question about brining, but first something from Lauren

Mark Backer

yt6e;0r6[p]Can you brine something too long? We are brining a turkey for saturday, and I want to know if I should wait until tomorrow morning or if it's okay to put it in now?

Bobby-Q

Mark Backer,
I know some folks say you can brine too long, but here's my take on it.[p]If you have the correct brine it will reach equilibrium with the meat so the salinity levels will not raise or lower.[p]Now having said that I gotta tell you I have never gone more than 24 hours on a Turkey.[p]Tell Lauren I said uy7r'-t7

katman

Mark Backer,
Did a turkey one year that was in the brine for 24 hours. My sister said it was too salty and asked me not to brine the next year. I'm not one of her kids so the following year I brined overnight (about 12 hours). She liked the turkey. Used the same amount of salt for both.

Unknown

Mark Backer, IMHO yes you can brine to long and the results will be a very salty piece of meat or poultry. the strength of the brine dictates the length of brining time. [p]reg

fishlessman

Mark Backer,
ive only done the brine thing once and it was for 24 hours, it came out good. ive seen on the forum that some dry the bird after brining so that the skin crisps up better.. im thinking that if you put it in the brine late tonight, then maybe tomorrow night you could take it out and air dry it in the fridge overnight before you cook it. if im wrong about the air dry, then i hope someone jumps in.

Mark Backer

fishlessman,[p]In our frenzied pre-holiday state, I believe the poster known as Heather (TTIV's wife and sister to my wife) may have lost track of a day and thought today was friday. I think (think is the operative word here) is that we are going to put in in the fridge tonight after it's thaw and brine it tomorrow morning until saturday morning, then egg it. [p]Max, I expect that the max turkey hotline will be available on Christmas day for when I panic. Don't worry though...I won't call collect. often.[p]Thanks everybody for your advice and help. This place rules.

tn slagamater

fishlessman, I have only done the brine thing one time, but plan to again.It really added flavor.There were several forum posts about air drying the meat in the fridge for a few hours after the brine so the skin will not be rubbery. I ran out of time, ended up with 45 mins of drying time, but the skin was good anyway. Wise One is the Eggspert on brining, maybe he will jump in here...

Unknown

Mark Backer, all the tips on brining on this link are right on...but I would adhere to the cooking times and temps most on this forum use (seems to me most here use higher temp shorter time).

[ul][li]turkey tips[/ul]