I have been dry brining for the last few years, following the advice for Russ Parsons Dry Brined Turkey. I think the results are fantastic. The turkey ends up tasting turkier.
I've always gotten fantastic results from "wet" brining. The San Francisco Chronicle some years ago published an article where they prepared turkey several different ways, and the brined turkey was the best. The next year they did it again, not believing it really could have been that good....and it was! Its also a fantastic rescue for the cheap turkeys the supermarkets give away as promotions.
No. No poultry benefits from a wet brine. Firstly, they tend to come factory brined already, increasing the weight of the bird and so profits. Secondly, it doesn't make them juicy but wet. The juiciness of meat comes from gelatine and melted collagen, not water. Brining doesn't inject gelatine into the meat. Thirdly the salty wetness does not a good gravy make. Fourth, it dilutes what taste there is of the turkey or chicken.
I'll salt rub a bird, which actually does cause osmosis and penetrates a little. You end up with a crispier skin too But no, never a wet brine.
This is a fabulous recipe and I've had it with heritage turkeys twice. They tend to be lean, especially if pasture raised, so a dry brine is a good way to go. Just a caution, these dry brined turkeys seem to cook lightening fast. Watch the internal temp carefully. If you read the comments, many experienced the same thing.
Ugh..I thought this was the question about the dry brined Judy Bird and the dry brining. So sorry. However, yes, dry or wet brining is a good thing to do to a turkey. I have not experienced the odd texture from a wet brine that CV speaks of. Delies almost always use other ingredients than we would in their brine.
I despise wet-brined turkeys. Something about the liquid brining process inrevocably damages poultry flesh consistency. I have loathed deli turkey meat for decades and now I know why. It is the brining process that sucks.
Note that I am perfectly fine with wet-brined pork. It works well for that meat. I am simply against wet-brined poultry.
Dry-brined (a.k.a. "salted") poultry is great.
Generally speaking, I dry-brine all my pork roasts and/or larger poultry roasts for 24-48+ hours.
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I'll salt rub a bird, which actually does cause osmosis and penetrates a little. You end up with a crispier skin too But no, never a wet brine.
I despise wet-brined turkeys. Something about the liquid brining process inrevocably damages poultry flesh consistency. I have loathed deli turkey meat for decades and now I know why. It is the brining process that sucks.
Note that I am perfectly fine with wet-brined pork. It works well for that meat. I am simply against wet-brined poultry.
Dry-brined (a.k.a. "salted") poultry is great.
Generally speaking, I dry-brine all my pork roasts and/or larger poultry roasts for 24-48+ hours.