Comments on: help! how long can I brine my turkey? http://www.shelterrific.com/2008/11/25/help-how-long-can-i-brine-my-turkey Where people who love their homes click Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:09:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Erica P. http://www.shelterrific.com/2008/11/25/help-how-long-can-i-brine-my-turkey/comment-page-1#comment-8273 Erica P. Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:54:39 +0000 http://www.shelterrific.com/?p=5364#comment-8273 There are a couple of things that happen when brining your turkey. The salt in your bring WILL penetrate the item and flavor your meat, along with the other aromatics or flavorings you add to the liquid. The salt also plumps up the cells in the protein and enables them to hold more water. This adds moisture to your bird. Larger turkeys should be brined longer than smaller ones. Brining can only tenderize the bird so much. Without acid in the brining liquid like a marinade has, it really has a limited tenderizing affect. For this reason I don't think it would harm your bird to brine it for a long time, but I also don't think there would be much of a point. Long story short, I would stick to 24 hrs. and under. There are a couple of things that happen when brining your turkey. The salt in your bring WILL penetrate the item and flavor your meat, along with the other aromatics or flavorings you add to the liquid. The salt also plumps up the cells in the protein and enables them to hold more water. This adds moisture to your bird. Larger turkeys should be brined longer than smaller ones.

Brining can only tenderize the bird so much. Without acid in the brining liquid like a marinade has, it really has a limited tenderizing affect. For this reason I don’t think it would harm your bird to brine it for a long time, but I also don’t think there would be much of a point. Long story short, I would stick to 24 hrs. and under.

]]> By: Jeanne http://www.shelterrific.com/2008/11/25/help-how-long-can-i-brine-my-turkey/comment-page-1#comment-8272 Jeanne Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:26:50 +0000 http://www.shelterrific.com/?p=5364#comment-8272 http://www.cookshack.com/brining-101#_Toc528293329 http://www.cookshack.com/brining-101#_Toc528293329

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