The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 701

vacuum-sealing machine like the FoodSaver. If you don’t
have either of those options, wrap your meat tightly in a
double or triple layer of plastic wrap, followed by a tight
layerofaluminumfoil(whichisn’tbreathable).Inanycase,
poultry can’t be stored much longer than 2 months in the
freezerbeforetougheningbecomesnoticeable.

WHATABOUTBRINING?
LetmestartthisoffbysayingIdon’tbrinemyturkey.Ever.
Not for Thanksgiving, not for my Sunday supper, and
certainly not for a quick weeknight meal. It’s a personal
decision, and you may well choose to do the opposite. Let
melayoutbothsidesofthecase.
Itseemstomethataslittleasfifteenyearsago,dryturkey
wasagiven.TheyearlyThanksgivingritualatmyfamily’s
table did not include any ill-mannered offspring crying out
“DAAAAaaaad, Mom ruined the turkey again”—turkey
wasn’t something that could be ruined. It was always dry,
tough,andstringy,andthatwasafactoflife.Then,abouta
decade ago, brining entered the scene.* Thanks to an
overnightsoakinasaltwatersolution,gonewerethedaysof
drybreastmeat,salvagedwithextraservingsofgravy.I,for
one,welcomedournewmoist-breastedoverlords.Evenmy
mother could throw a turkey in the oven and pull out
something edible a few hours later. It was positively
magical!
These days, everybody and their grandmother (better
known as the typicalThanksgiving gathering) has heard of
brining,andmoreandmorefolksaredoingitbeforeTurkey

Day.Butit’snotallpieandgravy.Thereareafewdistinct
and definite downsides to wet-brining, and many folks are
now making the switch to dry-brining (aka extended
salting).Thequestionis,whichmethodisbest?
HowBriningWorks
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s do a quick
recap of brining basics.The process involves soaking meat
(usuallyleanmeatsliketurkey,chicken,orporkchops)ina
tubofheavilysaltedwaterovernight(mostbrinesareinthe
6-to8-percentsaltrangebyweightofthewater).Overthe
course of the night, the meat absorbs some of that water.
Moreimportant,thatwaterstaysputevenwhenthemeatis
cooked. By brining meat, you can decrease the amount of
totalmoisturelossby30to40percent.
Todemonstrate,Icookedthreeidenticalturkeybreastsin
a300°Foventoaninternaltemperatureof145°F.Onewas
brined, one was soaked overnight in plain water, and the
third was left as is.All three breasts came from nonkosher,
nonenhanced birds (i.e., the birds were minimally
processed). I charted their weights straight from the
package,afterbrining,andthenaftercooking.
Boththebirdsoakedinbrineandtheonesoakedinwater
gainedasignificantamountofweightpriortoroasting,but
the watered bird lost nearly all of that weight as it cooked
and the brined bird retained significantly more. This
correspondedtoajuiciertextureoneating.So,what’sgoing
onhere?
Somesourcesattributeitalltoosmosis—thetendencyfor
water to move across a membrane from an area of low