To Brine or Not To Brine?

S

soup

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 4, 2009
Location
Tulsa,ok
I read the opinions on low and slow. So my question is to brine or not, and if so, I need some brine recipes. I'm cooking a 14lb turkey thur. morning.
 
soup said:
I read the opinions on low and slow. So my question is to brine or not, and if so, I need some brine recipes. I'm cooking a 14lb turkey thur. morning.
Click to expand...


Funny, I had the same questions. The last turkey I smoked turned out without brining...Put seasoning between skin and meat and let marinate for 8 hrs, but no brine. It turned out good, either beginners luck or a good process?? :-D
 
I did four last week at work with a honey brine they came out well but i couldn't taste the 24$$ worth of honey i used for the brine. wont do that again.
 
I have brined two this year and the turned out more tender than any turkeys that I have ever made. I brined one and then used the Mad Max method after the brining and it turned out great after smoking with apple chips. I know, it did not happen, but if it did, I would have used this recipe to brine it. http://bbq.about.com/od/brinerecipes/r/bl71122a.htm
 
My first turkey on the WSM last week I brined with 1/2 cup salt & 1/2 cup brown sugar then used Rudy's Rub. Turkey was moist & tender I will do the same next time also.
 
I brine my turkey, here's what I use:

2 quarts of apple juice
3 quarts of water
1 lb brown sugar
1 cup Kosher Salt
3 oranges quartered
4 oz of thinly sliced fresh ginger
15 whole cloves
6 Bay leaves
6 garlic cloves, crushed

or

1.5 gallons of wter
1/2 cup of salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp garlicpowder
2 tsp cajun spice
2 tsp celery seed
2 tsp onion powder

I have used both and brine 24 hours or over night depending on if it's turkey of chicken.
 
jeez, so all i can find is a a bird that's enhanced, and i just can reason with paying 4 dollars plus a lb for a "fresh kill" bird.
So what do you guys think, brine it anyways and just lay off the salt a lil?
 
Does a brined bird take longer to smoke than an unbrined bird? Looking at doing a 12 lber on my WSM but looking at lunch at around 1300. (Yeah, i know "it's done when it's done" but was wondering if i should start the night before or early AM.)
 
Rylos1 said:
I have brined two this year and the turned out more tender than any turkeys that I have ever made. I brined one and then used the Mad Max method after the brining and it turned out great after smoking with apple chips. I know, it did not happen, but if it did, I would have used this recipe to brine it. http://bbq.about.com/od/brinerecipes/r/bl71122a.htm
Click to expand...

+1 on Mad Max method with a good brine. Absolutely Wonderful! Use it every year with great results.
 
Brine the bird! In my experience a brined bird cooks in much less time than one that is not.
Stan41
 
early mornin' smokin' said:
jeez, so all i can find is a a bird that's enhanced, and i just can reason with paying 4 dollars plus a lb for a "fresh kill" bird.
So what do you guys think, brine it anyways and just lay off the salt a lil?
Click to expand...

Same here, the choices I had were 3%, 6%, and 8% enhanced so I went with a 3% bird..

I was just going to cut the brine time from 12 hours to 8 hours..

Does this sound ok, or does anybody have any better suggestions?
 
Interesting...

Thanks Tom... I might just give it a shot, but the best I can do about sealing my 20+lb bird is storing it in a few unused plastic garbage bags.
 
I brine every turkey no matter how it's cooked (deep fried, oven roasted or smoked). I brine my pork butts also. The key is the water, salt and sugar. The rest is kind of whatever the cook wants to play with. Brining only improves the end product. It will add maybe 10 minutes to your prep. time. And it costs next to nothing. It makes a good piece of meat better.
 
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