Hi I’m Marty Richardson from chefmartyrich.com. Welcome back to our daily tip series.

When Is The Turkey Done?

Today, I am going to continue the discussion about turkey.  Today’s topic is, when is your turkey done?  Ok, I am always talking about the instant read thermometer and why is it so important.  Well, there’s a very fine line (10 degrees to be exact) between the temperature that the breast meat is cooked and the dark meat of the leg and thigh is cooked.  When the temperature of the dark meat reaches 163 degrees to be exact, that is when all the redness around the bone is totally cooked.  Now, here’s the problem. When you add 10 degrees,  – 173 – and add to that, carry over cooking of maybe another 5 to 10 degrees…now, the breast meat registers 180 degrees, way too hot.  Any meat cooked to 180 degrees is going to be completely well done, lacking in any juice whatsoever.  The turkey breast is infamous for being a diet food because there is very low fat content.  So with no fat, there’s no flavor and no moisture.  That is why we brine.

Not Convinced?

If you are still not going to brine your turkey because you are not convinced, I have a couple of tips for you.  One – you can roast the turkey breast side up and cover the breast area with some tin foil, and remove it during the last 45 minutes so that the skin can brown.  Or, you can roast it breast side down in one of those V-racks that I talked about in the last video.  Then, the breast meat self-bastes. Turn it right side up for the last 45 minutes for the same purpose.  So that you can brown the skin covering the breast.  The third point I wanted to make is if you stuff your turkey (which I am completely against, even though my Mother still does it…) you will probably over cook your breast meat. The problem is exposed by the meat thermometer.  Your stuffing needs to be at 165 degrees to kill the harmful bacteria, and if it is inside the turkey, then it means that the breast meat must be over 180 degrees before your stuffing gets to 165.  So you still loose.  If you pull the turkey out when the breast is done, then you have “salmonella stuffing”.  Neither alternative is desirable, so that is why I argue against stuffing your turkey.

Time To Brine

There are three benefits to brining.  One – moisture retention, two – you end up with seasoned meat and three – the turkey can also withstand higher oven temperatures which gives you really crisp skin and that is what you are looking for.   The basic formula for brining is 1 cup of table salt dissolved into 1 gallon of water.  Then, you brine your turkey for about 4 hours.  If you are going to brine it overnight, you need to reduce the amount of table salt down to 1/2 cup per gallon of water.  The next consideration is, what type of container to use?  I used to own a convenience store, so I had, and I still have, 5 gallon pickle buckets which are very convenient for me to brine a big turkey.  Or you can use a beverage cooler, to do that in.  You can also find brining bags at the grocery store, if you have room in the refrigerator. You want to continue to add ice to it the brine if it is not refrigerated, so that the temperature stays below 40 degrees.  I still am planning to speak about sanitation before the holidays, but that is for a later discussion.

Too Much Sodium?

Another tip about brining is that if you buy a self-basting turkey do not brine it.  It has already been injected with sodium and usually turkey stock to give it some flavor.  If you brine it as well, your turkey is going to end up being overly salty.  Same thing with a kosher turkey.  You want to beware of a double dose of sodium. You probably want to stay away from that.  Speaking of sodium, is it just too much salt?  If you use a 4 hour brine and a 12 hour brine (using the proportions that I discussed earlier) the resulting turkey meat is going to be .22% sodium level by weight.  Now, if that is too much sodium for you, don’t brine.  I don’t think it is too much, but I am not a doctor.  I don’t pretend to be a doctor.  And if you are trying to keep your sodium low then maybe you should skip the brining.  Lastly, after you brine, make sure you rinse the turkey completely and pat it dry. If you have time and refrigeration space let the turkey air dry for the crispest skin possible.

Tomorrow we are going to talk more turkey.  We are going to stay right on this topic for 5 videos in a row.  So hopefully you will know everything you need to know about turkey by the end of the week. Thanks for watching.