A 5 gallon bucket, two cups of salt, water and a dead bird

are now resting peacefully in my fridge for the next 20 hours.

A friendly reminder that it's still not too late to brine your turkey. You'll thank me tomorrow as the turkey melts in your mouth. Even the leftovers will be moist.

http://www.freep.com/fun/food/brine17_19991117.htm

my brother (who will be roasting up the family bird tomorrow) always does it though. it's moist, i'll grant you, but there's always something saltyish tasting to my palette.

For instance, 20 hours seems like an awfully long time to me. Most people recommend 12 hours or less.

i don't like your new name!!!!

bring back ARGUMENTUS!!!!!!!

I chose it because I was argumentative that day, and PO'd at a couple of threads. That was four years ago, and I'm still here, and much less argumentative. Also, with a name like that, people always think you're some kind of disruptor. I'm not a disruptor, just an asshole. :)

Besides, Nevernose (a rough translation of the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows") is what I use on most of email accounts. Thanks for noticing, though!

I did 20 hours last year and it was perfect. I think anywhere from 10 to 24 hours is ideal.

they recommend that as well

:hi:

I tried brining twice, and I can't tell a difference between a brined turkey and my normal turkey. Same amount of moistness.

Take the giblets out..

The meat comes out extra juicy, which I don't really understand. Shouldn't the brine tend to suck moisture out of the bird?

Everybody knows that unbrined leftovers are bone dry and stringy. Brined leftovers stay tender for a week.

And it acts as a buffer in the case of overcooking. Wonderful invention, brining.

"The brining of meats is an age-old process of food preservation. Heavy concentrations of salt could preserve meats for long ocean voyages and military campaigns before the advent of refrigeration. Now brining takes on a new purpose. By using smaller quantities of salt, mixed with other spices and herbs, brining can permeate meat with flavor.

The chemistry behind brining is actually pretty simple. Meat already contains salt water. By immersing meats into a liquid with a higher concentration of salt the brine is absorbed into the meat. Any flavoring added to the brine will be carried into the meat with the saltwater mixture.

And because the meat is now loaded with extra moisture it will stay that way longer while it cooks."

http://bbq.about.com/cs/barbecuetips/a/aa112000b.htm

I remember the "salt-water in the cells" thing vaguely from college chemistry -- it has a fancy name that starts with the letter "m" but I can't remeber it.

It has a higher osmotic value than the turkey and therefore the turkey actually draws moisture from the water to equalize.

Or something to that effect.

I took it twice, and the D was the best of the two grades. Scary thing is, I was happy to have gotten that D -- I worked my ass off for it.

I was fairly certain the the science prerequisite was in place primarily to fuck with the heads of English majors.

"...And because the meat is now loaded with extra moisture it will stay that way longer while it cooks."

The concentration of salt in the raw turkey is lower than that of the brine, and so is the concentration of water. So both salt and water tend to go into the bird by osmotic pressure. I'd always assumed putting something in brine would dry it out. Bad intuition.

When I was a kid I always wondered why my fingers got puffy after spending all day in the ocean. I think the same principle applies to brined turkeys and seawater-soaked hands.

Thanks for the insight!

:toast:

I wonder if brining would work well on a smoked turkey?

Haven't brined one in a few years but am giving it a go again!

I am brining and also want to grill. Can it go from the oven to the grill for the last hour of cooking?

Actually, we're plunging our unsuspecting naked tom into a vat of hot oil.

Deep-fried turkey is the bomb, mmm-mmmmmmmm

Turkey McNuggets :-)

Don't burn your house down!

All brined. We will be eating turkey for awhile. :)