Time Required for Baking Powder to Work

[Darren C.]

We are having a Thanksgiving meal tomorrow. So, I have to start cooking my turkey in about 19 hours from now. It seems that I have procrastinated too long to try the dry brine techniques described on the VirtualWeberBullet website and AmericasTestKitchen (subscription required, I think). From what I can tell from these resources, the trick to getting crispier skin seems to be the baking powder.

After wet brining, I was thinking about applying a little baking powder right before putting on the grill? Do you think that will help make the skin crispy? I'm not a baker and I really don't know how or when to use baking powder.

 

[Chris Allingham]

I don't think that will work.

The ATK salting method removes water from the skin. The baking powder helps dry the skin. And the alkalinity of the baking powder helps brown and crisp the skin. I don't think baking powder will be able to counteract all the water you've added to the skin by wet brining.

In order to get better skin from wet brined turkey, we sometimes brine first, then let the turkey sit uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours. That dries the skin, allowing it to cook up somewhat crispier. That technique is shown in the Whole Turkey - Honey Brine article on TVWB. But assuming your turkey is in the brine right now, you won't have time to do that. Maybe next year.

I don't think you have much choice but to just cook your web brined turkey as-is. Pat it dry very well before cooking. I know this sounds kind of weird, but if you have a small fan, consider putting the turkey on the kitchen counter for an hour before cooking in front of the fan, in an attempt to dry the skin as best you can. Then run your cooker at hot as possible, 350*F. Cook to 160*F in the breast, 170*F in the thigh. Let rest for 30 minutes, during which time carryover cooking will raise the internal temps to 165*F breast, 170*F thigh. The meat will be perfectly cooked and seasoned from your brine...and the skin will be whatever the skin is going to be.

By the way, poultry skin is not healthy for you, anyway, so you can tell all your guests that Dr. Allingham recommends that people not eat brined turkey skin.

Good luck, Darren! Don't stress, and have fun!

 

[Darren C.]

Ah. Okay. Too bad. I watched the video of the ATK cook. Dang, that skin looks very crispy. How can skin that crispy not be good for you ?

I'm not going to wait until next year to dry brine or use the "Whole Turkey - Honey Brine" though. I still have Christmas. And, I still have time before Thanksgiving Day. I'll just tell people to keep eating until all of tomorrow's turkey is gone.

Thanks for the advice.