The Herbed Poultry Brine from: Charcuterie, The craft of Salting Smoking and Curing

cazzy

Oh, the bird is in the brine.  thanks for posting cen!  I obviously added celery and carrots.  

nolaegghead

cazzy said:

So question, do I rinse the bird after I pull it from the brine?  Didn't see that listed in the instructions but many recipes say to rinse it so just checking.

Rinse the hell out of it.  I pulled mine from the brine yesterday - poured out the brine, filled with water, swished it around, dumped, repeated a few more times.

cazzy

nolaegghead said:

cazzy said:

So question, do I rinse the bird after I pull it from the brine?  Didn't see that listed in the instructions but many recipes say to rinse it so just checking.

Rinse the hell out of it.  I pulled mine from the brine yesterday - poured out the brine, filled with water, swished it around, dumped, repeated a few more times.

I assume the brine is penetrated deep into the pores of the bird so we're just rinsing surface salt, right?

nolaegghead

cazzy said:

nolaegghead said:

cazzy said:

So question, do I rinse the bird after I pull it from the brine?  Didn't see that listed in the instructions but many recipes say to rinse it so just checking.

Rinse the hell out of it.  I pulled mine from the brine yesterday - poured out the brine, filled with water, swished it around, dumped, repeated a few more times.

I assume the brine is penetrated deep into the pores of the bird so we're just rinsing surface salt, right?

Yes - the salt is in the tissue.  It's more concentrated near the surface where it touched the brine.  If you cooked it immediately (after rinsing of course), the outside of the meat would be saltier than the inside.  Let it rest, it'll equalize out.  That salt makes the meat tender and protects it from drying out.  The brine also carries any aromatics in with it.  End result - juicy meat.

cazzy

Niiiice!

What are y'all seasoning the bird with? Want to make sure seasoning compliments the bird. Kind of thinking about doing just S&P.

nolaegghead

I'm almost out of DP Red Eye, so I'm making Mickey's coffee rub.  We'll have another "regular" turkey and a ham so people will have options.  I love coffee rub.

dgv

Question, 

Could the brine be used after brining is done to make gravy (as in Mad Max recipe)?

Thanks

travisstrick

Just got the book. Headed out to fight the masses and get a un enhanced bird. 

Eggcelsior

travisstrick said:

Just got the book. Headed out to fight the masses and get a un enhanced bird. 

Vaya con Dios, amigo

cazzy

dgv said:

Question, 

Could the brine be used after brining is done to make gravy (as in Mad Max recipe)?

Thanks

I'm sure you could if you boiled it but knowing that a raw bird sat in it for 24+ hours isn't appealing to me.

nolaegghead

dgv said:

Question, 

Could the brine be used after brining is done to make gravy (as in Mad Max recipe)?

Thanks

Typically the brine is 5-10% salt.  Way more salty than seawater, and inedible.  Only a small amount of that salt goes in the bird.  So I'd say no.  If you rinse the brine off well, the drippings will be saltier than usual, but fine for gravy - remember, you add wine and/or water to dilute the drippings and the broth from the neck and organs, if you choose to do that (I do).

Brownie

Thanks CTS. I have this book on my wish list for Santa.

travisstrick

Bird is in the juice and I got 5 bottles of Jack to make Vanilla Extract with. Ok, fine, and one bottle of titos too. 

Thanks everyone. CT for posting and Cazzy for txting me and laying the guilt trip on enough. 

cazzy

travisstrick said:

Thanks everyone. CT for posting and Cazzy for txting me and laying the guilt trip on enough. 

Haha...anytime you need a lil kick in the butt, you let me know. Hopefully we both experience the best bird we've ever eaten!

What did you do with your frozen bird? Lol

travisstrick

The wife lady's friend is a social worker who deals mostly with down and out vets. I think I will cook it and give it to her to donate. 

nolaegghead

travisstrick said:

The wife lady's friend is a social worker who deals mostly with down and out vets. I think I will cook it and give it to her to donate. 

Two of my brah-in-laws are engineers at the VA hospitals - one here in NOLA and the other in Seattle.  Sad stories, some of the vets.  This family is on the case.

travisstrick

How long should I leave the bird in the brine?

cazzy

travisstrick said:

How long should I leave the bird in the brine?

15# Travis??

travisstrick

Yep

Lit

This brine is for the roasted turkey in Charcuterie there is a slightly different version for smoked in the book. The smoked one has more salt, adds pink salt, no lemons or parsley, adds garlic and states to brine for 2 days and then cook at 200. Anyone ever tried to cook a turkey at 200 and any clue how long that would take?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Brownie said:

Thanks CTS. I have this book on my wish list for Santa.

any time brownie! you'll love it. I have a ham that I cured all week on the egg now and 3 slabs of bacon going on after that. It's a great book. You guys all have a happy turkey day.

cazzy

Cen or Nola.

How long for a 15# bird using this recipe?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

cazzy said:

Cen or Nola. How long for a 15# bird using this recipe?

24 hrs. All brine times are in the original post for further reference

travisstrick

Yea but we like you saying it more than once.

cazzy

travisstrick said:

Yea but we like you saying it more than once.

We sure do...clicking page 1 is too much work!  Heck Travis even has the book but it's so much easier asking you cen.  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

you guys are the best..................... L-)

Little Steven

How long would you leave a 15 pound bird in the brine for CT?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Little Steven said:

How long would you leave a 15 pound bird in the brine for CT?

8 minutes

Little Steven

Is that metric or imperial minutes?

ShedFarm

Little Steven said:

Is that metric or imperial minutes?

I'm thinking it's "wife minutes."  If "I'll be ready to go in a few minutes" equals half an hour, then eight wife minutes would be an hour.