I’m in charge of cooking thanksgiving this year - wife is getting surgery on 11/25 to fix a partially cut tendon in her shin... She’ll be part zombie - doc will graft in cadaver tendon. But that’s not the point of this post.

We’ve been doing standing prime rib roasts the past few years. Daughter asked for turkey this year.

I’ve heard lots about “brining” turkey to keep it moist. Research shows recipes for “dry” and “wet” brining - basically, rub with salt, or soak in salt water.

Seems that “dry” brining is the way to go. Some suggest > 24 hours, provided you cover the bird to keep skin from drying out excessively.

So, as any competent SigForum-ite would do - I ask for advice, comments, or tips from the assembled expertise.


Thanks in advance.

I do wet brine. Peppercorns, orange zest and slices, crushed garlic, chopped onion, lots of thyme, some rosemary,

Put above in bath of salt/brown sugar. Let sit overnight to 24hrs.

I’m leery of this trendy new “dry” brining crap, I guess I’m just old school.

You want to do a real (AKA liquid) brine which can be be as simple as kosher salt and water or more elaborate with various spices and garlic etc.

You’ll want a large stock pot big enough to submerge the turkey and then use 4-5 small salad or dessert plates to hold it down in the brine.

Brands such as Butterball are already brined. Per the Butterball label, "Contains up to 8% of a solution of Water, Salt, Spices, and Natural Flavor." IMO, you're just pissing away your time and spices if you wet brine something with that on the label. This brine injection is what they mean by butterball (i.e. they're not injecting butter). BTW, if you truly want to butterball a turkey wait until the meat hits 90F (above butter's melt point) and inject with melted butter.

I'm assuming your ultimate goal is a moist, tender turkey so I recommend:

take that God awful pop-up temperature probe and throw it in the garbage or at a Chicago Bears fan.

cook to temperature not time with a leave in digital remote readout probe thermometer. You don't have to break the bank either as ThermoWorks' DOT is AmazingRibs.com platinum medal rated.

Speaking of cooking to temperature, the USDA changed the safe poultry temperature to 165F nearly a decade ago (i.e. it's no longer 180F). When I was in Can-eh-duh, a group of us expats got together for American TG. The turkey hit 165 at the time they said dinner would be served, but they insisted on following their cookbook given to them on their wedding 20 years ago so we waited an additional hour for dried out 180F turkey.

combine the above with spatchcocking a turkey. No cavity so even heat on both sides of the meat and cooks faster which means it doesn't have time to get dried out. First time I did it, I pulled my Maverick probe and it was so juicy that it shot juice a foot.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

https://www.seriouseats.com/20...en-thanksgiving.html

Has served me well for many holidays. Read it and read again, then follow.

Lopez Alt is like Alton Brown, without the charm or, wit. Spot on advice, get his cook book too.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
https://www.seriouseats.com/20...en-thanksgiving.html

Has served me well for many holidays. Read it and read again, then follow.

Lopez Alt is like Alton Brown, without the charm or, wit. Spot on advice, get his cook book too.

Yup - that is what I found.

Any ideas on whether > 24 hrs is worth it?

Dry brine is the way to go. I will not cook poultry without doing it.

The thought of brining making the meat juicer is a myth that has been thoroughly disproved.

Brine is for adding flavor.

Wet brine can do this but it's labor intensive.

Dry brine is simple. Salt the meat (not just the skin) thoroughly with coarse salt. Let it sit in the fridge uncovered overnight. The skin drying out is a good thing as it helps make it crispy.

The salt draws moisture out of the meat which then dissolves the salt. Osmotic pressure then sucks the moisture back into the meat bringing the salt with it and flavoring the meat all the way through. When you check the meat the next day, all of the salt will be completely gone and there should be little to no juice at the bottom of the plate/container.

When it comes to bang for the buck you can't beat dry brine.

We have wet brined for years. Seems to make a more moist turkey.
Sometimes we add some sliced orange and/ or lemon, whole peppercorns, rosemary and other poultry type seasoning (whatever you have), apple juice for part of the liquid (1 quart).
Any type of brining I think helps whether it is plain or deluxe.

quote:

Originally posted by Scurvy:
Dry brine is the way to go. I will not cook poultry without doing it.

The thought of brining making the meat juicer is a myth that has been thoroughly disproved.

Brine is for adding flavor.

Umm...where you you getting THAT notion from? REAL aka wet brines drive moisture into the meat via osmosis so you are way off base here.

“Dry” brining is nothing more than a salty dry rub, which I agree is for flavor only.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Brands such as Butterball are already brined. Per the Butterball label, "Contains up to 8% of a solution of Water, Salt, Spices, and Natural Flavor." IMO, you're just pissing away your time and spices if you wet brine something with that on the label.

Agreed

This is what I have been using for years -

https://www.spicehunter.com/pr...iginal-turkey-brine/

The only difference is it is now in the pouch instead of the jar, and I will brine it for up to 48 hours and then inject it with some cajun butter and then put it on the smoker for a hot & fast cook.

I’ve used a wet brine for years and will again this year. Lots of great options discussed above- I’ve used the food lab, Alton Brown, and Costco brines all with equal success. My best tip - use one of those five gallon water coolers (insulated plastic cylinder with the spout on the bottom). They are inexpensive and reusable but, most importantly, they don’t leak raw turkey juice or take up space in your refrigerator. Just put a ziplock bag full of ice on top of the bird (so not to dilute the brine) and stick it outside or in your garage.

Yup, dry brine per Serious Eats. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is a food genius; I love his research and writing!

Dry brining does more than just season. This article explains the chemistry. Personally, I feel no need to deal with the slop and bother of wet brining again. Not to mention it's wasteful as heck.
https://thegrillinglife.com/ho...es-dry-brining-work/

I don’t wet brine because it changes the texture to something I don’t like

I will dry rub then cook

I've been using Cookshack's brining 101 for at least five years running and it's a hit every year. Everything you need to know and other things you didn't know you needed to know about brining here...
https://cookshack.com/blogs/recipes/brining-101

I smoke my bird every year and last year's turkey was the best ever.

SMOKIN’ OKIE’S HOLIDAY TURKEY BRINE:
Ingredients:
1 gallon water
1 cup coarse Kosher salt
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons black pepper
3 - 4 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon Allspice
1 oz. Morton’s Tenderquick (optional)
Instructions:
Heat water/salt/sugars to rolling boil. Take off burner, add other ingredients. Allow mixture to cool before placing meat into solution.
Place 10 - 12 lb. turkey in non-reactive container and cover with brine. Refrigerate for minimum of 24 hours, preferably 48 hours.

Turkey smoking 101...
https://cookshack.com/blogs/recipes/turkey-101

Last year's bird...





If you decide to smoke your turkey, consider spatchcocking the turkey. It's ugly, but all the meat cooks and finishes at the same time.

Most people make the mistake of not brining and also overcooking their turkey. The white meat is done at 160˚ while the dark meat is done at 170˚. If you cook until the dark meat is done, the white meat is overcooked and dry and requires a lot of gravy to get it to swallow.

Brining adds salt to the meat which retains water and allows some grace for overcooking. If you spatchcock your turkey, the white and dark meat usually reach their finished temperatures at the same time.

If you smoke your turkey in the traditional fashion (whole and trussed), or even cook it in the oven, you can probe your white meat and about three degrees before the breast is at 160˚, you can add a bag of crushed ice to the breast which will suppress the cooking of the white meat while the dark meat reaches 170˚. As the dark meat approaches temp, take the ice off and pull when both meats have stabilized at their respective temps.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Scurvy:
Dry brine is the way to go. I will not cook poultry without doing it.

The thought of brining making the meat juicer is a myth that has been thoroughly disproved.

Brine is for adding flavor.

Umm...where you you getting THAT notion from? REAL aka wet brines drive moisture into the meat via osmosis so you are way off base here.

“Dry” brining is nothing more than a salty dry rub, which I agree is for flavor only.

I understand and agree it forces moisture into the meat, almost all of that weight in moisture gained is lost during cooking so the end result between wet brined and unbrined meat is basically the same meaning it doesn't actually make the meat juicer.

That's why a large number of prominent cooking websites you read will tell you wet brining isn't worth the effort and to dry brine the turkey.

Here is the recipe I use to brine a turkey that is cooked in the Big Green Egg beercan style. I brine it in the fridge for 2 days in a 2.5 gallon ziplock bag. We cook it over indirect heat on a ceramic beercan cooker, at 225 degrees, 45 minutes per pound. Comes out very tender and moist

1 gallon water
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
Rind of 1 navel orange
3 sprigs rosemary
1 cup kosher salt
3 yellow onions, quartered
1 garlic head
2 lemons, quartered
1 turkey, appx. 12 lbs
10 sprigs thyme
10 sprigs sage
¼ cup olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Garlic powder

I've been using a simple wet brine for many years, whether we're cooking whole birds or whole breasts. I just use water, kosher salt and brown sugar. We've always been happy with the results.

quote:

Originally posted by Scurvy:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Scurvy:
Dry brine is the way to go. I will not cook poultry without doing it.

The thought of brining making the meat juicer is a myth that has been thoroughly disproved.

Brine is for adding flavor.

Umm...where you you getting THAT notion from? REAL aka wet brines drive moisture into the meat via osmosis so you are way off base here.

“Dry” brining is nothing more than a salty dry rub, which I agree is for flavor only.

I understand and agree it forces moisture into the meat, almost all of that weight in moisture gained is lost during cooking so the end result between wet brined and unbrined meat is basically the same meaning it doesn't actually make the meat juicer.

That's why a large number of prominent cooking websites you read will tell you wet brining isn't worth the effort and to dry brine the turkey.

You’re already buying injection brined turkey unless you’re going to extraordinary lengths on the purchase side. If you really want to see the myth of wet brining already injection brined turkey then make a wet brine out of something that stains such as cranberry juice. I did cran-raspberry juice once and haven’t wet brined since. It’s truly surface only (1/16” staining depth if being generous) and the dry brining is just as effective, less work, and less money.