In Defense of Brine

In a pre-Thanksgiving article in the New York Times, wet brining was declared passé in favor of dry brining. But was either one really in? Isn’t it just a matter of choice based on what you think tastes best? 

Every Thanksgiving, I get a turkey from a farm in my area about 20 minutes away the day before so the bird can spend a full 24-hours in a wet solution. With enough water and ice to cover in a cooler, I add a bottle of white wine, chicken stock, a handful of bay leaves, 1/4 cup of black peppercorns,  4 large garlic cloves, an herb bundle of rosemary, thyme, and sage, a 1 cup of kosher salt and a 1/2 cup of sugar. After the brine, I rinse out the bird patting it dry. I salt it inside and out drizzling it with a heavy hand of olive oil. I stuff a halved lemon and more fresh herbs inside. With the grill on high, the bird is breast side down for a half hour in a racked roasting pan. Turning the heat down to medium and flipping over the bird breast side up, cook for another few hours depending on weight. (Our 20-pound bird usually takes about four hours.)

What we get is a tasty, moist mouthful of meat, not sawdust. Would I get that kind of juicy morsel if I dry brined with salt, butter or oil, herbs, spices? Probably.

It’s not about what you do to the bird, it’s that you do it at all. Plain meat of any kind—beef, poultry, pork—when unseasoned just doesn’t taste good. Sure, you can cook it well. But it still won’t taste right without all of that salt, fat, and acid to enhance the flavor.

Wet or dry, you are essentially marinating your meat. It’s just your choice how you’d like to do that. If the goal is a juicy turkey, this is a great way to get it.

Here’s my recipe for wet brine:

75 qt. Rubbermaid cooler, lined with a large contractor bag

1 20 lb. turkey, fresh and preferably organic

4 1 lb. bags of ice

Enough water to cover turkey

1 bottle of dry white wine

4 c. chicken stock

1 c. kosher salt

1/2 c. turbinado sugar

1/4 c. bay leaves

1/4 c. black peppercorns

6 large garlic cloves, smashed with peel removed

1 lemon, halved

Fresh sprigs of rosemary, thyme, and sage

Place turkey in cooler lined with contractor bag. Fill it with enough water that it just covers the turkey breast. Put in two bags of ice, reserving the other two to sit on top of the cooler to not only secure the lid but to keep it cool during the brine. Pour in wine, stock, salt, sugar, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, and herbs. Let sit for 24 hours. Then, remove the turkey from the brine and dispose of the liquid. Pat turkey dry and salt the inside. Drizzle outside with olive oil and coat with salt and pepper. Place in roasting rack breast side down for first 30 minutes on high, lower heat to medium turning bird over, and cook for another 3- 3 1/2 hours until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Bon appétit!