One word totally ruined this sentence for me. 
Until this year, I’d never heard of brining turkey. I thought they’d end up tasting like those pickled turkey gizzards you can get at a bar.
But I think I just might take a run at brining a bird sometime soon.
WARNING: my family learned the hard way a few Thanksgivings back that brining can only be done with a fresh turkey, and a farm fresh (free-range, no chemicals added or whatever) one at that.
My dad, the family chef, who loves to experiment with new recipes and techniques, read an article in the local paper, about brining a turkey. It failed to mention that this does NOT work with frozen turkeys. Well, he tried it and that bird was saltier than the Dead Sea.
I often cover my butts with mustard before rubbing. Good ole CYM (cheap yellow mustard) the vinegar seems to add something.
It does work with frozen turkey. It does not work with self-basting (already brined) turkey.
He did something wrong then. I often brine frozen turkeys and have never had a failure. In fact I have a previously frozen turkey swimming in his brine as we speak. Not salty at all when done. Here is a more complete discussion of brining turkeys.
As do I. I’m not sure if it imparts much flavor at all, but it does help the spices stick and makes a great bark.
Hmmm…I’ll have to show my father that thread, then-thanks Rick.
OK, the update. I just trimmed a little chunk off of each, they are resting now. The brined one had definite flavor after only a 6 hr soak. It also seemed drier than the rubbed only. The chipotle hot sauce was evident, there is some heat there. I use crushed red pepper in my rub, but this was noticeably hotter than the rubbed only. I also put 1/2 cup cider vinegar in the brine for a little twang to offset the molasses. So I’m happy with the flavor, I’m hoping (betting) it’s still moist in the center. It’s not what I’d call too dry on the outer part, but the rubbed only is undoubtedly moister.
That’s the critique, but I can say that both are bad ass butts. I’ll have no problem serving either one.
Thanks for the replies everyone, this has been educational. Next time I do a bird, I’ll brine it…ha!
Hope your turkeys and butts came out juicy. Being as this is China and a normal work type day, we just added a roast turkey to a little Thanksgiving touch.
Happy Thanksgiving
Our turkey brining was a juicy success. I was a little worried because it was a rather large bird; we had to double the brining recipe and store it in a cooler out in the garage. There was much cooling, schlepping and checking. But everything worked out well.
As one of our kids said: “It’s not just moist, it really tastes like turkey.”
Okay, now you are officially freaking me out. This is EXACTLY how my MIL reacted!
This place is creepy. Over in the MMP, gardentraveler and I discovered we got nearly identical birthday gifts. :eek:
Would this work for cooking a chicken over a parrilla (hot coal BBQ with no lid)
We normally cook co, lamb or goat on it, but theoccasional chicken finds it way there. Damn difficult to do as one can really dry it out if one over does the heat and cooks it too quickly.
cheers
Yes, it does. Works great.
Duke how did the pork turn out?
We only brine the turkey when it is below 40 degrees in the mud room or the basement. This year was too warm. It does give it a good flavor. I like the aromatics, a sliced apple inside gives it s good flavor even if it is not brined. I hope we move to a house where the water is good enough for cooking. Now we use bottled and that gets expensive.
I am no longer a brining virgin.
This was the most flavorful, juicy bird in the history of turkeys! The aromatics were incredible too, but my goodness, what a juicy breast. I’m a convert! Everybody loved it. Thanks to the people who convinced me to finally try it, especially you Rick! I forgot to ice down the breast, though.
I can’t wait to brine a chicken and make beer butt chicken.
The taste imparted by the brining was subtle yet noticeable. It was saltier, but not too salty. The molasses was detectable, as was the chipotle. Not sure if it was worth the added trouble, the added flavor didn’t jump out all, but was there. Thing is, soaking longer would have added more flavor, but I really don’t think I’d care for much more salt/molasses flavor. Both turned out very well, I’d have served them proudly at any gathering. They were served as sliced portions yesterday, now the leftovers are destined for pulled pork sandwiches.
Do you deliver?
I think the delivery charges from front and Center to the Center of the Universe might be a little more than you want to pay.
I don’t think the half pound of salt was a typo…I watched the show where he brined and then smoked a turkey a couple days ago, and he used a full pound of salt.
We used a gallon of water, a pound of salt, a pound of honey, two quarts of veggie broth, two tablespoons each of rosemary, thyme, and sage, and a small handful of peppercorns, plus 4 pounds of ice to cool off the brine, then brined our 12-pound turkey in a big stock pot for around 12 hours in the fridge, then patted it dry and rubbed it down with oil and placed it on top of big chunks of onion and carrots with some garlic cloves, stuffed the bird with the same, did the 30 minutes at 500 degrees browning, and then a couple hours at 350 with the breasts covered in foil, and it came out WONDERFUL. The gravy was amazing, definitely not too salty, but very rich, a little went a long way. The color was really, really dark, looked almost black in places, so we were afraid it had burned, but it was fabulous. I think I agree, though, that the rosemary, etc., in the brine didn’t really add much flavor.