What to put in brine?

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I was just talking to a friend of mine about his turkey preparation and
he said his wife was soaking their turkey in a brine. I think I might
try this in an attempt to make the dead bird a little less dry. How
should I go about this? Some water and salt and the victim in a
garbage bag for a few hours (or even overnight)?

Thanks for any input...

Mike

If you get a chance in your area be sure to watch if it comes up, Alton
Brown's show on Moist Turkey, an hour show addresses this -- however,
time's a wastin' for this year's bird.
Dee Dee

Quoted message said:

The Basics of Brining

I picked up this information from the November/December 2001 issue of
Cook's Illustrated.
They and others have pushed for brining to bring out flavors and keep
juiciness for years.
But this is the best complete description in one place. If you can get
this issue,
go for it.

I won't go into the details of why this works (that is in the article).
But we have
used brining for several years now and can tell you it is well worth
it. A pork roast
that has first been brined is fabulous.

First some comments on salt. All salt is not equal. How much saltiness
there is per
cup of salt is what's important. They used common table salt as their
base saltiness.
It weighs about 10 ounces per cup. Diamond Crystal kosher salt weighs
about 5 ounces
per cup, making it half as strong as table salt. So you need twice as
much. Whatever
salt you use, if not one of these, simply weigh one cup. Say it weighs
8 ounces. Then
you should use 10/8 times 1/4 cup of it per quart of water.

Another important point is to make sure the salt you use is NOT
iodized. Also,
kosher salt will give a cleaner flavor because it doesn't contain
iodine nor
anti-caking agents. So the recommended salt is kosher salt.
Brine Ingredients per Quart of Water

Type of Brine Salt Sugar
Basic

* 1/2 C Diamond Crystal kosher
* 1/4 C +2 T Morton Kosher
* 1/4 C table

1/2 C
High-Heat Roasting, Grilling or Broiling

* 1/4 C Diamond Crystal kosher
* 3 T Morton Kosher
* 2 T table

2 T
Notes

1. Amount of Brine: Use 1 quart per pound of food not to exceed 2
gallons
2. Time: 1 hour per pound, but not less than 30 minutes nor more
than 8 hours
3. When brining multiple items (e.g. porkchops), time based on
weight of single item
4. Best candidates for brining:
* Pork (loin, tenderloin, chops, fresh ham)
* Seafood: salmon (when grill roasting or smoking), shrimp
* Chicken (whole, parts, butterflied), cornish hen (whole,
butterflied)
* Turkey (whole, breast, parts, butterflied)
5. When brining fowl, if you want crispy skins, you need to air dry,
uncovered,
in the refrigerator after brining. Air dry overnight or, for
parts, several hours.

Process
Mix cold water, salt and sugar in brining vessel and stir to disolve
salt and sugar.
Immerse food in brine, seal or close container and refrigerate or add
ice packs. Note
that you could use warm water to disolve the salt and sugar more easily
but you would
then need to cool the brine before adding the food.

Oops... sorry about the formatting. Just copy and paste into a text
editor and it should be easier to read.

~john

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

should I go about this? Some water and salt and the victim in a
garbage bag for a few hours (or even overnight)?

Use a turkey roasting bag if it has the zip top, or put it
into a clean cooler. You don't want to use a garbage bag.
Make sure you keep it chilled, either in the refrigerator
or in the cooler with ice.

nancy