To brine or not

[bbqking01]

I was wanting to wet brine the turkeys I bought for tomorrow, but not sure. One seems to be prebrined already...the other not sure...any suggestions? The butterball says it's in a solution already...the other one can't tell.


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[TXFlyGuy]

Yes, brine your bird! Even Butterball says so, with a brine recipe on their website.
I'm doing a beer brine, 1 gallon of pilsner, one gallon of water, 2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup salt. Let sit for 24 hours.
That's it.

https://www.butterball.com/how-to/brine-a-turkey

[bbqking01]

Well I have the butterball in meat church bird brine, and the regular Kroger in a Kinders poultry brine.


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[Kneab]

I am dry brining my Butterball in Meat Church Holy Voodoo

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[bbqking01]

Voodoo is probably my favorite...right alongside holy cow


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[TXFlyGuy]

Beer is my favorite brine. Tastes great, less filling.

[Dc_smoke309]

Beer is my favorite brine. Tastes great, less filling.

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[Stoneage]

I've never brined, nor have I had a dry turkey!
I do baste regularly while cooking though. & I also have a drip pan with water in it both to stop grease flare ups & to humidify the kettle.

This year was a bit of a mess as much stuff is lost, strayed or packed from just moving house.
The "spigot" for the roti has vanished as have many of my spices or seasonings & all of my wood chunks & chips.

I went with a basic butter, honey & white wine "glaze/ basting liquid". Then slow cooked it in the smoker. No wood as that's AWOL too, just charcoal.
All I do is set 2 timers, one for the total time & another for 30 minutes.
Every 30 minutes & brush on whatever I'm using & cover the grill again.




The coals are my usual "Messy Snake", simply trapped between the 2 empty Webber baskets & the Cajun Bandit ring. I leave a gap at one end & dump burning coals into it from a small starter chimney which brings the kettle up to temp quickly but doesn't run hot for very long, combining quick start & slow burn. I normally space wood chunks about too, but not this time because they weren't available today.

[powermatt99]

Never. The texture gets spongy and it is no moister than no brine or a dry brine. Plus, it renders the drippings to salty to use for gravy unless you cut with a whole lot of unsalted stock.

[bbqking01]

I have to disagree...good lord. I've never had any Turkey turn out like these two. Way above any Turkey I've ever done before. Still extremely moist. I will ALWAYS wet brine. I know everyone had there own ways...maybe someday I'll try a different method.


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[Veekz]

I did 2 12# butterball turkeys today with both wet and dry brine methods. Mainly because I didn't have space in the fridge for another stock pot lol.

I did like the wet brine better. The dry brine was alright. Not really dry, but the breast meat had a springier texture I thought. The wet brine was more moist and also more aromatic. Probably due to the additional spices in the brine mix.  I used a Cajun rub with black pepper with no additional salt before going on the grill. Flavor was perfectly balanced.


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