In recent years, several preenrichment media have been shown to be effective for use in the recovery of sublethally injured Salmonella organisms. Selective enrichment without preenrichment has resulted in a lower recovery of organisms, particularly with regard to injured or stressed salmonellae. The present experiments compared the ability of nonselective preenrichment followed by selective enrichment or direct selective enrichment alone to recover chlorine-injured Salmonella organisms. Additionally, the Salmonella detection limits of the two enrichment methods were compared with minimal infectious dose in neonatal chicks. In three experiments, Salmonella enteritidis cells were exposed to chlorine for specific times and subsequently cultured by using preenrichment followed by selective enrichment or selective enrichment alone. Simultaneously, neonatal chicks were orally challenged with S. enteritidis cells from each exposure time to chlorine. The results indicated a marginal, but significantly (P < 0.05) higher level of recovery of sublethally injured salmonellae by using nonselective preenrichment followed by selective enrichment, as compared to selective enrichment alone. Interestingly, both culture methods were capable of detecting injured S. enteritidis cells at levels incapable of infecting neonatal chicks.