brined frozen turkey...

kim

Thanx all for the gravy tips the other day. I should have thought to look in the archives. Speaking of archives..I thought i had my turkey day all planned out until i read the archives. Now im not to sure!! I planned on buying a frozen hen turkey. I wanted to brine the bird since that is what the forum suggests. However, most froze birds tend to have a solution injected into them and many in the forum say not to brine these guys. Others say go ahead. So...i'm confused and i'm already stressing for the big t-day!! The breasts i have done turn out great with a paste under the skin and no brine..should i stick to this? I like brined pork loins and wanted to brine my turkey. Also with brining speeding up the cooking process, would i still need to cook 350 degrees 15min/pound?

BlueSmoke

kim,
I recently did my first whole bird, and it was a frozen, injected hen. I brined it, in the belief that if anything the packer's injection would simply dilute my brine however slightly. I also "got fancy" and injected my brine as well. (My brine is a mixture of beer, water, honey and salt.) All who had it commented on how tastey (as well as tender and succulent) it was.
Cooking time for me was right around 15 minutes a pound, maybe a minute or two less, but certainly nothing life-changing.
Good luck,
Ken

Marvin

kim,
I'd look for a non-injected one if you are going to use the standard brine solutions. Ken's (Bluesmoke) solution is not standard, but sounds great - might have to try that one myself. If possible, I would opt for a fresh turkey: brine for 24 hours, rinse, pat dry and let it hang out uncovered in the fridge for another day (makes crispier skin); then rub it down with whatever you use and cook as suggested. Have fun.

BlueSmoke

Marvin,
Forgot that "the dehumdifier is your ally" tip. Thanks for bringing it up.
Ken