When we bought some (frozen) turkeys to keep in the freezer for future use, however, the brine-injected ones were 29 cents a pound, and the non-injected ones were 89 cents a pound. So even with the added non-meat weight, the injected ones were cheaper per pound of meat.
I’ve never actually cooked such a turkey, as far as I can recall. I wouldn’t have bought that one, except the housemate requested we do so. I guess when the time comes, we’ll roast it up without brining. The other (non-injected) one will go in the brine though.
Good point. I think we’ve only ever bought Morton’s kosher salt. There might be a store brand - which might well lead to different results. I agree with everyone who says “by weight” is a better measure for anything where it might vary.
A lot of baking recipes call for weighing the flour, for example, which reduces problems caused by flour that has been sifted versus not, or has been compacted in the bin, or whatever.
I suppose it depends upon the salt content of the particular dressing. But once you pour off the oil you are left with essentially a highly flavored brining liquid. I certainly wouldn’t use it directly as a glaze or sauce, as I would with many marinades.
It’s probably somewhere in between, but all the vinegar and oil put it in the class of marinades for me, though salt content may give it brining properties, too. But it does much more to the texture and flavor (which can be good or bad depending on your tastes) than a simple brine does. But one of my favorite chicken dishes is Binghamton-style speediest, which are marinaded in a sort of vinegary Italian-Greek marinade which is similar to Italian dressing, and it is sometimes marinaded for days, which you usually do not want to do with something that vinegary.
Depending on the store and where you are, lots of chicken is sold with “up to a 12% solution of salt and natural flavorings” or similar labeling. This is especially prevalent in boneless skinless breasts and amounts to nothing more than adding weight with salt water. Why add more salt with brining?
For those who will ask, I’ve seen chicken (whole and in parts) sold this way at Kroger, Food Lion, Ingles, Aldi, Save-a-Lot, and Harvey’s.
I agree. I mentioned it earlier in the thread, and also in regard to turkeys where I’ve seen up to 20% on the labeling, which makes me wonder why people who advocate brining, especially on TV, don’t seem to mention that. You see this with Purdue products, and you see this even with pork in their “always tender” line. Read the labels. A lot of meat, especially poultry, is pumped up with broth or a salt water solution.
Yep…and sold by weight. Water is cheap. Meat is expensive.
For the most part I would recommend avoiding the meat pumped with water. I suppose it is “easier” to cook and keep juicy but the meat suffers for it.
Buy a meat thermometer and cook to temp. Do your own brine (loads of guides for it out there). Works every time and waaaay better than the water injected meat (not just chicken and turkey…I know ham gets this treatment a lot).
You say pumped up with, I say adulterated with. I’m supposed to be on a low-sodium diet, and tripling the sodium content of chicken means I shouldn’t buy it.