3.80 average, 5 votes
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Alton Brown's Good Eats Roasted Turkey; from the Food Network Website
A few years back, I was nowhere near my fryer for Thanksgiving and I decided to try brining for the first time. Brining a turkey makes a pretty moist bird… the secret is in the salt.
Salt makes the meat tissue absorb water… just like when you eat salt and become bloated or puffy (well, the ladies may notice that more than the guys). In this case, the salt also helps the turkey absorb the flavoring that’s in the brine. All this extra water that’s been absorbed helps keep the turkey moist during the long haul of roasting.
Back when I tried it, it really didn’t work out as good as I had hoped. It was good… but it wasn’t Good Eats good.
Our good friend Alton Brown‘s recipe has been the number one recipe on The Food Network website for six years running, and no wonder… it begins 2 to 3 days prior to Thanksgiving and ends on the holiday with apple slices, onion and cinnamon stuffed in the bird’s cavity!
Check out Food Network’s top recipe for Alton’s Good Eats Brined & Roasted Turkey Recipe.
Any thoughts on brining + injection, ? overkill?
Although I have STILL never done it, you can definitely fry a brined turkey (I’ve only roasted them). Since you are removing the turkey from a water solution, just make sure it’s as dry as possible… you don’t want liquids dripping down into the oil as you submerge it.
I used the good eats recipe a couple years ago, added a few ingredients to the brine, and it was pretty damn good. I also used an oven bag when cooking and did the bird breast side down, I was very happy with it. I am trying frying my turkey for the first time this year, at my husbands request, I was considering a brine again or injection, would you choose one over the other? I don’t want my house to catch on fire lol
I think his recipe has sold me on brining… seems less like a salt bath than I thought.