Why Did My Brined Turkey Fall Apart? | Ask Nigella.com (2024)

FAQs

Why Did My Brined Turkey Fall Apart? | Ask Nigella.com? ›

If you brine the turkey for too long then it can start to have a negative effect and the proteins in the meat will start to break down, causing the meat to fall apart.

It's best to brine turkey for 12 to 24 hours. Brining it for longer than 24 hours can result in mushy meat and an overly salty flavor. If you do accidentally over-brine it, you can soak the turkey in cold water to remove some of the excess salt, but it likely won't have the best flavor or texture.

But a brined turkey that is not rinsed would be too salty to eat. Brining slows down the growth of bacteria but does not kill it, said Linda Harris, a microbiologist at the University of California, Davis. She and other food scientists have been trying to get Americans to stop rinsing poultry since the late 1990's.

Q: Can I stuff a brined turkey? A: We do not recommend stuffing a brined bird because the drippings from the turkey can add too much salt to the stuffing. We prefer to cook our stuffing separately.

Unfortunately, there's no easy way to get salt out of meat (or other types of food) once it's there. If the turkey weren't cooked yet, it's possible to try to put it in pure water (rather than brine), and gradually some the salt will come back out into the water.

Brining for too long can result in meat that tastes overly-salty and has a spongy texture. If you're not ready to roast the bird after 18 hours, remove it from the brine, rinse it, pat it dry, and refrigerate for up to two days.

Brine Times

Most over-brining simply makes everything a little too salty, and you can soak the meat in cold water to draw out the excess salt. If you really let it go too long—as in, brining for days instead of hours—things may go beyond repair. Doing so can make your meat mushy, and there's no way to fix that!

Pat It Dry

And if you're wondering, no—you don't need to rinse the bird, whether it's been dry-brined or wet-brined, before adding more seasoning and roasting.

Don't leave the turkey sitting out at room temperature while brining.

We recommend roasting turkey at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 13 minutes per pound for an unstuffed turkey. We've done the math for you — check out the chart below to determine both turkey cook times and estimated servings (with leftovers!).

Why you shouldn't brine your turkey? ›

Brining, or soaking meat in a salt-water solution, uses the power of osmosis to force the turkey or other meat to draw up water into itself. The theory is that the meat ends up juicier and moister that way. The problem is that it is a fake juiciness.

After 12 to 18 hours, remove the turkey, dry carefully with paper towels, and roast. For crisper skin, brine a couple days in advance, and let your turkey air-dry at least overnight and up to two nights, uncovered, in the refrigerator on a rack set in a rimmed baking sheet.

Using an Oven Bag will virtually guarantee your turkey will be very moist! It will even brown in the bag! You may want to take it out of the bag near the end to crisp the skin. This works especially well if you have a convection oven.

Turkey in Brine Solution in a Cooler. You still have to be careful not to overcook the turkey or it can be tough and dry, but brining and using a reliable thermometer increases your chances of having a moist turkey to serve to your guests. The turkey needs to reach 165 degrees to be fully cooked and safe to eat.

While properly brining a turkey won't make it too salty, it does add salt to the meat. If you then add a salty rub or injection marinade you can end up with a turkey too salty to eat. For this reason, if you are brining your bird, make sure you rinse it thoroughly after it comes out of the brine.

It is the salt that you need to pay particular attention to, as if the concentration of salt in the brine is too high then the turkey could become too salty, particularly if you are soaking it for a long period.

The amount of time will depend on the type of brine you use; however, do not brine any longer than two days and always keep the turkey and brine refrigerated (at 40°F or less).

For the juiciest and moistest turkey, wet brining is your best option. Wet brining involves soaking your turkey in a bath of saltwater and refrigerating it for 24 to 48 hours. Wet brining will increase the turkey's moisture. That extra moisture helps ensure that the meat doesn't go dry during cooking.

After 12 to 18 hours, remove the turkey, dry carefully with paper towels, and roast. For crisper skin, brine a couple days in advance, and let your turkey air-dry at least overnight and up to two nights, uncovered, in the refrigerator on a rack set in a rimmed baking sheet.

Both the bird soaked in brine and the bird soaked in water gained a significant amount of weight prior to roasting, but while the watered bird lost nearly all of that weight as it cooked, the brined bird retained a good deal more. This corresponded to a juicier texture on eating.