The Benefits Of Brining Turkey

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Paul_Yates]Paul Yates
The nights are drawing in, there a distinct chill in the air and the leaves are falling off the trees. In some ways it is a depressing time of year because the warmth of the sun disappears for a few months, we go to work in the dark and we come home from work in the dark but then there's so much to look forward to as well. Halloween, Bonfire Night (well in the UK at least) and the Holiday season.
Great fun for all the family but not always the case for the one that's doing the cooking. It can be a time of tremendous pressure making sure that everything is absolutely spot on for those big days in the year. If you are one of these folks then I sympathise, because I am too.
To be fair, having been doing it now for 25 years so I'm starting to get the knack but what really defeats me is the idea of having to do something just that little bit different each year to add a bit of variety and make that talking point.
Well I've already decided that the talking point this year is going to be about brining and whether it has any effect. I've heard many people swear that it adds flavor, moisture and even makes the bird more tender but is it true? Exactly what are the benefits of brining and why does it work?
The issue with turkey is that the white meat and the dark meat need different times to cook because the white meat contains a lot less fat. This means that the white meat needs more cooking time and because it has less fat to render the result is often dry and stringy. By brining the turkey you add moisture to the meat and make the bird more juicy overall.
Now I did biology at school and I remember being taught about osmosis (the flow of water from a place of high concentration to a place of low concentration through a partially permeable membrane. So the rules of osmosis must apply and what I've struggled to understand is why doesn't the water move out of the turkey and into the brine? Because if it did then surely the result would be a dry bird rather than a moist one?
The reason is two fold:-

  The salt solution causes the muscle fibres to swell allowing the water to flow into the meat.
  The brine is sufficiently weak to be at the right balance rather and allow an even moisture flow

Once the solution permeates the cells walls it stays in inside the cell membrane and so moistens and seasons the bird at the same time.
So to the benefits:-

  Turkey meat that has been brined will taste pleasantly seasoned (provided you rinse the turkey before cooking).
  Overnight brining stabilizes the internal temperature of the bird (handy if you're using a previously frozen bird)
  Your turkey cooks faster because there's more water in it effectively steaming the bird from the inside.

So that's it. Those are the benefits. I've remembered those so that now I can talk confidently about how I've prepared my turkey and why so all that remains is for me to ensure that the results justify the means!
Learning [http://www.barbecue-smoker-recipes.com/brine-a-turkey.html]how to brine a turkey correctly so that you get it right first time is something of a challenge. To help you along the way Paul Yates has written a collection of [http://www.barbecue-smoker-recipes.com/turkey-brine-recipes.html]turkey brine recipes together with a complete brining guide.
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