To brine or not to brine?

[delsurf]

I am going to smoking a turkey for the wife's family in a couple days. I am going to brine my turkey that will be freshly killed tomorrow at a local turkey farm.

The brine is going to be H2o, honey, kosher salt, fresh thyme and some tri-colored peppercorns. 24 hours in a cooler with ice.

Just wondering what others are doing.

 

[CarterQ]

No brine here, going back to basics this year. Rubbed, put in a aluminum roaster pan with some celery, onion, carrots, and broth. Smoke at 275 until done.

For those that do brine, keep an eye out for "flavor enhanced" turkeys (usually frozen), these have been enhanced with a salt solution already and brining may give you a pretty salty end result.

 

[Big Poppa]

No brine here but friends do it

 

[warbirdfan]

I'm doing this brine... sounds real good.

Buttermilk-Brined Turkey | Williams-Sonoma

 

[TentHunter]

I have to watch salt intake, especially since I'm cooking for my mom. So, no brine here either. I'll rub with olive oil then apply a savory herb rub to both sides of a spatchcocked Turkey.

1½ - 2 tsp. Sea Salt
2 tsp. coarse black pepper
2 tsp. Dried Rosemary
4 tsp. Dried Sage

Low-salt, but still adds a lot of flavor and aroma that really compliments poultry well.

 

[Deb]

I'm doing the same as TentHunter, thought I don't usually measure, just sprinkle on , I'll add thyme to the mix as well

 

[FLBentRider]

I use the Alton Brown Honey brine.

I was skeptical at first, but after the results, I've brined every turkey I've smoked since.

 

[Star1021Scott]

FLBentRider, do you use a rub on the turkey with Alton Browns brine? I don't see that he suggest anything other than Vegatable Oil.


What do you do?

 

[FLBentRider]

FLBentRider, do you use a rub on the turkey with Alton Browns brine? I don't see that he suggest anything other than Vegatable Oil.


What do you do?

We use seasoned salt, seasoned pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and bacon.

The bacon goes on first, then the Mrs does the spices.

 

[triangleman]

For those that do brine, keep an eye out for "flavor enhanced" turkeys (usually frozen), these have been enhanced with a salt solution already and brining may give you a pretty salty end result.

I read a turkey recipe that said if you had a frozen flavor enhanced turkey, you can still "brine" but reduce the salt or just leave the salt out of your brine solution. brine a frozen turkey Does this make sense to anyone. I am not going to experiment on Thanksgiving : )

 

[FLBentRider]

I read a turkey recipe that said if you had a frozen flavor enhanced turkey, you can still "brine" but reduce the salt or just leave the salt out of your brine solution. brine a frozen turkey Does this make sense to anyone. I am not going to experiment on Thanksgiving : )

I don't understand how this can work. The science behind brining is osmosis, and if there is less salt outside the turkey, then how will the dissolved flavors move into the meat? The salt concentration of the brine being higher than the meat is what moves the flavor and moisture out from the brine into the meat.

It is my understanding that the "enhanced" turkeys are already brined or injected with something.

I try to get a fresh "minimally processed" bird.

 

[CarterQ]

It is my understanding that the "enhanced" turkeys are already brined or injected with something.

I try to get a fresh "minimally processed" bird.

This is your best bet while brining, to me it would be too difficult to match your brine to what had already been injected into the bird. Start with a fresh or frozen all natural bird and I think you will be much happier with the results

 

[scooter]

I've come to the conclusion that brining is messy, is a pain in the rear and toughens the skin. Anything I used to get from brining I get from injecting, which is much less hassle than brining. IMO. My unbrined birds come out very juicy and the injection gives me that butter flavor deep inside the meat.

 

[delsurf]

Mine is Alton's too. I made a rub of

Sweet Hungarian Paprika
sugar
seasoned salt
celery salt
black pepper
granulated garlic
dry mustard
dried basil
lemon pepper (the recipe called for lemon zest but I substituted due to lack of lemons)
cayenne pepper

On a side note, I got my turkey from a local farm yesterday. They opened at 9, I was there at 9:30. When I picked it up I was told "when you put it in the frig open the bag a little it just got done (aka killed) and it needs to cool some more".

Now that is fresh.

 

[roburado]

We did one brined and roasted in the oven. The other was rubbed with garlic olive oil, Desert Gold, and Little Louie's. We got more flavor out of the rubbed/smoked bird. We, too, used an Alton Brown brine recipe. IMHO, his recipes turn out more bland than I'd like. This one was no exception. We probably could have added more salt and pepper, though. I think Thomas Keller's chicken brine recipe from his "Ad Hoc" cookbook would have been better. I will say that I think the brined bird was juicier.

 

[MSUSmoker]

I brined and it was good. It was my first smoked turkey though (did a beer can) and I'm not sure I'll do it next time. So many things to try...