No more wet brining. Nice article that shows dry brining for turkey is better. 13/17 preferred dry brining over wet brining or no brining. The next best thing I got from this article is that if you turn the heat up to 500 and put the turkey in for 30 minutes, then turn down to 350 temp for the rest of the cook, you get a nice crispy skin with moist breast meat. They pull it at 155* in the thigh (yup) and let it set for 30 minutes, which finishes the cook. Worth the read.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/dry-brined-turkey
Here's why that dry brine works
Rub ¼ cup softened butter under the skin of the turkey, on the breast meat.
I used to do that (let's be honest, it was a cup or more of butter) when I still cooked turkey in the oven. It's a very solid option.
And hey, I'm here still learning every day. So I'm not going to suggest I'm not open to new ideas or trying new things, but wet brine is the only way to go with turkey and chicken. Turkey especially, it's a game changer. I know I'm preaching to the choir here but a dry brined oven roasted turkey vs a wet brined pellet turkey ... wet and pellets win hands down. And since when do we care about arduous cook prep? Wet brine isn't a big deal if you have a separate fridge in the garage.
DK
They did a same size turkey, each of the 3 ways, dry brine, wet brine, and no brine. All prepped and ready to cook at the same time.
Same oven temps, same butter under the breast skin, and then served each judge one plate with 3 piles of meat both dark and white. (a pile from each bird). The judges did not know which was which, BUT 13/17 picked the dry brined as the best for flavor, moisture. I am willing to give it a try based on this study. Only variant from Pellet Fans is that these were done in an oven. I too use the oven. If and when I do another turkey I will report the results. Go Sooners!
Author
Topic: What meats do you guys wet brine before cooking? (Read 1077 times)