Go to the Article: The Ultimate Guide to Brining Turkey
Do you have a recommended injector for brine?
I potentially want to include MSG. For an injection brine, or a dry brine, how much would you use, and would you increase the salt with it?
I blanch in boiling water 4 days, fridge for 2 days, light dry brine 48 hours before and add an injection brine ~24 before cook time. I am surprised to see injection plus dry brine method not explored here.
Hey Logan. I usually use ones very similar to these with a blunt tip around 20 gauge. https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Scientific-Measuring-Dispensing-Multiple/dp/B09JYTT6LN?tag=chefsteps02-20
https://www.amazon.com/10-Pack-Dispensing-Needle-Blunt/dp/B01HJ2B8KC?tag=chefsteps02-20
Would you ever equilibrium brine AND sous vide? I have done the butcher/sous vide method for 2 years and love it but not sure about brine? If I have time, equilibrium or just skip to brine in the bag…? Thanks!
Hi Nicholas, love your recipes and techniques! I’ve done several dry-brined meats, and I’m curious about trying the gradient or equilibrium wet brine this Thanksgiving. Could I do a gradient brine, then air-dry the turkey for a few days to dehydrate the skin? Would wet-brining, then letting air dry potentially cause the texture to become hammy? Thank you!
I don't understand fully what you wrote - you blanch for 4 days??
Hoping the Chefsteps crew will monitor. I see a few unanswered questions and Tgiving is around the corner. To clarify what I read - if you are going to Sous Vide turkey breasts/legs, then no brining needed, correct? I am going to sous vide one bird and smoke/spatchcock the other bird, so I want to be sure about the sous vide and brining.
Quick question: can I add herbs and spices to the wet-brine to inject? I am thinking of boiling the water+salt solution suggested here, along with herbs (sage+rosemary+tyme) and with maybe some apple slices and orange+lemon zest. Let the solution cool down (maybe adding some ice), inject 24-48 hours before Bird-day and then keep the turkey in the fridge to let the skin dry. I would then put a bit of compound butter with herbs under the skin (and on the skin) before roasting it. Any downsides with the above plan?
For sous vide preparations we season turkey with a salt-sugar mixture, and then immediately bag and cook. It's a dry brine, just without the inactive resting time between seasoning and cooking that you would employ for a regular dry brine if roasting the turkey.
For sous vide turkey breast and thighs, scale salt to 1% of turkey weight, and sugar to 0.5% of turkey weight.
For sous vide turkey roulade, scale salt to 0.6% of weight of deboned turkey legs, and sugar to 0.4% of weight of deboned turkey legs. Salt and sugar are reduced for the roulade because only the meat is seasoned (not the skin as well).
You could certainly do that!
Hello Nathan. For a dry brine I would add 0.25% MSG to the weight of the meat and for a injection (gradient) brine 0.25% MSG to the weight of the water. I would not increase the salt with the addition of MSG. If you exceed 0.25% MSG I would begin reducing the % salt in the brine slightly.
Hello Tim. Equilibrium brine and sous vide will produce very juicy results. Have you done the dry brine in the bag when you've sous vide turkey before? It's very good and takes little to no planning ahead.
Thanks Matthew! I think gradient brining then air-drying in the fridge for a couple days is a great approach for seasoned, juicy bird with crispy skin. To help expedite the skin drying I recommend doing a gradient brine (injection) before air drying for a couple of days. Wet-brining then air drying shouldn't result in a hammy texture. Be sure there is room around the bird in the fridge for airflow during the air drying.
Hello Nicola. Here are some notes that come to mind: - I would bring your salt + water to a boil, shut off the heat and add your herbs to steep (covered) for about 20-30 minutes. If you add ice to rapidly chill it down after be sure to track the weight. For example only bring half the weight of your water to a boil and add the other half to it as ice after. Otherwise your % of salt might not be accurate.
- I haven't experimented with adding apple slices to my brine but I think you might get a better bang for your buck if you sub some apple juice for the water weight in your brine. Cant guarantee the apple flavor will come through but essentially you're adding a bit of sugar to your brine. -Though the zest of orange and lemon carries a lot of flavor much of it is in the oil that will be suspended in the brine. You should give it a try if you want but might also be worth microplane the zest and adding it to your butter.
- I'm not a big fan of adding whole butter beneath poultry skin. The butter is about 16-18% water which isn't going to help the development of crispy skin. Though the milk solids will help with color they will get dark before the skin gets crispy. If you want to add butter under the skin I suggest making a clarified butter and adding your chopped herbs and microplane citrus zest at the end to toast and strain them out. Another option might be skipping the butter under the skin and serving your citrus/herb packed compound butter with the turkey that way the flavors are enjoyed fresh.
Thank you Nicholas! Really appreciate that. I bet using chicken bouillon powder as the dry brine, instead of salt and MSG would work even better, because of the disodium inosinate and guanylate. Is 24 hours for a dry brine the maximum you recommend or the minimum?
Just a further question-is there a benefit to dry-curing a roast chicken vs dry-brining it, in terms of skin crispness and the assertiveness of seasoning? If dry-curing draws out moisture, maybe the skin would get crispier than if you used a dry brine, but I suppose the rinsing step would undo that, unless you air-dried it in the fridge afterwards for a day or two.
Kind of a 6 of 1, half dozen of the other situation.
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-roast-chicken
A lot of restaurants season chicken right before cooking and get crispy results with expert cooking methods. Some season or dry brine a day before and do not rinse. Starting with air chilled chicken always helps. Convection fans are a big help with drying the skin.
