To Brine or Not to Brine the Turkey

[stokester]

Not to bring up an FAQ topic but...

I've read the benefits of brining my Thanksgiving turkey and have followed Meathead's advice to spatchcock and dry brine it lightly about 24 hours in advance to great success. It was very lightly salted to prevent any over salting on a pre-basted bird.

The label on my current dinner reads "Basted with up to 8% of turkey broth, salt, sodium phosphate, sugar and natural flavoring" and I plan on loosely following Malcom's latest post for a more traditional meal.

So is there any advantage to wet or dry brining even at half or less percentage of salt in my brine or should I just thaw and let it dry for a day in the refrigerator.? Is the "basting" enough and do I risk over-salting it even with a lower percentage of salt in the brine?

[rickgregory]

I would not brine a pre-brined bird like that. I'd rather have a slightly undersalted bird than one which is too salty. You could, depending on how you like things, salt very lightly but you can't really back out or correct too much salt, esp in the gravy. In your shoes I'd just thaw it, let it dry and cook that puppy.... er, turkey.

[Jfrosty27]

I agree with rickgregory
I would only add that if you plan to use any sort of rub, check the salt content of the rub.

[Troutman]

I would tend to agree on brining anything that’s been pre-brined, 5%, 8% whatever. I usually seek out a fresh bird that hasn’t been touched one way or the other for that reason. They aren’t that difficult to find and don’t cost that much more. In my normal course of events I then wet brine. I find that makes for the juiciest bird overall.

[stokester]

Thanks.

I was thinking it was better not to brine it and run the risk of over-salting.

Usually I look for one that is not pre-brined but at $.29 a pound I could not pass this one up.

[phrogpilot73]

I normally get a fresh turkey, but I'm with you - the Aldi turkey was ludicrously cheap. Not $0.29 cheap though...

[Beefchop]

I brine every year, but would skip this step (maybe do a dry brine overnight with reduced salt). I notice that turkey picks up salt very quickly!

[HawkerXP]

Yes.

[Raven Rock]

I have used this process for the last 5 years and it's easy and excellent. A dry brine that isn't close to being salty -

https://www.latimes.com/la-fo-saltedturkey-story.html

[smokin fool]

I mostly followed Malcom's recipe recently for a wet brined bird, but used maybe a quarter of the Kosher salt he uses.
It was an overnight 8-9 hour brine with my witches brew of ingredients.
Came out fantastic, unlike a previous year where using the recommended Kosher salt caused us to run out of white wine two minutes into dinner the gravy was so salty.

[DavidNorcross]

I always brine for 24 hours prior to cooking. Am I certain that it makes a difference in the moisture, no. However, I can say that I believe it greatly enhances the flavor.

[bpiela]

I gotta question on this. If the original purchased turkey has been brined with an 8% brine and you bring it home and place it in a wet brine that is 6.4%, will the salt diffusion go in the direction from the turkey to the brine? Salt diffuses from higher concentrations to lower concentrations. Will the home brining in this case do anything noticeable?

[Santamarina]

I’m definitely a dry brine guy, but in this case I’d do nothing or just add a hint of salt. You can always add salt at the table if needed, but if it’s over-salted you’re out of luck.

[IowaGirl]

Here's last year's discussion on this topic -- https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...njected-turkey

Hope it helps.

[DuckinBBQ]

We bought a 14.25 pound turkey from Safeway. We can not see anywhere that it says that it has been injected, it does say 250mg of sodium. We were hoping to try some of Oakridge BBQ injection/brine, even if it requires cutting the amount down.

[DuckinBBQ]

Now that I have read further using IowaGirl 's link she provided, and using her math, it came out to be about 62.5/oz per serving. I think we are on the right path.