A question about turkey brining

[franke]

I've read lots of positive posts on here about how brining kept the meat lovely and moist. But what about the flavour? I read an article that suggested wet brining keeps the meat moist but waters down the flavour. The writer favoured dry brining - just smothering the bird in loads of salt for a day or two before cooking. Not sure I could do this. What do you all think?

I don't know if this is the article you read. www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/quick-and-dirty-guide-to-brining-turkey-chicken-thanksgiving.html But it suggests dry brining plus dry brining seems a lot easier

I brine! Do Nigellas version which has lots of flavours in the brine. I wouldn't do it any other way now.

I don't think it waters down the flavour- if anything it infuses it with the spices and aromatics you've put in the brine. I've brined many times and only had beautiful juicy, lightly spiced turkey as a result.

Thanks all. Yes, that's the article I read I think cardboardPeony. The food labgave quite a detailed explanation of the food chemistry of brining . I think what puts me off dry brining is that you shouldn't rinse off the salt before you put the bird in to roast

I'l probably give it a go, it certainly sounds like I won't ruin the turkey.

Nigellas recipe is great and an added bonus is there is lots of juice in roasting tin for really flavourful gravy

AND you can pretend you're at Hogwarts making a potion as you throw handfuls of random stuff into the cauldron bucket.

Or is that just me?

We use nigella' recipe too but also use a large syringe to infuse some of the juice in roasting tin into the meat throughout the baking process.

I would have thought dry brining would dry out the turkey.

Inject the brine. Dry brine will extract moisture and leave it tough.