I brined my turkey in just coarse sea salt. I found a recipe to season but it came out very salty any suggestions to salvage my turkey?

Mel
  • Posted by: Mel
  • November 24, 2016
  • 2921 views
  • 4 Comments

4 Comments

sydney November 25, 2016
I'll be the unpopular contrarian here: The answers are hopeful and optimistic but in truth there's nothing you can do (if the salt entered the flesh) until the leftovers get made into a soup and the salt comes out of the meat and incorporates into a broth. You can't 'un'-oversalt a piece of meat that's being served as such. A bland gravy will be 'tasteless gravy over oversalted meat', and I don't see the food logic of the other alternatives presented. A sweet cranberry sauce will help once the whole thing is mushed on the palate (ie, in mouth), but it will still just be 'sweet on oversalted'.

Home cooks are being carried along an unnecessary brining trend. Spatchcock it or have a butcher cut it up; season; roast. It's quick and easy.

At some point the food sites will admit that brining whole, big birds for home cooks is a pointless bother. Turkey has a delicate flavour. Accept the fact and enjoy it as such with its add-ons. Sorry if that sounds grumpy! :-)
 
Andreas D. November 24, 2016
Acidity can save over-salted food - think vinegar on aggressively salted chips for example. Serve the turkey with a cranberry sauce that's on the acidic side, that will help.
 
Riddley G. November 24, 2016
I would also try tossing the turkey with some good olive oil!
 
Sarah J. November 24, 2016
Hi Mel! Is the turkey finished? What about covering it with a bland gravy? We also have a whole range of answers here: https://food52.com/hotline/34153-i-brined-a-turkey-and-it-is-far-too-salty-what-can-i-do (looks like someone had a similar problem!). Good luck!!
 
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