Pros And Cons Of Brining A Turkey

The pros are a well-seasoned and juicy bird. If youre short on time or just want the most straight-forward method to roast a turkey skip the brining step and just use the Simple Roasted Turkey.

How To Brine A Turkey Inquiring Chef

The Pros And Cons Of Brining While brining certainly helps you get a more moist tender meat especially the breast its not a foolproof process.

Pros and cons of brining a turkey. Brining makes it harder to get a crisp skin the skin retains water too leaves the cooking juices too salty to use for sauce or gravy and gives the breast meat the texture of deli turkey breast rather than roasted turkey breast bouncy like a brine-cured ham. Brining a turkey is totally optional. Brining a turkey is also one of the fastest ways to add flavor to the meat since turkey does not have much fat to keep the meat moist during cooking.

Youve probably heard that you should brine a turkey before roasting it by soaking it in salty water. Brining robs your bird of flavor Second brining robs your bird of flavor. They both infuse the turkeys meat with salt.

A dry brine and wet brine for turkey work in essentially the same way. Brining a turkey adds moisture and flavor particularly when you use a flavorful brine. If you are undecided about brining we recommend reading this post on the pros and cons of brining.

If you brine your turkey you can then bake or roast it and get that perfectly browned bird the folks are expecting. If you paid less than five bucks a pound for your turkey you dont need to brine it. Brined turkey tends to cook faster than ordinary turkey.

The Pros of Brining. Plus when you cook a brined turkey the dissolved proteins do not coagulate or bind together. Take the turkey out of its brineor the brining bag youve been salting it inand pat the turkey dry with paper towels.

Then place it on a flat rack or a couple layers of paper towels on a. People Alton Martha etc say that brining makes the turkey more tender and flavorful and. Not only does it help the turkey retain moisture but it plumps up the turkey with saltwater which is cheaper than actual turkey.

Your turkey is absorbing water and holding on to it. That means that that extra 30 to 40 savings in moisture loss doesnt really come in the form of turkey juicesits plain old tap water. It cooks very quickly.

So what do you need to get started. But perhaps the biggest pro of brining the turkey is doing away with that dry bird that so many are used to. This results in a more bite-ably tender and moist meat.

It brings juiciness is at the expense of flavor all that salty water is basically diluting the turkeys natural flavor. By soaking a turkey in a salt solution yes many brines also have sugar and spices but without the salt you get nothing the power of osmosiswhere cells like to have similar water-salt balancesmakes sure that the sodium in the brine gets infused throughout the turkey along with extra water. The showbiz quotient of.

30 minutes for a 12-pound turkey The turkey was moist and delicious although not noticeably moister than our brined and roasted bird The skin was crispy and delicious for the carver me to snack on while carving. Brined turkey because of the salt content in the brining solution is a tad saltier on the exterior of the meat but actually isnt as salty inside of the breast as you may think. Initially when you apply a dry brine to your turkey the salt on the surface will suck up the birds moisture by osmosis.

When the turkey is roasted the muscles cannot contract because of the salts destruction to the protein strands. And even if you did pay that much you still dont need to brine it if its a kosher turkey which is salted. The salt breaks down muscle protein strands in the meat and the water is absorbed into the muscles.

Brining involves soaking the turkey in a salty solution overnight so it is a very simple process. However the pores will open and the salt will relax the protein in the muscle allowing that moisture to penetrate back into the meat and all the way to the bone without the extra water like in a wet brine. Below youll find tips on how to brine a turkey two different ways plus a full tutorial on how to smoke a turkey.

Brines can include all sorts of flavorings including herbs and spices making the turkey taste like far more than your average roast bird. However as you brine your turkey keep a close eye on it as you cook.

Pros And Cons Of Brining A Turkey Things That Make People Go Aww