re: Anyone else just cranking up the smoker?

Not sure why y'all are wet brining a bird that's already been perfused with saline at the processor. Ruins the skin and adds almost no salt or flavor.

quote:

---

If your bird has not been salted at the factory, you want to do it. For years I advocated wet brining turkey, but I have changed my tune and I now prefer dry brining. Yes, I am a flip-flopper, so don't vote for me if I run for President. Wet brining involves submerging the meat in a tub of salt water. I quit wet brining because it wastes a lot of herbs, spices, salt, and with some recipes, fruit juice. Salt gets in, but only a little salt. The rest are wasted because most of their molecules are too large to penetrate the skin or the meat which can't absorb any more water anyway. They just settle on the surface. If you want to flavor the surface, you can have more impact with a good rub. Wet brining means the bird must be kept chilled, occupying lots of fridge space or it must be kept in a cooler that must be checked regularly to make sure it is cold. Tests show that very little water from the brine enters the bird, at most 6%, and because it is not bound to the fibers, most of it drips out during cooking. Finally, the swim in the brine softens the skin and doesn't help you get it dry and crispy. Click here to read more about the science of wet brining.

---

Also, never take the breast above 165. That's called balsa wood, and it's the reason lots of people think turkey is not good food. Americans been overcooking them for years.