# what the heck is a brine-soaked turkey? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2006, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407 "2006-11-22T12:10:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/21 "2006-11-22T18:14:37Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Once again consulting with the master, Alton Brown does indeed brine his [Deep Fried Turkey](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_35148,00.html?rsrc=search) [/QUOTE] Interesting. I looked online and it seems a lot of people do brine their turkeys for frying. Personally, I don’t see the point. It seems like overkill to me, as deep-frying produces a very juicy bird and, if I can, I do my best to avoid brines as it changes the texture of the meat. With roast turkey, it’s fine and usually necessary. With deep fried turkey, you really don’t need it. If you feel you must add flavor, injection would be a preferable method in my book for deep-fried turkey. But, it looks like it can’t hurt, so brine away. Just make sure you don’t use a self-basting turkey for your brining. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/22 "2006-11-22T18:37:23Z")
One word of warning, though. My sister tried doing the brine soaked oven blasted turkey and we all wound up with the turkey trots. Sometime during the brining process the bird got some wonderful bacteria and we all paid for it. The next day I was talking with my mother and told her how we were all sick and we blamed the turkey. My mother became very defensive of my sister (as usual) and said it was probably the flu. Well, I proved her wrong. I made a sandwich a few days later with leftover turkey we had brought home. You guessed it, Turkey Trot 2: Tom’s Revenge! ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/23 "2006-11-22T18:47:05Z")
[QUOTE=erie774] One word of warning, though. My sister tried doing the brine soaked oven blasted turkey and we all wound up with the turkey trots. Sometime during the brining process the bird got some wonderful bacteria and we all paid for it. The next day I was talking with my mother and told her how we were all sick and we blamed the turkey. My mother became very defensive of my sister (as usual) and said it was probably the flu. Well, I proved her wrong. I made a sandwich a few days later with leftover turkey we had brought home. You guessed it, Turkey Trot 2: Tom’s Revenge! [/QUOTE] You would have to screw up the process somewhere for this to happen. The brine is generally too salty for bacteria to live. if she used a light mixture of salt and did not cool the brine before adding the bird, or left it in too warm a location (above 40F). There could be problems. Also stuffing the bird can lead to food borne illness. All I can say is I have brined hundreds of birds of various kinds with nary a problem. The needed precautions are simple but important. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/24 "2006-11-22T18:57:42Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Once again consulting with the master, Alton Brown does indeed brine his [Deep Fried Turkey](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_35148,00.html?rsrc=search) [/QUOTE] ::: Looks at link::: :eek: About 2 gallons of water 1 **pound** of Kosher salt 1 **pound** of dark brown sugar Brine for 8-16 hours :eek: Compare that to his [other turkey brine recipe](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_8389,00.html?rsrc=search) About 2 gallons of water 1 **cup** of kosher salt 1/2 **cup** light brown sugar Brine for 6 hours. Holy crap, did AB slip a cog here? I have never seen a brine that called for a 1/2 **POUND** of salt per gallon of water, usually they vary between 1/2 cup and 1 cup. I love brined meat, I love salt, and I love how AB cooks. But I don’t think that after 16 hours in that solution that turkey would be eatable. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/25 "2006-11-22T18:59:22Z")
All you really need is the salt- and the right amount of salt, and very cold water. The herbs are a nice touch, and the sugar is optional. Oddly, the cheaper the turkey, the more brining helps. If you have a top-flight fresh bird, you might not want to brine. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/26 "2006-11-22T19:33:03Z")
So during this 6-12 hour brining process, must one keep the bird refrigerated? I’m trying to think about how I could possibly have room. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/27 "2006-11-22T19:33:55Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] ::: Looks at link::: :eek: About 2 gallons of water 1 **pound** of Kosher salt 1 **pound** of dark brown sugar Brine for 8-16 hours :eek: Compare that to his [other turkey brine recipe](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_8389,00.html?rsrc=search) About 2 gallons of water 1 **cup** of kosher salt 1/2 **cup** light brown sugar Brine for 6 hours. Holy crap, did AB slip a cog here? I have never seen a brine that called for a 1/2 **POUND** of salt per gallon of water, usually they vary between 1/2 cup and 1 cup. I love brined meat, I love salt, and I love how AB cooks. But I don’t think that after 16 hours in that solution that turkey would be eatable. [/QUOTE] I hadn’t noticed that. I saw the episode, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a pound, so it’s probably a typo. You’re right, **Rick** about the screw up probably happening somewhere else along the line. Undercooking is usually the most likely cause, but cross contamination after cooking is also a possibility. Even in the unlikely event that the brine was a e. coli pool, proper cooking would have killed those little buggers off. **amarinth** , I have that issue of _Cook’s Illustrated_ at home. If memory serves, the tasters were split. The brined bird was juicier, the salted bird ‘turkier’. It became a matter of preference. \*_pulykamell_, brines do help from drying out, but they also do something that the fryer can’t - they season the meat throughout. For a deep fried turkey, it’s more about imparting flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/28 "2006-11-22T19:42:06Z")
Anybody ever brine a pork butt? I’m gonna slap one on the smoker tonite at about midnight, I’ll have time for 6 hours of brining if I start ASAP when I get home. My smoked pork butt is generally excellent, but I’m always up for something new. That is if the masses here feel it’s OK, don’t really want to get too experimental for Thanksgiving dinner. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/29 "2006-11-22T19:50:59Z")
[QUOTE=erie774] One word of warning, though. My sister tried doing the brine soaked oven blasted turkey and we all wound up with the turkey trots. Sometime during the brining process the bird got some wonderful bacteria and we all paid for it. The next day I was talking with my mother and told her how we were all sick and we blamed the turkey. My mother became very defensive of my sister (as usual) and said it was probably the flu. Well, I proved her wrong. I made a sandwich a few days later with leftover turkey we had brought home. You guessed it, Turkey Trot 2: Tom’s Revenge! [/QUOTE] I don’t know what happened last Thanksgiving, but we pulled up to my MIL’s house (my SIL was doing the cooking) and got out of the car to enter through the garage. My SIL is standing there in tears and my MIL is rather grim-faced, saying they were going to the store. As I entered the garage I was overcome by a godawful stench. I almost vomited, and I couldn’t go into the house. I thought it was my SIL’s attempt at cooking a duck, and I was concerned that I was going to have to spend the entire visit out in the garage, because I could not enter the house. My BIL came out carrying a large garbage bag. He looked rather green-faced and gagged a couple of times. It seems my SIL had started cooking the turkey the night before, and in the morning, she “turned it” (some people start cooking the bird breast side down) and that’s when the stench started. They came back with a fully cooked turkey from the deli at Publix. Bless Publix for being open on Thanksgiving. (Oh, and my SIL threw a spatula at her husband. Apparently, when they discovered the turkey was bad, his attempt at making her feel better was to say “What’s the big deal?” He was very contrite and apologized.) ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/30 "2006-11-22T19:54:53Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] So during this 6-12 hour brining process, must one keep the bird refrigerated? I’m trying to think about how I could possibly have room. [/QUOTE] I brine in a cooler. I add lots of ice, and I sit the cooler outside, where it maxes at 50 versus the steady 65-70 indoors. I’ll be doing the turkey again next year; I’ve discovered brining bags which will make cleanup much, much easier. **Duke** , brining wouldn’t hurt, although smoking is pretty darn good at infusing flavor on its own. Personally, I’d use a dry rub (if I had a smoker, that is) and let that sit on the meat for the six hours. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/31 "2006-11-22T20:18:52Z")
**Duke** I have never brined a pork butt or shoulder. It would require a fair amount of time, I think due to the thickness of the meat. I have often thought about buying some country style ribs (which are actually a cut up Boston Butt) and brining them before I smoke them for pulled pork. I don’t think this is necessary for a juiciness point of view, but it might add flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/32 "2006-11-22T20:25:04Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] **Duke** , brining wouldn’t hurt, although smoking is pretty darn good at infusing flavor on its own. Personally, I’d use a dry rub (if I had a smoker, that is) and let that sit on the meat for the six hours. [/QUOTE] Thanks. I normally don’t dry rub for that long, I was figuring the dry rub can still do it’s thing while the butt is on the smoker. I’ve never brined anything, really, except put basically the same stuff (salt, brown sugar, spices..no water) on some salmon a couple of hours before cooking, so I’m not sure how much of a difference it would make on something that’s slow smoked. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/33 "2006-11-22T20:32:47Z")
Not like it matters at this point, since you’ve already heard this from a dozen or more posters but I’ve done Alton’s brine recipe a couple of times and loved it. One other thing Alton says regarding bird cooking: Don’t open the oven, and no basting! It just dries the bird out more. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/34 "2006-11-22T21:03:24Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] Thanks. **I normally don’t dry rub for that long** , I was figuring the dry rub can still do it’s thing while the **butt is on the smoke** r. I’ve never brined anything, really, except put basically the same stuff (salt, brown sugar, spices..no water) on some salmon a couple of hours before cooking, so I’m not sure how much of a difference it would make on something that’s **slow smoked**. [/QUOTE] You know, if someone just dropped in to this thread and read only this post they might think something dirty was going on. Either I need some dinner or a cold shower. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/35 "2006-11-22T21:04:53Z")
I have brined several things, but I haven’t cooked a whole turkey in a long time. Back then, I used a Reynolds roasting bag. The bag held in the moisture and the steam. No part of the bird was dry or underdone. That was before I learned how to brine. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/36 "2006-11-22T21:37:35Z")
[QUOTE=McNew] We’re following Alton’s brining recipie for the first time this year, and I’m a little nervous about it. [/QUOTE] Don’t be. The first year I tried it, my mother was very skeptical and was positive the meat would be way too salty and inedible. She just couldn’t fathom how soaking it in salt water would do anything but make it salty. I was waaay too smug as she raved about how juicy the turkey was. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/37 "2006-11-22T22:23:36Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] **pulykamell** , brines do help from drying out, but they also do something that the fryer can’t - they season the meat throughout. For a deep fried turkey, it’s more about imparting flavor. [/QUOTE] Considering I brine in a mixture of only salt & sugar (1 gallon water, 1 cup salt, 1/2 cup sugar), I’m not too concerned about imparting flavor. I like my turkey to taste like turkey. 🙂 As for brining pork butt, I have seen people do this, and it is an acceptable practice. That said, I’ve never had reason to do so, as my pork butt always comes out very moist and soft after a long smoke. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/38 "2006-11-22T22:29:34Z")
Also, as much as I love **Alton Brown** , he is not infallible. I’ve heard him make multiple errors on his shows; I know on his beer special I counted two or three clear errors. But he is usually right. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/39 "2006-11-23T00:29:16Z")
Well, I split the difference. I got 2 pork butts, brining one _basically_ like Alton Brown did his (searched “brined pork butt” and his recipe was about the 2nd hit) and smoking one per usual. I added some chipotle hot sauce and beer to the brine…what the heck. I’ll pat it dry and dry rub it right before it goes on, the other is already rubbed. Time for a head-to-head butt. And sorry for butting into the turkey thread, but brined turkey had already been talked. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407/40 "2006-11-23T00:44:23Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] Well, I split the difference. I got 2 pork butts, brining one _basically_ like Alton Brown did his (searched “brined pork butt” and his recipe was about the 2nd hit) and smoking one per usual. I added some chipotle hot sauce and beer to the brine…what the heck. I’ll pat it dry and dry rub it right before it goes on, the other is already rubbed. Time for a head-to-head butt. And sorry for butting into the turkey thread, but brined turkey had already been talked. [/QUOTE] Awesome! Tell us how it goes. I’m really curious to hear the results. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-brine-soaked-turkey/381407.md?page=3)