We bought a farm raised, pastured turkey for Thanksgiving, which we’ll be picking up this afternoon. The big decision now is how to cook it so it doesn’t end up dried out, like so many turkeys do.
Now, I’ve made a turkey breast before, and it wasn’t dry, because I put a pan of boiling water in the oven underneath it and all that steam kept it moist. I figured I’d do the same thing with this turkey. But I keep hearing about how wonderful brining is, and how it transforms turkeys into a meat of wonderment. And Aaron has always wanted to try brining something.
I’m not one to experiment on a very expensive bird, so I thought I would try brining a chicken to see how it turned out.
I’ve never really had a problem with chicken not being moist enough either, since beer can chicken, my recipe of choice, always ends up being incredibly juicy and delicious. So I’m not sure what more brining could add to the mix.
But, I tried it. I soaked it, I rinsed it, and I roasted it.
And it was good. The flavor from the brine did make its way into the chicken, although it was a little saltier than I would like. I guess soaking it longer might help with that, but I also can’t stand salt in general so it might just have been my oversensitivity. I can’t say that I thought it was as juicy as beer can chicken, so I don’ t know that it was worth all the prep time. I might try brining and beer canning it, and seeing how that goes. But I will need to be really bored to do that.
So I’m still not sure how to cook the turkey. I suppose I will brine it (for a longer time) so the flavors permeate the meat, but I will also use my tried and true water underneath method as insurance.
