allenayres wrote:If you're injecting your chicken for competition, is there a reason to brine it as well? I'm wondering if I'm taking the chance to introducing flavors that may not work well together. I would think brining would basically be trying to do what I just did with the injection...
My last competition I could taste a flavor in the chicken I didn't turn in that reminded me of crawfish boil - not a strong flavor, but there in the background/after taste (possibly chili peppers in the rub?). About a year ago a buddy on another team had me taste his ribs - I got a strong crawfish boil flavor and he really didn't appreciate me saying so He did say he had some cayenne pepper in there. I need to practice more away from competition on the flavor profile I'm looking for. Crawfish boil ain't it
You could brine and inject, but yes all your flavors would have to work well together. If anything I would go with a simple brine, so there's less risk of flavors clashing. I think I know what you mean by a crawfish boil taste, I think it comes from not having enough sugar in your brine/injection. Not that you want to taste sweet but it helps balance out the salt.