I've read a number of articles over the years about the benefits of brining one's bird but until now it was never a practical thing to do. It was mostly the need for the large brining vessel that threw up the biggest challenge and where to put the darned bird while it was brining. With the fridge in the garage and the purchase of brining bags, both of those obstacles have been cleared.
Doing a bit of research on the topic, I came across this little gem...."The first step in brining a turkey is selecting a bird which has not been brined." Well duh! Of course. LOL....what they really are saying is that if you purchase a commercially prepared turkey (the ubiquitous Butterball for example), then chances are it has already been brined in some format. Ok....that makes sense. So, step one is to buy a turkey that has not been commercially prepared and that is fresh.
There are two types of brining - dry brining and wet brining. I had no idea there was something called dry brining. Really dry brining is just rubbing the turkey down with a salt-based rub with a view to enhancing or imparting a particular flavour.
The type of brining I will be doing is the messier version - wet brining. Wet brining is the process of submerging the turkey in a solution of water, salt, sugar and flavourings, such as herbs, maple syrup, etc. The intent is to introduce moisture and flavour into the bird through osmosis (remember grade 9 science..). The process also breaks down, or denatures, the proteins in the turkey resulting in a more tender bird.
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