Brinings Questions -- Ask an Expert here

Can I please get a PM of the brining 101? My wife was asking me about it and I wanted to try it out for Thanksgiving.
 
I have brined successfully but never have been satisfied with the description of the physical processes involved.

Osmosis is the movement of the solvent(water) across the selective boundary from the region of low solute concentrate (salt) to the region of high concentration.

Applying this definition to brining, the brine should pull moisture from the meat rather than pull salt into the meat. Pour salt on a slug and watch it shrivel.

I am sure my confusion stems from applying high school chemistry concepts to a more complicated process. I would love to know where my understanding is breaking down.

Mark
 
Sorry to bump an old thread... But I am going to attempt my first turkey on my weber kettle... Is it a must to brine? Or will I be fine just adding a little smoke @400 for 2 and a half to three hours? Thanks guys... My aunt wants a smoked bird for Christmas and I have a kettle and a vertical ... So I'll be making it... I'll probably try one brined and one not .
 
If you haven't done one, I'd suggest a test. Turkeys are pretty cheap and I would do a test.

Is it absolutely necessary? No.

If you get a good bird (look for one that doesn't say 'enhanced with x% solution) if you can or one that says water retained up to X%. The enhanced means they've brined them already.

I'd also smoke it not roast it. 400 would be roasting. Go for a lower temp, 275/300 or so and get a reliable temp thermometer and shoot for 160 in the breast.

Don't wait for a holiday to practice. If you want it to come out right under all the Holiday stress, then a little practice is in order.
 
I can't say enough good about Russ' advice and website. I've got it bookmarked on my iPad! I've been smoking, on average about a turkey a week for the past 2 months and when I started using his Holiday Brine, I began to get consistent, perfect results. The brining process is not as laborious as it seems and its fun to mess with the basic ingredients to make interesting variations.
Thanks for the help, Russ.
 
Thanks Russ ! You guys are great help with no flaming! Just a backyard Sunday afternoon cook trying to expand my que a little... As far as the lower temp goes... I was just shooting for a medium heat for crispy skin... I guess I will try to worry about skin after my few test runs... Thanks again.
 
Hey up, so I've got a turkey ready to rock for Sunday. I'm doing it herb-style, but I was wondering whether to brine or not? I'm looking for crispy skin!
 
Brining is one of those things to try once and see how you like it. I'd say maybe 90% of the people that try it (my unscientific guess) love it. The other 10 have various reasons for not liking it.

I'm a fan of saying try it once as recommended and then decide if your taste buds like it.

Any questions just ask.
 
I have a question about NOT brining. I have a 8% bird and I have chosen not to brine this time. My question is , should I let the bird air dry in the fridge just like you do after brining? Or am i just overthinking the whole thing? Thanks for the great thread to help us bird newbies:clap2:
 
SmokinOkie said:
If it tastes like him, he's added a cure of some sort, such as Tenderquick to cure the meat like you would a ham. But who wants a turkey tasting like ham? Just kidding.

Add a little TQ to your brine.
Click to expand...

Tried my first stab at a making a ham.
Found fresh hams on sale for 0.99 a pound and asked to have them cut into halves.

Put in an apple juice cure and injected the same, cured for 14 days.

Rinsed and sat 24 hours in fresh water, air dried.

Cold Smoked for 24 hours (below) after 24 hours meat temperature is still at 46.4 degrees

ham%200.jpg


Rested for 24 hours in a sealed package and smoked again with warm smoke another 12 hours until internal temp went to 155.

Everybody loved the ham was good but I felt it was a tad salty...
any suggestions?
 
Thanks Russ for this write up, it is great information and i have read every word of it and will print it out and file it. You have answered a lot of my questions I had. I just put out a post asking for folks brining recipes as I wanted to try some different ones as I continue on my path trying to find the "WOW" factor for my chicken, this information has been a big help.
 
IamMadMan said:
My butcher brines pork butts and turkey breasts and then smokes them and both the butts and the tukey look and taste like ham.

Whats the trick for this curing to make a change every now and then?
Click to expand...

Hickory smoke - I did this a few years back with a couple of chickens - my kids wouldn't eat them ... the chickens were fine but the resemblance to ham was odd.
 
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