Turkey Brining

[theabroma]

You might want to recheck the sweetness level of your brine. I found that cutting back on sugar/sweeteners really threw off the balance and the resulting, ah, fowl, tasted as though it was the love child of a turkey and bacalao ... independently faves of mine, but the offspring ... oy vey! In any event, very smart of you to do a chicken before wrestling with a turkey ... another mistake I made!!

Please report.

Theabroma

[Jaymes]

It's mainly water with some (but not much) apple cider, salt of course, no sugar (I'm making gravy and all of the things I've read advise against sugar if you're making gravy...

How about it, folks? Does anyone know?

I always make gravy from the pan drippings. How is that affected if you brine?

[NancyH]

We always brine (with sugar) and we always make gravy, and it is always delicious!

[phaelon56]

Mine is comprised of apple cider, a few cinnamon sticks, some star anise and small amount of brown sugar (in addition to the requisite salt). Did not simmer it and don't want any easily detectable flavors as my father will be eating some of this and he'll get very upset if there are "funny" flavors (which he thinks are very unfunny).

[lancastermike]

Brown sugar and kosher salt in apple cider, nothing else.

[Jmahl]

For the last six years used I'v only two cups of kosher salt - flavored by seasoning with pepper only and fulled the cavity with herbs and veggies. Great results - careful with using the drippings - even if you rinse very well the drippings can over salt your sauce (excuse me - gravy).

[chow guy]

I brined with: Kosher salt, sugar, water, black peppercorns, corriander seeds, red chile flakes, bay leaves, star anise, fennel seeds, fresh thyme, garlic, cloves, carrots, leeks, onions.

[JayBassin]

Rinse very well after brining, or set the turkey or fowl into plain water and change out twice, after about 20 minutes each.

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Woodburner, this was excellent advice, thanks! I've had problems in the past with over-salty turkey and too-salty drippings, but your idea of 2 20-minute soaks solved the problem of over-saltiness. The bird was very juicy and not salty.

I also find that brining additives like herbs (esp. bay & rosemary) and garlic do flavor the meat; I boil them with the salt & sugar for 20 minutes, then dilute with cold water to the right proportion. I use 1 C kosher salt + 1/2 C sugar per gallon. (BTW, I put the small-leaf herbs like thyme & rosemary in a cheesecloth to keep them from sticking all over the bird's skin.)

[Marlene]

Good grief, i'd forgotten this thread. I did brine that turkey way back when and it turned out great. However, I no longer brine, but use the mustard paste, butter and oil covered cheesecloth method as directed by Mayhaw Man and lovebenton) and I will make turkey this way forevermore.

[piperdown]

I ended up making a more elaborate brine than normal, just because I had the stuff on hand. It included Vegetable stock, Cider, Bay leaves, Apples, Salt, Brown suger, Juniper Berries, Peppercorns, and then a bunch of Rosemary and Thyme.

[woodburner]

Rinse very well after brining, or set the turkey or fowl into plain water and change out twice, after about 20 minutes each.

←

Woodburner, this was excellent advice, thanks! I've had problems in the past with over-salty turkey and too-salty drippings, but your idea of 2 20-minute soaks solved the problem of over-saltiness. The bird was very juicy and not salty.

I also find that brining additives like herbs (esp. bay & rosemary) and garlic do flavor the meat; I boil them with the salt & sugar for 20 minutes, then dilute with cold water to the right proportion. I use 1 C kosher salt + 1/2 C sugar per gallon. (BTW, I put the small-leaf herbs like thyme & rosemary in a cheesecloth to keep them from sticking all over the bird's skin.)

←

Glad it helped, Jay.

woodburner

[sandra]

Is Kosher salt the same thing as rock salt?

[IrishCream]

Is Kosher salt the same thing as rock salt?

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Not really. Rock salt is less refined. I don't think it will poison you. But since it isn't sold for culinary purposes who knows how it was handled. Most of our culinary salts including regular table salt and kosher salt originate with rock salt deposits. The difference is that rock salt is mined. For the culinary salts, water is injected into the rock salt deposits, dissolving them and creating a brine which is then filtered and dried removing some impurities, supposedly.

Sea salt is produced from evaporation of sea water as opposed to rock salt deposits.

Edited November 27, 2005 by IrishCream (log)

[sandra]

Is Kosher salt the same thing as rock salt?

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Not really. Rock salt is less refined. I don't think it will poison you. But since it isn't sold for culinary purposes who knows how it was handled. Most of our culinary salts including regular table salt and kosher salt originate with rock salt deposits. The difference is that rock salt is mined. For the culinary salts, water is injected into the rock salt deposits, dissolving them and creating a brine which is then filtered and dried removing some impurities, supposedly.

Sea salt is produced from evaporation of sea water as opposed to rock salt deposits.

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AHA - so... can rock salt be used for brining instead of kosher salt? Kosher salt is not easily available in the UK...

[eje]

AHA - so... can rock salt be used for brining instead of kosher salt? Kosher salt is not easily available in the UK...

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The reason kosher salt gets mentioned in the US for brining (or pickling), is it is one of the few easily available salts which isn't iodized and doesn't have added anti-caking agents.

I think any pure salt intended for human consumption would be fine.

[jayt90]

How long to brine it?

[Jmahl]

How long to brine it?

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My experience, up to 24 hours. Must keep brine cold.

[russ parsons]

i've been brining turkey for more than 10 years now and, to be honest, all those extra flavors get lost. the one thing you can taste (other than salt) is if you add sugar--that's how you get turkey that tastes just like luncheon meat! (if, of course, that is what y ou want)

[Jmahl]

i've been brining turkey for more than 10 years now and, to be honest, all those extra flavors get lost. the one thing you can taste (other than salt) is if you add sugar--that's how you get turkey that tastes just like luncheon meat! (if, of course, that is what y ou want)

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For my 2 cents, sounds right to me.

Jmahl

[FistFullaRoux]

Trying a different recipe than last year, when I followed Alton brown's faithfully. I made my own veg stock last night (lots of mirepoix and some bell pepper I had in the freezer that was serving no real purpose, also a couple of potatoes near the end and a handful of leftover corn left in a bag in the freezer). I have star anise, sage, rosemary, peppercorns, kosher salt, a bit of brown sugar, and a touch of apple cider vinegar in the works for tomorrow. The turkey hits the brine about noon, and will be in the oven at 5am Christmas Day. It will be "stuffed" with 2 apples, an orange, cinnamon stick, and some more fresh sage and rosemary inside the bird. The stuffing will be discarded before service.

I think it will work out. I was truly impressed with the results last Thanksgiving when I tried the brining thing for the first time. I'm a believer now.

[FistFullaRoux]

After having gone through all of that, I'll agree with the above statement that you only really need water, sugar, and salt. None of the flavorings that I added to the brine showed up in the turkey. Besides, there are so many other flavors going on the holiday table that I am beginning to think that the turkey flavor simply needs to be pointed up, instead of modified. Most people want to taste the turkey, which the brine does improve. It does help with texture and moistness. WHich is all anyone really needs anyway.

[bottom-dragger]

per gallon of water, ½ cup kosher salt and ½ cup sugar

cold brine for 12 hours, drain and rinse, and allow to dry

in the reefer for 2 hours. all you need.

and i've used the drippings for gravy without any problems.

[mizducky]

I have a confession. I have yet to brine a turkey. And the main reason is my love of stuffing and gravy from drippings--I'm worried they would turn out too salty.

Yes yes yes, I know I could bake the stuffing separately, and make gravy without drippings. Yes, I know there's a whole contingent of folks who actively prefer their stuffing/dressing baked separately from their turkey. I respect that, but I am respectfully not one of that number. As I have enthused in other holiday-oriented topics recently, I am a huge fan of stuffing that has been cooked inside the bird. Even though I always bake any excess stuffing in a casserole, I always prefer the stuffing from inside the bird by several orders of magnitude. And I am also a huge fan of gravy from drippings. It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving for me without those two features. So, having felt I had to choose between brining a bird, and giving up the in-the-bird stuffing and the use of the drippings, I have chosen the stuffing and drippings every time.

(In case anyone is concerned, my mom trained me to be scrupulous about stuffing "hygiene"--in all the years I, and my mom before me, have stuffed Thanksgiving turkeys, we have never had anyone get ill. In fact, we've had people fight over the stuffing. )

Now I've searched on the net, and found a huge divergence of opinion on stuffing and drippings from a brined bird. Some recipes do say in-the-bird stuffing and pan drippings will get too salty to be palatable. But then there are other folks that say, sure, no problem with stuffing a brined turkey, or even using the drippings; some advise rinsing and drying the brined turkey well after brining and before stuffing, others say just don't go overboard with the amount of salt or the length of brining time (though they're a bit vague about what's the line beyond which you're overboard), and suggest tasting the drippings to make sure they're okay.

I tried searching eGullet, but couldn't locate any info on this question (maybe I wasn't sufficiently clever with my search string).

So--what say you, eGullet folks? What's your experience, pro or con, with stuffing inside a brined bird, and drippings from a brined bird? Edible or inedible?

[The Hersch]

I've done a brined turkey a couple of times and have sworn off it forever. The drippings are definitely too salty for gravy-making, unless you're a total salt freak. The stuffing isn't so much a problem if you go very light on putting salt in it before you stuff the bird with it. But to me the biggest flaw is the meat. Sure, the breast comes out juicy, but the whole bird has a sort of processed texture that I find really unappealing. By brining you sort of turn the turkey into processed luncheon meat.

[Jmahl]

I have been brining for a number of years. Two cups kosher salt and two gallons cold water. In brine for no more than 10 hours in the frig. Rinsed very will and well dried. Drippings contain a lot of salt so do not season sauce and use with care. Keep tasting. I am going to brine again this year. The results are worth it. Useing this procedure I have not had the problem pointed out by Hersch.