It’s easy to pinpoint when American foodies re-discovered brining and, specifically, brining Thanksgiving turkeys. It was October, 1993 when then-new Cook’s Illustrated published (in the issue dated November) Pam Anderson’s report and enthusiastic recommendation about brining after having roasted more than 30 turkeys. It was the talk of the day, especially in the very different online world that existed then, in places such as the Cooks forum on CompuServe. People who tried the salt water soak that year raved about the results and about Anderson — and make no mistake, the credit is all hers.
Some chefs adopted the technique too and through the years, millions of people who heard about brining to produce a moister, delicious turkey gave it a try; still today, some are thinking of brining for the first time. It’s become so mainstream that products such as expensive brining bags and salt-based mixes — needless expenses, in my opinion — can be found in kitchenware stores. If you’re really looking to part with some cash, at least one purveyor online will sell you a “pre-brined” 12 to 14-pound bird for about $7 per pound plus $20 for shipping. For that money you could buy three Kosher turkeys which, as you might know, are salted and soaked during the koshering process.
How does brining work?
Brining does make for a cleaner-tasting, juicier turkey, especially the breast, which is so prone to drying out. According to CI, it’s largely because of osmosis, “the flow of water across a barrier from a place with a higher water concentration (the brine) to a place with a lower one” (the turkey). In other words, water penetrates the bird’s flesh. The salted water dissolves some of the protein in the muscle and my food science hero, Shirley Corriher, says it also loosens the protein coils so more salt water is trapped in the fiber of the meat. There’s the added moisture and flavor.
During that process, what goes in displaces some of what’s there, and it comes out with residual blood leached by the salt. The brining solution the bird is submerged in soon begins to turn pink. This is why a brined turkey tastes cleaner. It is cleaner.
Should you brine?
Not necessarily. As mentioned, Kosher turkeys and chickens are already brined and scrupulously clean. Kosher salt, used for brining because of its purity, is not called that because it is kosher under dietary laws. It’s simply shorthand for koshering salt; to be considered kosher under Jewish dietary laws, the animal must be healthy and slaughtered as humanely as possible — it’s done by specialists — and drained of all blood. Most is drained during the slaughter but remaining blood is removed through soaking and salting. Koshering. With the expertise and extra work involved, Kosher turkey is more expensive than loss-leader turkeys, about $3 per pound, and I believe it’s worth every penny. Nothing compares.
You should also avoid brining if you’re using a self-basting turkey, such as the popular Butterball, because there’s plenty of salt involved with that innovation and your turkey will be too salty. The same goes for any turkey labeled “enhanced”, “water added” or injected with saline.
How to brine
It couldn’t be simpler. All you need is water and Kosher salt — about 1 cup per gallon, less if using table salt — a food-safe container such as a Rubbermaid tub and a refrigerator or other cold place to keep it overnight. Turkey-size oven bags can be used, but do not use trash bags; don’t laugh, I’ve heard people say they use them. I shudder to think what the salt leaches out from that kind of plastic.
Pam Anderson’s original article and method, unfortunately uncredited, are available to subcribers at Cook’s Illustrated’s website; her brining recipe is available free to everyone at Food & Wine. She also discusses brining in her first cookbook, The Perfect Recipe, and in a 1998 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. Some experts, such as food scientist Harold McGee, recommend a lighter brine and this month’s Gastronomer column in the Washington Post has that information, as well as detailed information about brining and basting. Don’t tell, but I stopped basting years ago. Instead, I give my turkeys a good rubdown with oil and soft butter before they go into the oven. They’ve never looked better.
Dry brining
Nothing stands still. Three years ago Anderson, long gone from Cook’s, advocated dry brining, which sounds like an oxymoron, in a short piece in Fine Cooking. It is what the name suggests, spinkling a fair amount of kosher salt onto the bird and leaving it overnight in the fridge. This month another authoritiative voice joined in. Rick Rodgers — whom I think of as Mr. Thanksgiving because he knows everything worth knowing about turkeys, dressings and stuffings — used to wet brine his turkey. Now he says forget it about altogether. In Bon Appétit, and available on the website with his recipes, he recommends dry brining with salt mixed with other seasonings and herbs; he says the flavorful liquid that emerges is re-absorbed by the turkey.
Remember that brining of either sort is not just for big birds. Cornish hens and chicken parts benefit from it too, as does pork, which is so lean these days the slightest overcooking will dry it out. The Roast Pork with Apple Reduction I posted in May begins with a wet brine. It includes some sugar with the salt, which is not ideal for poultry because the sugar can make the skin too dark.
Remember too that brining is not marinating. Marinades tenderize meat, brines make it juicier.
While I might never bring a turkey to the table that’s worthy of an iconic American illustration, I am assured that whether I choose one that’s Kosher or rely on science for others, my bird will be so moist and flavorful nobody will have to douse it with gravy to mask its shortcomings.
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