Brining the Christmas turkey?

[UTH]

This year me and my Mum are going to take charge of the food for the most part. I love cooking and consider myself pretty competent at learning/following a new recipe, and my Mum has been in and out of the catering industry over the years.

I have never brined something before, but am keen to give it a go for the turkey. Having said that, is it worthwhile, or even something people actually do? A quick Google of 'good Christmas turkey recipe" etc, there's no mention of brining.
Googling brining itself brings up various ideas of course.

So, is it worth us doing? I'm assuming we'd need a big bucket, a ton of salt and a few other ingredients, whack it all together and put in the fridge? A few hours? Overnight?

And where does one buy that much salt from? Sounds like you need quite a lot, so buying lots of £3.50 Maldon salt packets is probably out!

[Type R Tom]

UTH said:

This year me and my Mum are going to take charge of the food for the most part. I love cooking and consider myself pretty competent at learning/following a new recipe, and my Mum has been in and out of the catering industry over the years.

I have never brined something before, but am keen to give it a go for the turkey. Having said that, is it worthwhile, or even something people actually do? A quick Google of 'good Christmas turkey recipe" etc, there's no mention of brining.
Googling brining itself brings up various ideas of course.

So, is it worth us doing? I'm assuming we'd need a big bucket, a ton of salt and a few other ingredients, whack it all together and put in the fridge? A few hours? Overnight?

And where does one buy that much salt from? Sounds like you need quite a lot, so buying lots of £3.50 Maldon salt packets is probably out!

I would recommend reading up on amazing ribs

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/turkey-reci...

and J. Kenji López-Alt

https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-simple-roast-...

Both go into the theory and myths of cooking and do plenty of experiments.

I have both their books and if you like the science behind cooking I would recommend them

[oscmax]

Try dry brining it - much easier and cheaper. Works just as well I have found.

Grind up anything you want in the "marinade" with the salt and apply liberally in and out before putting the bird on a rack over a tray (ideally in the fridge) and turning every so often.

[witten]

I've brined butterflied turkey breast before before smoking it. To be honest it tastes amazing and is super moist. However it does oxidise and dry out quickly but I think that's just turkey. The family love it and are asking me to brine and smoke the Christmas Turkey (but not sure how well that will go down with gravy and all the trimmings). Try looking at BBQ/smoking channels on YouTube for tips.

I used these to brine. For just 2 breasts it was waaaay too big but it would be perfect for a full turkey or a crown.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0931YC5B7/ref...

Do it. It tastes amazing, keeps it moist and you can introduce some subtle flavours like Orange peel, Szechuan pepper, cinnamon and thyme as well as just salt and pepper.

[UTH]

witten said:

I've brined butterflied turkey breast before before smoking it. To be honest it tastes amazing and is super moist. However it does oxidise and dry out quickly but I think that's just turkey. The family love it and are asking me to brine and smoke the Christmas Turkey (but not sure how well that will go down with gravy and all the trimmings). Try looking at BBQ/smoking channels on YouTube for tips.

I used these to brine. For just 2 breasts it was waaaay too big but it would be perfect for a full turkey or a crown.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0931YC5B7/ref...

Do it. It tastes amazing, keeps it moist and you can introduce some subtle flavours like Orange peel, Szechuan pepper, cinnamon and thyme as well as just salt and pepper.

Ahhhhhhh yes, that has sparked my memory and I think many many years ago my step brother at the time brined in a bag like that! I reckon I'll go down this route then

[boyse7en]

I wet brined a turkey a few years ago and found it made no noticeable difference, so I haven't bothered again.

My brother in law deep fried his last year

[R56Cooper]

oscmax said:

Try dry brining it - much easier and cheaper. Works just as well I have found.

Grind up anything you want in the "marinade" with the salt and apply liberally in and out before putting the bird on a rack over a tray (ideally in the fridge) and turning every so often.

I did this a few years ago. Turned out great, albeit a touch saltier than I was expecting, perhaps I didn't rinse it well enough.

Very unscientific sample size of 1 but I vote give it a go.

[21TonyK]

I always wet brine turkey at home (and work). I use 25g salt 15g white sugar, 5 pepper corns and a bayleaf for every litre of water used. Boil it all up in half the amount of water you are using then top up with cold and leave to cool then into the fridge, when its properly cold add the turkey and brine for 12-14 hours.

When you cook go very low and slow (125) to a core of 70 then finish in a hot oven to colour.

[UTH]

21TonyK said:

I always wet brine turkey at home (and work). I use 25g salt 15g white sugar, 5 pepper corns and a bayleaf for every litre of water used. Boil it all up in half the amount of water you are using then top up with cold and leave to cool then into the fridge, when its properly cold add the turkey and brine for 12-14 hours.

When you cook go very low and slow (125) to a core of 70 then finish in a hot oven to colour.

Cool thank you, might just follow this then

[NMNeil]

UTH said:

This year me and my Mum are going to take charge of the food for the most part. I love cooking and consider myself pretty competent at learning/following a new recipe, and my Mum has been in and out of the catering industry over the years.

I have never brined something before, but am keen to give it a go for the turkey. Having said that, is it worthwhile, or even something people actually do? A quick Google of 'good Christmas turkey recipe" etc, there's no mention of brining.
Googling brining itself brings up various ideas of course.

So, is it worth us doing? I'm assuming we'd need a big bucket, a ton of salt and a few other ingredients, whack it all together and put in the fridge? A few hours? Overnight?

And where does one buy that much salt from? Sounds like you need quite a lot, so buying lots of £3.50 Maldon salt packets is probably out!

I tried Alton Browns method a few years back and it worked just fine and improved the flavour of the turkey, but I didn't think the performance needed to brine it made enough difference to do it again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKr1rByVVCI
I do however use his method of roasting the turkey and it turns out great every time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaKOLGIcMGE

Edited by NMNeil on Tuesday 18th October 16:47

[fttm]

boyse7en said:

I wet brined a turkey a few years ago and found it made no noticeable difference, so I haven't bothered again.

My brother in law deep fried his last year

It really is hard to better a deep fried turkey , saves time too .

[oddman]

Might be worth having a dry (or wet) run with a large chicken first.

I think it works passably for low and slow in BBQ but haven't been convinced for roasting