This year, we pulled the straw to bring the turkey to Christmas dinner. I would have rather had the gathering at our place but it was decided that we'd have it at mom's instead. So I was determined that this would be a really, really good turkey, even though we'd cook it in Brighton and drive it to Dexter.
Now, I think I do quite well with poultry in general, but I needed an 'edge'. So I began some light web browsing and came across 'brining'. Hmm, that sounds interesting, I thought. Brining is basically a way to marinade an entire bird, or large cut of meat. Brining is a way to tenderize and keep meat moist when cooking, and you can also impart some additional flavor to it.
After looking a various recipes I settled upon one that was pretty basic. I wasn't sure how much flavor might be transferred so I was cautious. For our 15 lb. turkey, most sources agreed that 12-24 hrs of brining was in order. I couldn't find any 'brining bags' and preparation was less than a day away, but luckily we had a box of the extra large (really large) zip loc storage bags - you know, the kind you use for clothing. It looked like it would accomodate the bird.
So I began the brining solution. I used a 2qt saucepan and added a half cup of coarse sea salt, a half cup of sugar, a quarter cup of cracked black pepper, and a few bay leaves. Boiled, then simmered, then diluted into a total of a gallon and a half of water. The turkey went into the bag. This was a two person job, by the way.
As I started pouring in the cooled brining solution, we saw a leak in the bag. The darned turkey wing had punctured it. We had one last bag and carefully slid the turkey into it, transferred the solution and then added one large navel orange, sliced very thin, a few strips of cut sweet (vidalia) onion and zipped it shut. This was also a two person job. Don't forget to remove the giblets and make sure your bird is totally defrosted when you do this.
The solution totally covered and immersed the bird. The bagged turkey went into a large plastic bin (in case of leaks), the refrigerator shelves were moved to accomodate the turkey in its bag and in its bin, and we had 25 hours and 10 minutes for it to brine. Perfect.
Christmas morning we were up early. The bird was removed from the bag and thoroughly washed inside and out, and patted dry. I was having trouble getting my big hands into the turkey, so my wife took a handful of sea salt and just tapped it around inside the cavity. We let it set for the 45 minutes or so that it took to prepare the stuffing. After stuffing, young Tom Turkey went into the roaster pan (uncovered), and the convection oven was set to 325 F. I set the timer for an hour, then pulled it out and basted it with extra virgin olive oil, topping it off with a light amount of McCormick's Montreal Chicken Seasoning. It went back in the oven covered with a protective layer of foil and was re-basted about every 90 minutes. For the last hour the temperature was increased to 365 F and the foil removed.
The meat thermometer confirmed that it was done pretty much on schedule and it was pulled to sit on the counter while we got the car loaded with presents, cookies and other dishes for the party. It was a perfect looking turkey! I hoped that it would taste good, too.
It took about 35 minutes to get to mom's and the turkey was ready to be carved as soon as we got there. I have to tell you that it sliced beautifully. It was also very moist and tasty, although I really couldn't detect any of the favors that were in the brine solution. Perhaps that was because I was conservative with the amounts. I don't know. But it was a very good turkey.
I'll try brining again on whole chickens and even cut up chicken parts. Of course they'll need less time, perhaps 1-3 hours instead of 24, but I will be a bit more daring on the concentration of the flavorings to see what happens. I'm very satisfied regarding the tenderness of the meat, and that was my main goal.
I will also take the time and trouble to add some seasoning to the olive oil for basting the next time, but since we were in uncharted waters I wanted to keep things fairly simple. That's one of the things I like about cooking - find something that works, then dress it up to be even better.
You can find your own way to brine by doing a web search for 'meat brining'. There will be enough links returned to keep you reading for a while.
