Question about brining a turkey

[busymama7]

I want to try this this year. The recipe says 24 hrs in the brine is best but the brine has to cool after being boiled to dissolve salt and sugar.  I still have long covid so trying to spread out the work.  Can I make the bring on Tuesday night and put in the fridge and then add the turkey Wednesday morning? 

[cintinative]

My husband does not boil his brine, so I don't think you  need to do that. Just stir until salt can't be seen. Usually he brines it Tuesday night, removes it from the brine on Wed morning, rinse and pat dry and let it sit in the fridge during the day Wed. 

[marbel]

If you wanted to boil the brine so the salt and sugar will dissolve faster, you can boil the salt and sugar in a smaller amount of water. You can add some ice to cool it down quickly. That's what I do when brining chicken, anyway.  You don't have to boil the entire gallon or whatever amount of water it would take. (Or any at all, as Cintinative says.) 

 

[KungFuPanda]

Would you consider dry brining and spatchcocking your turkey? You’ll still get flavor from the brine and the shorter cooking time means it won’t dry out. 

[madteaparty]

I’m wet-brining and spatchcocking, and not boiling my brine but…I read 18 hours was sort of the max for brining? 24 hours would work better for me so that’s good to read. 

[Danae]

When I do brining I usually make the brine the day before.  It works fine.

[busymama7]

2 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Would you consider dry brining and spatchcocking your turkey? You’ll still get flavor from the brine and the shorter cooking time means it won’t dry out. 

I use an electric roaster and it doesn't dry out. I don't feel confident it cutting it open for that. 

[KungFuPanda]

11 hours ago, busymama7 said:

I use an electric roaster and it doesn't dry out. I don't feel confident it cutting it open for that. 

I did break a pair of kitchen shears doing it last year. I think I’m going to get some dedicated pruners just for kitchen use because this is my go to method for cooking whole birds. My new shears come apart for cleaning and I really love them and don’t want to sacrifice them. 

[PeterPan]

12 hours ago, busymama7 said:

I use an electric roaster and it doesn't dry out.

Love my electric roaster!

I've brined and not brined, and both ways were fine. Personally, I wouldn't bother if you're tired. It just wasn't *so* much better as to be worth the effort. Throw on more gravy and it's fine.

And yes, you can make the brine ahead and cool it. What I do is make the concentrate and then pour it over ice or into a larger thing of water. So you'd just be making the concentrate part ahead and don't have to dilute it till you're ready to use.

[busymama7]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

Love my electric roaster!

I've brined and not brined, and both ways were fine. Personally, I wouldn't bother if you're tired. It just wasn't *so* much better as to be worth the effort. Throw on more gravy and it's fine.

And yes, you can make the brine ahead and cool it. What I do is make the concentrate and then pour it over ice or into a larger thing of water. So you'd just be making the concentrate part ahead and don't have to dilute it till you're ready to use.

I was actually going to ask if it was worth the work.  Since I already bought everything I will go ahead and try it this year. None of us are huge turkey fans anyways but I thought with some extra flavor we might like it more.  Does the brine get to the meat through the skin?

[Momto6inIN]

I boil the brine mixture and then the recipe says to add ice so I do that and it cools it down enough to add the chicken right away. I leave it in the brine 24 hours.

[PeterPan]

3 hours ago, busymama7 said:

I was actually going to ask if it was worth the work.  Since I already bought everything I will go ahead and try it this year. None of us are huge turkey fans anyways but I thought with some extra flavor we might like it more.  Does the brine get to the meat through the skin?

It will get through. Maybe you're cooking the turkey the wrong way? The trick with the electric roaster is to crank it ALL THE WAY UP and put the bird in when it's literally that hot. You let it go like that for one hour, then WITHOUT PEEKING, turning it down to a more normal temp. Do that, and you'll have bird perfection. I've done it with 35 pound birds with great results.

You could also remove the legs and cook them down in an instant pot instead and put bbq sauce on them. 😄 

[KungFuPanda]

4 hours ago, busymama7 said:

I was actually going to ask if it was worth the work.  Since I already bought everything I will go ahead and try it this year. None of us are huge turkey fans anyways but I thought with some extra flavor we might like it more.  Does the brine get to the meat through the skin?

Check the label on your turkey. Some of them, like butterball, are already brined. 

[Amy Gen]

I have always used Martha Stewart’s turkey brine, but this year, I’m trying something different. My friend who is a chef talked me into dry brining with just salt and sugar overnight. After rinsing, she told me to cover the breast with bacon for the first half of cooking, then remove the bacon and add it to the dressing. 
 

We will see if something that easy gives as good of results as she promised me. 

[lmrich]

Hey friends! I am dry brining my turkey and roasting it for an early Thanksgiving on Tuesday. I will let you know how it goes... 

 

 

[marbel]

1 hour ago, lmrich said:

Hey friends! I am dry brining my turkey and roasting it for an early Thanksgiving on Tuesday. I will let you know how it goes... 

 

 

I'm dry brining for the first time this year, so I'll be watching for your update!

[lmrich]

On 11/22/2021 at 6:38 PM, lmrich said:

Hey friends! I am dry brining my turkey and roasting it for an early Thanksgiving on Tuesday. I will let you know how it goes... 

 

 

Update - it was good. I could not tell a difference between the turkeys of the past when I did a wet brine and this one. I do use a roaster appliance which does roast the turkey faster than an oven so that also helps. My Thanksgiving work is done! Enjoy yours!!

[marbel]

Thanks for the update! My husband spatchcocked and dry-brined ours last night while I was working.  Man that thing takes up a lot of fridge space! 

[SKL]

Forgive me, I know nothing about brining a turkey, but every time I see this thread's title I think it says "question about being a turkey."  Am I alone?  😛

[marbel]

11 minutes ago, SKL said:

Forgive me, I know nothing about brining a turkey, but every time I see this thread's title I think it says "question about being a turkey."  Am I alone?  😛

I see it as "question about bringing a turkey" 😎

[KSera]

I make my brine Tuesday night or Wednesday morning and then add a gallon of ice water. We don’t put the Turkey in it until just before bed Wednesday night though. Our recipe calls for just an overnight brine and the turkey comes out fabulous. I am curious to try the dry brine sometime, but we’ve had such success with our current method for so many years that I’m afraid to mess with it.