If you love Cattleman’s Meats, and honestly, who doesn’t, then getting the most from your meat is what it’s all about.
And getting the most out of your meat means getting the “moist” INTO your meat!
Moist is flavor, moist is juicy, moist means tender.
So, how can you ensure that the turkey you buy at Cattleman’s, is as juicy and tender as it can be.
The answer, is brining.
Brining isn’t anything new.
It wasn’t invented by the Food Network or, by some celebrity Chef.
It goes way back.
Sometimes, brining is done to preserve foods, like pickles for example. That type of brine is different and typically includes an acid, like vinegar.
For a Thanksgiving Day turkey, the brine mixture is different, and is an excellent way to re-hydrate the meat in your turkey.
It’s ESPECIALLY important if you are buying a frozen turkey this year.
Why?
Without getting to food sciency, we’ll explain it like this.
Let us first ask you if you’ve noticed all the juices that are left in the packaging your frozen turkey once came in?
You know, the ones that inevitably spill out all over the counter when you cut the plastic wrapper open.
Now second, have you noticed that when you freeze water, maybe the ice cubes in an ice cube tray, that water expands when it freezes?
So now, imagine all the tiny cells in a fresh turkey breast, filled with “turkey juice”, that along with the flesh and the connective tissues make it plump and juicy.
You freeze that turkey, and the cells, filled with watery juices expand and then, eventually, many of the cell walls break open, like popped water balloons. But the turkey is now frozen.
Later, when you thaw your turkey, the juices are no longer trapped within those cells, but flow out on to your kitchen counter.
It works something like that.
Not with every cell, but enough juices are lost to make a noticeably less juicy turkey meat once roasted.
That issue, isn’t nearly as significant when you buy a “fresh” turkey, but both fresh and previously frozen turkeys can benefit from brining.
What does brining do?
If you think of your turkey as a sponge, what it loses in juices, it can recover by soaking it in a similar solution to what it lost.
Namely, a water solution of salts with a bit of sugars.
But since were in the neighborhood, why not add an additional flavor with some savory herbs and spices.
And that’s what most great brine recipes do.
Really…it doesn’t get much simpler than that!
Chefs love brining just about as much as they love being the expert on this subject every season.
Every chef you talk to has his or her favorite techniques and recipes. And for good reason; they work!
The bottom line is brining is good. It can’t hurt your turkey; it can only help it.
Brining isn’t only used for turkeys. It is also used with other types poultry and pork.
Is there anything different I have to do after brining?
Nope, you can roast, deep fry or grill your turkey as you would have done otherwise.
Cattleman’s NEW Brine Pouch is a simple and delicious way to find out for yourself just how much brining can improve your roast turkey.
The directions are right on the pouch, just add water, and your bird and in as little as 12 hours, you’re good to go.
Think of brining your Thanksgiving Turkey as “bird insurance.”
And as an extra bonus, a Turkey that has been brined for just 12 hours will stay juicy even if you overshoot the cooking time by a bit.
It’s one less thing to worry about on Thanksgiving Day when you’ve got so many other things on your “plate” and another great reason to consider brining your turkey this Thanksgiving Holiday.
