Brining your turkey, is it worth the bother?

originally posted by Cliff:
I think, but am not sure, that turkey as the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal is a nineteenth-century story.
Click to expand...
As we know it, that's about right (promoted in various ways from the late 1820s) although Alexander Hamilton was already approximately advocating for it in 1790.

For those with that kind of mind, the turkey is a good choice for a fall feast for several reasons: (a) it makes several meals, especially useful at a time when the cook is working to put food by for winter, and (b) it's not an economic hit on a family farm - cows give milk and chickens give eggs but turkeys are really just barnyard Zamboni.
 
Me, I'm okay with a turkey as the Thanksgiving dinner guest of honor. Not so much for Christmas, Passover, or Saint Swithun's Day (which I've always considered the Ides of Groundhog day anyway).

However, I'm firmly sold on Russ Parsons' dry brining procedure, as it's pretty much failsafe. Even lacking an audience that cares about which heritage breed might be used, it makes a big difference in the flavor and texture of even the lowliest of supermarket turkeys, and when used with a free -range bird, it's pretty glorious. We only gave it about 36 hours of pre-seasoning this year yet it was still amazing and brought out exclamations of "ooh-ooh, this is the greatest turkey of my life" from people who are normally in the "food is just fuel for the engine" types, while people who appreciate the difference between good and only-okay raw ingredients were duly impressed.

-Eden (these days I also dry-brine beef, pork, and lamb when I've got enough lead time)
 
No brine, no oven.

Salted liberally, pepper and paprica (mostly for color). Trussed, put on the spit and into the Weber. One hour or so (unattended) for a 14 -16lb bird and its done. Perfect crisp skin on 100 % of the bird and perfectly moist through and through. No drippings for gravey but you are better off roasting some wings in the oven and making stock from those.
 
brined and juicy (click on the photo for full res)
IMGP3745-2.jpg
 
Review of various brining techniques from Kenji Lopez-Alt on Serious Eats...bottom line, he doesn't like brining.

Loading…

www.seriouseats.com

I used his overnight salt technique this year and it is a keeper.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top