Is it a simple or complicated question? To brine or not to brine?
There are more valued opinions than mine on this topic, but I want to share with you my experience. For the past 3 years, I’ve brined my Thanksgiving turkey. (Last year, I tried a heritage breed, and it turned out to be a disaster, even with brining, but that’s a story for another day.) Before that, I never cooked the turkey, my mom did.
I still think the bird is overrated and I’d be just as happy with a table full of side dishes and no turkey but I can’t seem to convince anyone else in my family that the world would not stop spinning if we skipped the turkey.
Since there is going to be a turkey on the table, let’s at least make it as moist and tasty as possible.
I’ve found that brining is the easiest, most sure way to a moist turkey. I still baste with butter in search of the brownest bird, but brining is now my secret weapon.
Soaking the meat in a salt water solutions does a couple things according to food scientist, Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking: The Science And Lore of the Kitchen. The meat soaks up the solution and then when cooked, it looses less moisture than it would have without brining. The salt also starts to break down the protein structure, which in turn tenderizes the meat.
The standard brine is 1 cup of kosher salt, 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon of water. That’s fine if you plan to brine less than 12 hours. If I brine for more than 12 hours, I think this ratio is too strong (it makes the bird and resulting drippings from cooking too salty), so I use 1/2 cup of kosher salt and 1/4 cup of sugar per gallon. It can take 2 to 3 gallons to cover a 12 pound bird, and even then it’s not completely submerged, so I do some turning during the brining period.
I also add some spices to the brine, even though I’ve also just used salt and sugar. I like to add a couple bay leaves, a handful of peppercorns, and maybe some crushed juniper berries. Add whatever spices you want that go with the rest of your dishes. I’ve even seen people add orange peel and cinnamon sticks to the turkey brine.
The only downside to brining I’ve experienced is salty gravy, as a result of the pan drippings being salty from the brined bird. That is one reason I tend to use the lower salt ratio to water for my brining mix. You can dilute the gravy by adding more unsalted stock, and just end up with more gravy than you really need. (Is there really such a thing as too much gravy?)
I hope you give brining a shot. I think it elevates a dry, tasteless turkey to a juicy, tender one. If you’ve never brined, why don’t you first try it on a chicken before Thanksgiving and see what you think? In the meantime, I’m going to start working on my side dishes.
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