To Brine a Turkey or Not Brine a Turkey

The question is "to brine or not to brine".  Poor old turkey doesn't know if brining will make him better or not any better.

I have cooked a gob of gobblers in my life, and have brined and not brined.  I used to brine almost every time, until I needed to cut my sodium intake....that did away with the brining.  Brining is typically done with salt to allow the turkey to hold the moisture content while cooking.

Most people add a bit of sugar and pepper to the salt and water to give it a better taste.  You have to make sure you get the right salt content and the most important thing when brining is that YOU MUST KEEP THE TURKEY COLD!  Preferably in the refrigerator but who has a refrigerator big enough to hold a big bucket with a huge turkey???  So the next best thing is to put it in a large cooler with the brining liquid fully covering the turkey and put ice filled freezer bags in the brine.  I always put water in freezer bags and freeze them ahead of time.  If you're short on freezer bags, fill and freeze those one quart plastic bottles you might have or any other tall slim plastic (do not use glass for fear of breakage when freezing).  These tall slender bottles will sit perfectly in the corner of the cooler.  (I do this when we are going camping to help keep the cooler items cold so it does work!)

The length of time to brine varies according to the size of the turkey.  It's best to underbrine than to brine too long.  This bird will get salty and more salty the longer it's brined.  I usually only brine overnight.  It's best on your first try to brine only for a short time and then the next time you can brine longer if the turkey wasn't quite right.  Brining will allow the bird to be juicy but sometimes just cooking the turkey with the breast side down or lower heats will keep the turkey more juicy.  

To help you learn more about brining, I'm including a link to a really good site about brining. 
 
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Poultry/BriningPoultry.htm
 

And whatever you do, don't salt the bird after you have used the brine technique. 

It's about time to go buy the old turkey for you special day.  If you are buying a frozen bird, be sure to thaw it in your refrigerator to thaw....most of the time it will take a two to four days to thaw a bird in the refrigerator.  Happy Turkey Shopping and Cooking.

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