Turkey brining

[walteye]

I went over my son's house for Thanksgiving-he smoked a turkey and my DIL cooked one in the oven. My son brined both turkeys with a store bought brining kit. This was the first time I ever had brined turkey and both turkeys were very moist-but to me both were very salty. The pan dripping gravy was very salty also.
Is this something that is normal when you brine a turkey or was something done wrong? He brined both turkeys overnight and rinsed each before cooking.
Walteye

[brigeton]

I smoke a turkey breast every year and my wife cooks a whole one in the oven. I just mix my own brine, just canning salt & water. I taste the brine to get the saltiness I want then inject it into the turkey. You could also mix in a little brown sugar like I do when smoking fish. For fish I do 1 part brown sugar to 2 parts salt. I make my fish brine a little saltier than my turkey brine.

[johnboat]

It could just be the recipe he used.

I do mine in apple cider, peppercorns, sugar, bay leaves, sage, a little salt, and 6 lemons.

No salty taste. But the Apple Cider and Sage....yummy!

[d-max06]

We brine every year with tenderquick and canning salt 24 hours if soaked 12 if injected and at the end at least 2 hours in a bucket water to pull some out never too salty hope that helps works for us take care

[feesh007]

Did he rinse the turkey after brining? If not, it's gonna be salty. I've brined (and rinsed) and smoked turkeys for over a decade and none have been salty. You can use a strong salt solution for a couple hours or a weak solution for a day or two. My guess is too much salt, for too long, and didn't rinse it off. Since most turkeys sold today are sold in a brine solution anyways (more water weight = higher price they can charge), your turkey is probably already 'brined'. I tried dry brining this year - just sprinkling salt and spices on the turkey and letting it sit for 24 hours in the fridge - and it came out just as good as a wet brine. Actually better, since wet brining usually makes the skin rubbery while dry brining allows you to get it crispy.



Also, brines with lots of other flavors don't make much of a difference. The salt ions are small enough to migrate into the meat but the other flavors don't break down into ions and thus cannot travel into the meat. If you want those flavors to the turkey, add them after the brining process.

[Mojo-NC]

I used 1 cup of sea salt dissolved in 1 gallon of vegetable broth plus spices followed by the addition of 1 gallon of ice water before adding my bird. Maybe the commercial brine contains too much salt.

[Cooperman]

I used a store bought kit this year. The turkey was fine, but it made the drippings way to salty, so that ruined the gravy. I don’t know if it was the brine or the rub. Won’t be doing that again. Another thing to keep in mind is that most turkey are already brined with an 8% solution. This is the one I used.

[walteye]

Thanks for all the info. My son did rinse both birds before cooking-but like what was said-the pan drippings to make the gravy were very salty-thusly the gravy was very salty.
I will let my son practice some more with the recommendations.
Walteye

[clawman]

Originally Posted by brigeton

I smoke a turkey breast every year and my wife cooks a whole one in the oven. I just mix my own brine, just canning salt & water. I taste the brine to get the saltiness I want then inject it into the turkey. You could also mix in a little brown sugar like I do when smoking fish. For fish I do 1 part brown sugar to 2 parts salt. I make my fish brine a little saltier than my turkey brine.

When creating a brine with salt you are increasing the density of the water. ex; a person floats a lot higher in salt water than fresh water.
The fish, turkey or whatever starts with almost no salt so that dense water is leeching into the meat to equalize density. If you use the same amount of salt in 1 gallon of water as 2 gallons of water the water is 2x as dense. So, it is not as much about the length of time you brine but the ratio of salt to water.
If you float a raw egg in the brine it will sink when the salt levels have equalized.

[Ricky Spanish]

The pan drippings have been reduced while leaving in all the salt it had to begin with. It wouldn't have tasted as rich, but adding a lot more roux and liquid would have made it less salty. This is why you only salt something that is being reduced after it's done reducing. I've never wet brined anything. Dry brining works for me. I season more heavily under the skin and lightly on the outside of the skin. Leave it uncovered in the fridge for at least 24hrs.