BBQ Chicken Wings - Brining Process Help

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I hope when you say hot that you mean room temperature and not hotter than that.

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Well it was hotter than room temp. I boiled several cups of water to melt the brown sugar/salt then threw in the wings herbs and added the water from the faucet. So it was hot/really warm.

For the sake of understanding why, I just want to know. Is bacteria the only reason why the brine needs to be at room temperature or cold water? Or is there more to it than that? Does the hot water affect the way the meat absorbs the brine at the same time?

Molecules move faster when the water is hot so I believe, speaking scientifically, warmer water can speed up brining, but it wouldn’t be a significant change.

This is the reasoning behind boiling the brine to mix it and so the molecules absorb into the solution. Heating the water helps that, but it’s not really needed if you don’t mind mixing by hand more.

I say brine needs to be room temperature or colder for bacteria. Room temp water really isn’t good for food safety, but it’s acceptable. Anything above room temp is unacceptable for food safety. For food safety, you want the brine the same temp as your fridge where you’re storing the chicken.

More than happy to discuss. Ask any questions you have.

24 hrs is too long for wings. Small chicken pieces don’t need to be brined for more than 12 hrs. For wings, I’d think you could get away with as little as 4 hrs of brining.

What are you not liking about the wings, just the salt? I agree that 24 hours may be too long in a salty brine.

There’s no need to dry wings before brining. You’re dropping them in water, why do they need to be dry?

Here’s what I suggest: 1 gallon water, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup salt, plus any other flavor you like. Mix together by hand in cold water. Don’t boil. Add the wings and brine them for 24 hours. Remove them, season them, and cook them. Try that out and see what you think.


Here’s why you use salt in a brine: the molecules in salt attach to the molecules in water AND the protein in the meat. Meaning, salt binds water to the meat. So brining with salt makes the meat hold water, which makes it juicer. But you don’t need a super salty brine to make this happen.

The meat can only physically hold a certain amount of water, so there’s really no worry about brining too long and getting too much water inside the meat. So cut back the salt and see what happens.

Just dry brine the wings. Heavily salt and let sit in fridge or counter top uncovered for an hour or so.

I “wet brined” some wings in a ziploc bag with a few tablespoons of pickle brine, salt, and Tony’s for an hour on July 4th. That was more than enough time to keep the chicken juicy on the grill.

Consider not brining your chicken wings.