Turkey - to brine or not to brine?

[SierraMadre]

Is it nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of derision from my mother or risk a dry trurkey?

We are about to move back into our house after renovations and I have planned a truly poncetastic Christmas for six of us. The turkey is coming from a farmer who is the husband of one of my colleagues (how's that for poncetastic local?!) and will no doubt be a thing of free-range, slow frown beauty.

Do I need to brine such a specimen?

We have always had beef in the past, but I couldn't pass up the chance to have a full on Henry VII style feast this year.

I always brined my lovely free range bronze turkeys until last year, when DD was sick for the very first time and I was too panicked and disorganised to find a bucket to put the turkey in, never mind the brining ingredients.

There was a noticeable difference in yummitude and I swore never to fail to bring again.

Camp Brine here!

EVEN though I left the plastic container out on the balcony overnight and woke up to 13 cms of snow on top of it.

The sugar and salt stopped it freezing.

Nigellas seems like a faff but it's lovely lobbing all the ingredients in the bucket - you feel like a witch. DS helped too, he thought it was fun.

The taste is immense. If I can't brine this year, I won't eat turkey.

What is this brine you speak of?

Brine! Brine! It's fab. Doesn't really matter too much what you put in.

Well, I think that's pretty conclusive

I might skip the maple syrup though - faaar too sweet!

I put sugar, salt, star anise, black peppercorns, parsely stalks, cloves, and wahtever else I could find I think.

Plan your pot though. I can never remember what I do it in and spend ages hunting around.

This appeals to me.

I read about it online a couple of years ago but it seemed like a bit of a faff.

Im going to google it.

Does it work on a defrosted frozen turkey as im not sure I can stretch to a fresh turkey?

Yes it works on a defrosted bird just as well. Infact you may be better off doing itwith a pre frozen bird to make the meat nice and tender incase of freezer burn, toughened meat etc

Oh good, thanks

Defrost your bird a couple of days early, and ram yer hand up its jacksy feel inside the cavity for ice. Once it's fully defrosted you can chuck it in the bucket of brine.

Now im thinking how it will fit in my fridge?!

If its been really cold ive kept my turkey well wrapped outside, is there any reason why I couldnt do the same with a brining turkey?

It needs to get colder though, its been unseasonably mild lately.

Oh bugger. After brining last year in a brining bag (hideous, constant slopping of brining mixture all over the kitchen) I swore I wasn't going to do it again - utter nightmare. Now I am doubting myself again. I suppose I could buy a bucket but what would I do with it for the rest of the year?

I do mine outside (bit colder in Switzerland though). I remember Nigella doing it on her program and sticking the bucket outside with a skateboard on the top.

I use either one of my laundry "trugs" with a tea tray on top, or I use a plastic storage box with a lid, that normally stores my scarves and tights! It sits outside for 1.5 days.

I think il buy one of those plastic toy boxes, you can get them cheaply, will have to find a suitable lid.

I have a lidded bucket that I bought to marinade a huge amount of chicken for a party last year, not sure if it will be big enough though?

alarkaspree my 'meat' bucket is hopefully where I left it in the cupboard under the stairs

Is the difference between brined and non brined really noticable? I dont want to go to all this faffing about effort and be disappointed!

Binfull are you swiss or expat?

Do you have your christmas dinner on christmas eve as is I believe the swiss 'way'?

I was going to leave it outside but at the last minute I remembered the neighbourhood cats, not to mention rats. I cant remember what I did with it in the end, but it was kept indoors.

can I brine my Aldi 4-bird roast?

I have no idea. I guess of you did youd have to drain it really, really well.

No lol, it would fall apart.

There is a difference in brining, the bird is very moist with a very delicate flavour and needs less basting.

No I am expat and would never stray to the Christmas Eve Tradition. Anyhow the big thing for Christmas dinner here is fondue chinoise.

I was only kidding. It was my attempt to lower the tone of the discussion

ok, maybe a daft question but can someone tell me exactly what brining is? Do you just bung a turkey in a bucket of water with some herbs and spices?

Is just washing an old tub out with soapy water good enough for a pot?

I always brine now. I have alidded toy box that I put some of our decorations in, which then goes in the loft for most of the year. I leave it outside with a something heavy on top. I do use maple syrup but about 1/4 of the amount Nigella does otherwise the skin gets very dark and looks burnt even when the meat is lovely and tender.

I guessed that Jasper

I hope your Aldi 4 bird roast (and my husband desperately wants one of these every year) is in the traditional style:

A shrew stuffed in a duck shoved up a badgers ar*e rolled into a swan???

Yes any clean bucket will do. The thing to do is not to fret, i know this is hard as they are so bloody expensive, but really, just lob it all in the bucket and forget about it for 1-2 days in the garage, garden, balcony etc.

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/spiced-and-super-juicy-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html

I like the idea of brining, getting the meat nice and moist.... but am not sure about all the herbs and spices Nigella wants..... has anyone ever done a plain brine? Is there any point? Thanks :)