Brining Help Needed

KillerBaker

I've attempted brining in the past and was not happy with the results. I've am careful to follow recipes so I don't think I messed up. The result was that the turkey was salty. [p]It seems to me that if a processed bird has some salt shot into it to begin with, its stands to reason that the bird will likely become even saltier. [p]What do I need to do to have a successful brining experience?

The Naked Whiz

Killer Baker,
Someone should do some experimenting with this if we can't find some info on the web. The liquids in the turkey meat and the brine solution will come to an equilibrium, and then they should pass back and forth and this is what supposedly gets the flavoring into the meat. I wonder if you have a bird with the solution in it, if you should use a brine with less salt, or if the brine and the meat will already be in equilibrium to begin with and then it shouldn't matter. [p]TNW

Marvin

Killer Baker,
Make sure the turkey has not been treated with ANYTHING. A fresh, unadulterated turkey brined for 24 hours should be fine. Our first one was brined for 48 hours: too salty for me. Good luck.

Unknown

The Naked Whiz,
To get it to work on a solution added bird you need even more salt to get the brine to equalize, otherwise all your doing is pulling salt out of the bird and not adding those flavors you wanted.
Jim