Brining Enhanced Turkey?

[Dave Schwartz]

I'd like to do Keri's turkey recipe for T day. I've got a enhanced turkey in the freezer. Is there any benefit to brine it?

 

[Al Silverman]

Hi,

I wouldn't...it's already been injected with a salty solution. Brining would make it too salty.

Al

 

[Tom Ferguson]

Dave,

I had the same question a week ago. I had a 7% enhanced turkey breast and wanted to do Keri's honey brine recipe.

Since it was a trial run for Thanksgiving anyway, I decided to go for it. I followed Keri's recipe exactly, including brining times and drying times in the fridge.

The breast came out wonderful. I couldn't have hoped for any better. One thing I failed to do was turn the turkey breast-side down during the cook. The top of the breast meat was a bit drier than the bottom, but it was still all great. Next time I'll flip it halfway through. The breast I cooked was rather small, around 4.5 lbs and it took about 3-3/4 hours to reach 160 internally.

I used Sugar Maple smoke wood, which I also highly recommend.

 

[Larry Wolfe]

Dave,
Read the "sodium" content on the turkey and go from there. If it already has a sodium content above 600mg I would not brine. I have a turkey on now that is enhanced (300mg sodium) and I cut the salt in the brine by a third. Just when doing an enhanced turkey the key is making sure the sodium content is not too high to brine. I have brined enhanced birds many times with great results.