Hot Pepper Juice Brine

I have been making hot pepper relish with the bounty of my garden.  My neighbor also has been bringing me peppers.  After grinding and draining the peppers, I was left with lot of pure hot pepper juice.  I consider myself a pretty good researcher, but the internet did not turn up much in the way of what to do with the pure, 100% hot pepper juice.

In the vacuum of information, I elected to be intrepid and brine a chicken in nothing but this unadulterated hot pepper juice as a stand in for water and a salt/sugar additive to constitute a brine.  My expectation is that I would have an inedible mess on my hands.  But as the whole chicken was about $5, a culinary disaster would not equate to a financial disaster.

Method:  Combine 4ish cups of pure hot pepper juice with 3/4 cup salt (Kosher) and 3/4 cup brown sugar.  (I used about 1.5ish cups to dissolve the sugar salt for the brine).  I added 2 bay leaves, olive oil (.25ish cups) and garlic powder (indeteriminate-ish measure).

Verdict:  Succulent, delicious and spicy on the outside.  But not an untoward spiciness which I was fully expecting.  In fact, there was nothing "spicy" about the dish as a hole, which fully surprised me.  The juice made a great brine without any surprising side effects that would detract from the dish.  If anything, the chicken had a deepened, though indeterminately jalepeno, flavoring.

Who knew?

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