Brining Birds Together: Safe?

I plan to smoke a turducken. Before cooking, I want to brine the birds
for at least 8 hours in a 16:1 salt solution.

Can I put them in the same brine, or will I be asking for a deadly case
of cross-contamination?

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bubbabob rnorton@_remove_this_thuntek.net said:

Yes, but cooking does little to nullify the toxins that the bacteria have
already excreted.

To be on the safe side, boil the brine for a minute or two between the
birds. I probably wouldn't bother, myself.

Toxins aren't usually an issue with poultry, and boiling the brine
wouldn't help if they were the problem.

The most common concerns are Salmonella and Camphylobacter, which both
cause infections (i.e., bacterial growth in the stomach).

There have also been cases illnesses from Staph. Aureus, a a toxin
producer. This toxin is heat stabile and can survive 6 hours of boiling
without any reduction in toxicity. Though more frequently associated
with beef, c. perfingens has been known to infect poultry. It is also a
toxin producer.

There have even been extremely rare cases of botulism in tightly stuffed
poultry where an oxygen reduced environment was created inside the
poultry cavity. Not an issue when brining, and a quick boil wouldn't
help, either.

--
to respond (OT only), change "spamless.invalid" to "optonline.net"

<http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/>

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:02:07 -0000, Bubbabob

rnorton@_remove_this_thuntek.net said:

Vox Humana said:

Finally, even
if they are contaminated with bacteria, cooking them would kill the
bacteria.

Yes, but cooking does little to nullify the toxins that the bacteria have
already excreted.

To be on the safe side, boil the brine for a minute or two between the
birds. I probably wouldn't bother, myself.

In the case of salmonella, illness is caused by the little bugs
entering one's digestive tract and infecting the walls of the gut.
There they produce an enterotoxin (SP?) that makes one heave and [censored]
chili. Toxins in the birds I don't know about, but as long as the
meat isn't noticeably spoiled, I'd not be concerned.

I'm no fan of turducken (echoes of Calvin Trillin's "stuff stuff with
heavy"😉, but were I to brine such a concoction, I'd bone out the foul,
brine them individually or together (I can't see any difference) and
then do the stuffing. If it were a commercially stuffed avian
assemblage (how's that for a synonym for turducken?), I'd not brine it
because odds are it's been injected with one or another "patented
solution" of food industry standard salt water.

OBStuffing stuff: I know a guy whose Thanksgiving dinner revolved
around a shot of Bourbon inside a bottle of pinot grigio inside a keg
of Shiner Bock. Something about the presidential election, as I
understand it.

modom

"Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes."
-- Jimmie Dale Gilmore

"Bubbabob" <rnorton@_remove_this_thuntek.net> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

To be on the safe side, boil the brine for a minute or two between the
birds. I probably wouldn't bother, myself.

How do you boil between them when they are in the same container at the same
time?

Quoted message said:

OBStuffing stuff: I know a guy whose Thanksgiving dinner revolved
around a shot of Bourbon inside a bottle of pinot grigio inside a keg
of Shiner Bock. Something about the presidential election, as I
understand it.

modom

That is so freakin' funny. I don't really get it, but I think that is so
funny!!!!!

Elisa

In rec.food.cooking said:

Can I put them in the same brine, or will I be asking for a deadly case
of cross-contamination?

If yo do this, you will surely die.

--
In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the
disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
-- Dwight David Eisenhower

Al Fresco said:

I plan to smoke a turducken. Before cooking, I want to brine the birds
for at least 8 hours in a 16:1 salt solution.

Can I put them in the same brine, or will I be asking for a deadly case
of cross-contamination?

I don't see a major problem. While brining a bird is not a way of
preserving it, the high salt should inhibit bacteria growth. The birds
should be kept refrigerated while brining.

I brined them together and smoked them until the internal temperature
hit 185. It was amazing, and so far, no one has died.

Dave Smith said:

Al Fresco said:

I plan to smoke a turducken. Before cooking, I want to brine the birds
for at least 8 hours in a 16:1 salt solution.

Can I put them in the same brine, or will I be asking for a deadly case
of cross-contamination?

I don't see a major problem. While brining a bird is not a way of
preserving it, the high salt should inhibit bacteria growth. The birds
should be kept refrigerated while brining.