Well, T-day’s come and gone and I managed not to burn down the house, but did have some hairy moments frying the bird.<br />
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First, my concern about the butter in the brine wasn’t valid as whoever created the apple brine recipe musta been drunk…the melted butter simply congealed and floated at the top of the brine doing absolutely nothing for flavor. Second, I stupidly failed to think about the effect of sugar in the brine and therein was the problem that looked like we’d be stepping out to a restaurant instead.<br />
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Following 24 hours in the brine I heated my oil and gently dunked a 16# bird and cooked it for the average 3 1/2 minutes a pound…lifting it out at the end the bird was TOTALLY BLACK. The sugar had permeated the skin and carmelized. Instead of an attractive crisp golden brown, I had a jet black carcass that looked destined for the garbage can. Fontuneately, it just looked bad…I peeled the skin and all was well (the skin even tasted wonderful). The meat was very moist and flavorful.<br />
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As to the original comment, a brine CAN add significantly more flavor and moisture than injection as the bird sucks moisture into ALL the muscle fiber thru a process called osmosis. But why not do both?!!! Just don’t use any sugar or butter in the brine.<br />
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Dan
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