Prep Your Turkey

Now that Thanksgiving is just over a week away, I figured it appropriate to discuss one of my favorite ingredients.... salt.  It sounds really lame and boring, and I recall on more than one occasion making fun of a friend of mine who wanted me to try his “smoked” salt from the Pacific Northwest.  “It's salt, man.  It tastes....salty.  With some smoke.” 

But I'm a recently converted salt snob, and over the last couple years I've developed a huge appreciation for what it can do to meats.  It all started when Anna came home with a little bag of chunky pink Himalayan sea salt from a bulk food store.  We've eaten Celtic sea salt for the trace minerals over the years, but this would be our first truly “exotic” salt.  Our popcorn suddenly tasted euphoric, and even steamed kale took on a whole new flavor.  Once we connected the new complexity in flavor with the Himalayan salt, we were sold.  And whenever someone asks where it's from, we get to say, “...Himalaya?”

Himalaya

All this to say that meat responds wonderfully to salt.  In On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee explains that, “traditionally, meats are immersed in a brine containing 3-6% salt by weight for anywhere from a few hours to two days (depending on thickness).  They come out noticeably juicier.”  Juicy, pasture-raised turkeys for the great American holiday.  Give thanks for salt!

But how??  I can hear you asking.  The salt acts on the meat in two ways.  It dissolves parts of the proteins that make up the meat, effectively tenderizing the meat itself.  Interestingly, the result of the salt-protein interaction is a greater water holding capacity in the meat.  The muscle is, in effect, a water holding tank.  This means the brine is really salty, and as it's breaking down the cellular barriers on the outside of the meat, it’s also pushing water into the muscle.  This also increases the absorption of any other flavor compounds you choose to put in the brine, such as spices, herbs, wine, stock or cider.

Whew.  So, to put it simply, the flavors in your brine will end up in the meat, along with some salt and some water.  The point about good salt above implies that all the goodies in the Himalayan or Celtic salt, like minerals and things that taste good, will also end up in the meat.  I prefer these salts to table salt, but at least use a salt without additives, like kosher salt for your brine.

Brining your Turkey

Find a container into which your turkey will fit – it may take something as big as a 5-gallon bucket.  Clean the container thoroughly, and disinfect it with white vinegar if you’re unsure.  Decide what flavors you'd like infused into your turkey – they'll be subtle.  Some old standbys are white wine, bourbon, and spices.  The most common spices you'll find in brining recipes are black peppers, cloves, cinnamon, and herbs like rosemary, thyme, and sage – that most Thanksgiving of herbs.

3-6% salt translates to ½ cup per gallon up to 1 cup per gallon.  Your grandma might tell you to put a potato in to test your brine – you can cure meat when the potato floats!  In any case, heat about 2 gallons of liquid – water, stock, wine, or any mix – on the stove.  Pour in about 1 ½ cups of salt, and if you like it a touch sweet, half as much raw sugar.  Then throw in a handful of black peppers, some cloves, and some sage as it heats up.  Let it boil slowly for a minute or two, and then turn off the heat.  Throw in a couple of trays of ice cubes to cool it down quickly.  Put your turkey in the bucket, and pour the brine over it when it’s nice and cool.

If you’re squeamish about bacteria, keep ice cubes floating in your brine.  But remember, “People have been salting and curing animal flesh for millennia – at least ten of them,” as chef Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall says.  Besides drying things on rocks, it’s the original method of food preservation.  So I’d set the bucket outside, in the garage or any cool spot, which is usually easy to find in November.  Let the turkey salt for a day or even just the night before or a few hours if you’re short on time.  It will continue to take on flavor for a couple of days.  Take it out the morning you roast it, and be sure to rinse it with fresh, cold water before you pop it in the oven!

Stay tuned for a recipe from Anna this Friday on roasting your bird.  The brine can be used for anything from beef roasts to whole chickens, so feel free to experiment, salt is cheap! 

-Brooks