Comments on: Thanksgiving Turkey Brine Recipe with Sel Gris Natural Sea Salt

By: Mark Bitterman

Mark Bitterman — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:05:06 +0000

Hey Branic! Glad that Bali Reef is treating you well. I look forward to seeing you back in P-town in December. And yes, Juniper is a great addition. I actually had written 6 juniper berries in my original recipe, but ended up removing them just to knock it back closer to the most traditional incarnation. Juniper is a must for brining any game bird. Just pretend you shot your turkey yourself!

By: Branic Howard

Branic Howard — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:06:13 +0000

I am following your lead here with the brining of the turkey. In fact I typed into trusty google ‘brining a turkey with natural salt’ and, serendipitously, your post was the first hit. When I thought ‘brine’ I thought of etymological brine, ‘briny’ which firstly connotes tears and secondly that of the sea. And that is the second point I wanted to bring up, that there is a sea of nothing between here, Syracuse, and Portland, and that swelters a tear in my minds eye. But fortunately I will visit you at the shop come December because I will be out of the Bali Keef you two sent me off with.

One question: I have used juniper berries in the past…Is that an acceptable addition to your recipe above?

By: Mark Bitterman

Mark Bitterman — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:03:34 +0000

Yes! Agreed! Don’t use a dubious garbage bag with your brine. (For the record the plastic used to make white kitchen garbage bags is often LDPE (low density polyethylene), which is also used to make bottles that require flexibility, grocery bags, coating for milk cartons.) To be safe, definitely choose a food grade plastic bag. Incidentally, there is no law against just increasing the amount of brine and submerging the entire bird in a deep stainless steel or ceramic-glazed pot.

Regarding brining smaller critters, like game hens: The smaller the piece of meat the greater the ration of surface area to mass. Game hens can be brined in just 12 hours. Cut pieces of poultry need even less time–6 to 8 hours is sufficient.

By: Jan Hedum

Jan Hedum — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:50:50 +0000

To answer the question about food safety….no, garbage bags are not considered food safe by food professionals. We have sold fast food at public events, and each health inspector has warned against even using the bags to line plastic garbage can where we stored large quantities of sugar/cinnamon mix.

Your idea is much better!

By: John DePaula

John DePaula — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:04:58 +0000

Rather than a garbage bag for brining – are those really food safe? I don’t know… – I’d recommend using one of those plastic bags used for roasting in the oven such as Reynolds Oven Bags. (Also useful for making a pouch of pie weights…)

The brine looks great. How would you modify the time if using for Game Hens instead of a whole turkey?

Thanks!