To brine or not to brine

[Jenise]

I read an interesting article last night by an Instagram blogger called Kichn. She, or he as it may be, frequently does recipe comparisons (Ina's Chococolate Chip cookie vs. Tollhouse vs. King Arthur Flour, etc) as well as technique comparisons.

In this new post she apparently treated 8 or 10 supermarket turkeys, all around 12 lbs, no fancy organic or heirloom stuff, to dry brining, wet brining, no brine, oil brushed, you name it, with varying degrees of wait times before roasting and then rated the results. Mostly she was rating based on the quality of the crispy skin, but she commented on better results inside the bird, too.

#2, and the only one to garner 9 out of 10 points possible was the dry brined turkey that had been refrigerated for 24 hours in advance--basically what I do with chickens, except instead of just salt she used a mix of salt, baking powder and pepper. Perhaps I've been hiding under a rock, but the idea of using baking powder is new to me.

Her #1 was same as #2 but spatchcocked so that the nether regions of the wings and thighs got as crispy as the rest.

Any fans of baking powder here?

Never tried it. The folks over at Serious Eats are big fans.

Any fans of baking powder here?

I use it in a spatchcocked roasted chicken recipe and an Oven-Fried Old Bay chicken wings recipe, both from Serious Eats. They crisp up the skin very nicely.

I’ve used baking powder to dredge wings for oven “fried” chicken and they are as with Ted’s techniques, they come out very nice and crispy.

So, the baking soda is applied like flour, dredge, shake off? I imagine seasoning such as salt, pepper, etc. should be added before dredging?

If you need to spatchcock a turkey, I have a sword I can loan you.....

BTW, as far as I can make out, the word spatchcock properly applies to cutting a bird down the spine (usually on both sides of it) and then laying it open to cook it, but I think that today we probably assume that it means separating it along the breast and flattening it for cooking. You can spatchcock a quail with two snips of kitchen shears and a push on the back to flatten it.

Spatchcocking something as large as a turkey inspires mental images of Jenise using a turkey as a trampoline because if you don't do it the traditional way by cutting out the spine, you'd need to break all the ribs where they connect to the spine.

Best food writer for spatchcocking just about anything is Frances Mallmann, the Argentine chef who I recall in TV shows posting spread out spatchcocked animals beside an open fire pit.

Thanks for the tip on brining.although I am still uncertain what part the baking soda plays.

[Jenise]

Bill and Karen: it's baking powder, not soda. And yes, typically it's recommended that one remove the backbone but that really serves no other purpose than to make things even-steven.

I wonder if the baking powder acts as a dessicant. Time to go buy a pair of cornish game hens for some tests....

So, the baking soda is applied like flour, dredge, shake off? I imagine seasoning such as salt, pepper, etc. should be added before dredging?

Both recipes I referred to make up a rub of baking powder, salt, pepper, spices and/or herbs which you then rub all over the skin.

And Bill, the Serious Eats spatchcock recipe does remove the backbone first. Then you position the chicken with the breast in the centre and the legs toward the outside, presumably so that the legs cook faster.

So, the baking soda is applied like flour, dredge, shake off? I imagine seasoning such as salt, pepper, etc. should be added before dredging?

No. Baking soda is used for browning meat, but you only need a light dusting (think 1/4 tsp per pound of meat). Baking powder may work since it's mostly baking soda plus a dry acid (cream of tartar et al.), but baking soda is the preferred browning substance. The baking soda raises the pH of the meat, which enhances the Maillard reaction. The acid in baking powder may or may not hinder the pH rise.

It works.

If you need to spatchcock a turkey, I have a sword I can loan you.....

The good butchers in my neighborhood all have band saws, which can cut a turkey in half very nicely. (Not a proper spatchcock or butterfly, I know.)

I have a hacksaw that I use for cutting spareribs crosswise into thirds for use in Chinese dishes. It should work fine for spatchcocking a turkey, if the heavy-duty Chinese cleaver proves insufficient.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Speaking of which I made riblets with black bean sauce last night. Easy to find them pre-cut as we like, Paul, in Canada.

Yes, there's a Vietnamese grocery in Manchester NH that sells pre-cut spareribs. I bought the hacksaw before I had a convenient source for the pre-cut spareribs. This market also sells stewing hens. and a lot of unusual (to Westerners) offal.

-Paul W.

Do you rinse your Turkey after brining? Or brush any remaining salt crystals off?

[Jenise]

Do you rinse your Turkey after brining? Or brush any remaining salt crystals off?

No. The brines I make usually have some kind of wine component plus a lot of herbs. Anything that sticks to the bird is good stuff.