PrintHow long to brine a turkey for
I'm brining a turkey for the first time this year and was going to follow Alton Brown's Good Eats Roast Turkey recipe. (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_8389,00.html)
However, I'm confused b/c Alton's recipe says to brine the turkey for 6 hours; however, a lot of sites I've been reading up on say a minimum of 24 hours for a brine. Can anybody give me a clear answer based on their own brining expertise; especially if you've tried Alton's recipe? I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks!
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
9 Comments:
I've brined everywhere from 8 hours to 3 days. Even the shorter time will add flavor and moisture.
Here's an answer from Alton himself (an old FN chat I found posted on another site):
AB Fan: Can I brine an 18-pound turkey overnight, or is this too long?
Alton Brown: No, it's not too long. Technically, you could brine a turkey for several days. The trick is in two things--brine concentration versus mass. You could either soak a bird for a long time in weak brine, or for a short time in a stronger one. You're better with weaker brine and a longer soak, so take the standard brine that we use in "Good Eats," and you could easily do that overnight. If you're afraid of it being too salty, you might cut back to 3/4 cup of salt instead of the full cup, but leave the sugar amount the same. I've gotten to where I really like to thaw my turkeys in brine, because I can make my brine, keep it in a cooler, toss in my frozen bird, and leave it for days if I want without worrying about the temperature getting too high. It will stay really cold, but, at the same time, the water will help thaw the bird. So when it's thawed, it's already brined. But that is an imprecise science, so you have to work with it. If I feel the brine will get too warm, I'll add a bit of ice. So far, that hasn't happened. It stays around 40 degrees.
Cathy at 5:13PM on 11/17/07
Cathy - thanks so much. :)
mrsbao at 6:12PM on 11/17/07
I brine at night in the garage in a cooler. We use a big zip lock bag the huge ones. Then we get one bag of ice and put some on the bottom and some on top to keep the turkey cool. We start about 8 hours before we are going to roast it. This has always been a good number and produced a great bird. We use AB's Good Eats Turkey bring but without the cinnamon or apple. I add garlic to it.
JerzeeTomato at 6:20PM on 11/17/07
My brine gets made on pre-T-Giving Sunday every year. Turkey goes in the brine Monday night. I'm hearing more and more about those big ziplock bags and think I'm going to try that instead of my method - the clean (emphasis on CLEAN) garbage bag method. I promise you this - I'll never brine in a bowl. The spill and contamination potential area huge. That brine and turkey must be contained very well.
I use a brine recipe by a fellow named Mean Chef from the Taunton Fine Cooking board. He's got 2 great ones - a Maple Brine and an Apple Brine. I use the Alton Brown high heat roasting method to cook the bird.
chiff0nade at 8:18PM on 11/17/07
I like to take the bird out of the brine, pat it dry, and refrigerate uncovered overnight. This helps the skin crisp.
I'm trying something different this year: Russ Parson's technique for salt-curing, which I hear has the same benefits as brining without the stockpot.
Cathy at 8:20PM on 11/17/07
I got questioned on another board about my practice of brining for 2 solid days. Ever since the first time I tried brining, I've never done it for less time than that and I've always been pleased with the results. I'd be wary of a shorter brine because I don't think I'd get the flavor boost a good 48 hour brine yields.
Thoughts??
chiff0nade at 8:37AM on 11/19/07
The reason I asked is b/c I was reading on other boards that brining too long leads to mushy meat, and I wanted to get some feedback. Chiff0nade, if you've always brined for 2 days and have never had any problems, then I would say you're doing just fine - I've just never brined before, so I have no experience to go on. I have a feeling it'll turn out well though. :)
mrsbao at 8:51AM on 11/20/07
Well, a little investigating yields a lot of info. I was told that the amount of salt in a brine recipe has all to do with the "mushy meat phenomenon." I use a great deal of liquid with 3/4 cup kosher salt. Apparently, something this diluted will have no ill effects on a turkey if brined 48 hours or more.
I also found out that the "take turkey out of brine the night before and allow to dry in fridge uncovered 8 hours" practice is not such a good thing. Decided not to do that. Will remove turkey from brine on Thursday morning, pat dry, slightly oil the skin and into the oven it goes.
chiff0nade at 9:08AM on 11/20/07
Gotcha - I'm planning on doing 3/4 cup of salt in 2 gallons of liquid. Thanks for your feedback. :)
mrsbao at 4:02PM on 11/21/07