I forgot to order a turkey. In all of the happy hub bub of turning my kitchen into a savory pumpkin cannelloni factory for a bunch of the teachers at my older son's school, I completely forgot to get my own Thanksgiving planned. No biggie. There were plenty of perfect turkeys sitting around just waiting for me to pick one. Who knew? I always thought you had to order the perfect bird! Now there's one less thing I have to worry about going forward, hmm. Anyway, brining seems to be the hot topic these days. A friend asked me last week and I kind of dismissed it, saying I'd tried it a few years back and I didn't notice a major difference. Every year since then I've just been going the rub-down-with-butter route and it's been great. (The turkey, not me. Get your mind out of the gutter.) Anyway, enough of you have asked me if I am brining (and you all have this wild look in your eyes saying how you're so excited about brining) that I am going to try brining again this year. One glitch-- Whole Foods was sold out of brining kits. (See, I told you it was big. Man, I wish I owned a brining kit company this year.) Thankfully, the Pioneer Woman's got me covered. Here's her recipe for the perfect brine.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The turkey: to brine or not to brine?
I forgot to order a turkey. In all of the happy hub bub of turning my kitchen into a savory pumpkin cannelloni factory for a bunch of the teachers at my older son's school, I completely forgot to get my own Thanksgiving planned. No biggie. There were plenty of perfect turkeys sitting around just waiting for me to pick one. Who knew? I always thought you had to order the perfect bird! Now there's one less thing I have to worry about going forward, hmm. Anyway, brining seems to be the hot topic these days. A friend asked me last week and I kind of dismissed it, saying I'd tried it a few years back and I didn't notice a major difference. Every year since then I've just been going the rub-down-with-butter route and it's been great. (The turkey, not me. Get your mind out of the gutter.) Anyway, enough of you have asked me if I am brining (and you all have this wild look in your eyes saying how you're so excited about brining) that I am going to try brining again this year. One glitch-- Whole Foods was sold out of brining kits. (See, I told you it was big. Man, I wish I owned a brining kit company this year.) Thankfully, the Pioneer Woman's got me covered. Here's her recipe for the perfect brine.
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I am curious to know how the turkey turns out, I tried brining with the Whole Foods kit last year and didn't notice much of a difference. I kept thinking I did something wrong. I had pretty high hopes, but was disappointed with the result.
ReplyDeleteThat what I thought!! So, I'm giving it a second whirl this year...we shall see? Stay tuned!
ReplyDeleteMolly,
ReplyDeleteThe brining was ABSOLUTELY worth it. Like you, I was underwhelmed the last time I brined. Maybe it's the kits? Next year, try the brine I re-posted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I really do think it made a difference!