugar and salt.
Add in white onions.
Place chicken in brine, and cover pot with lid, aluminum foil or plastic wrap and place the pot with the chicken and brine in the refrigerator and let it marinate in the brine (see recipe notes and post for tips and time length depending on type of chicken).

Can you brine chicken too long?

Yes. You can, because it can make it too salty if your brine has a lot of salt in it (as most do) and the texture of the chicken can become mushy if it sits in it for too long.

How long do you brine chicken?

Keywords brine recipe, chicken brine, smoked chicken brine

Let us know how it was!

If you made chicken using this brine recipe, I'd love it if you could help others know your thoughts by leave a star review above in the recipe card!