A friend came to stay with me for a few days and I had thawed a small turkey in the cooler. He said he didn't care about crispy skin, he just hated dry turkey breast. So, I decided to brine it.
My personal feeling on brining is that it affects the texture of the meat too much. If you don't overcook your turkey, it will be moist without brining. However, I wanted to make my buddy happy so I brined.
I mixed up the brine
I made up a brine of kosher salt, brown sugar and some herbs. I let the bird sit in it overnight in the fridge.
I took it out in the morning and put it in a cooler with ice packs for few hours to dry.
I chopped up some fresh sage, rosemary and thyme (No Simon and Garfunkel cracks, please). I also chopped a large clove of garlic.
I mixed them up with olive oil.
Rubbed down the bird and pushed some under the skin,
I preheated the Bradley to its highest setting and started up some apple smoke.
I cooked it to an IT of 165 in the breast.
The skin had a great texture and colour and it tasted really good. However, I still think the breast gets a soft texture with brining. My buddy even said it was moist but he thought it was softer too. It was all eaten and a wonderful soup was made with the carcass.
Sorry about no cut pictures. She Who Must Be Obeyed threatened me if I took pictures while we were entertaining.
Disco
My personal feeling on brining is that it affects the texture of the meat too much. If you don't overcook your turkey, it will be moist without brining. However, I wanted to make my buddy happy so I brined.
I mixed up the brine
I made up a brine of kosher salt, brown sugar and some herbs. I let the bird sit in it overnight in the fridge.
I took it out in the morning and put it in a cooler with ice packs for few hours to dry.
I chopped up some fresh sage, rosemary and thyme (No Simon and Garfunkel cracks, please). I also chopped a large clove of garlic.
I mixed them up with olive oil.
Rubbed down the bird and pushed some under the skin,
I preheated the Bradley to its highest setting and started up some apple smoke.
I cooked it to an IT of 165 in the breast.
The skin had a great texture and colour and it tasted really good. However, I still think the breast gets a soft texture with brining. My buddy even said it was moist but he thought it was softer too. It was all eaten and a wonderful soup was made with the carcass.
Sorry about no cut pictures. She Who Must Be Obeyed threatened me if I took pictures while we were entertaining.
Disco