[3 - 6] [Music] everybody
[9 - 9] knows best way to introduce flavor to a
[9 - 11] turkey is by continual
[11 - 15] basting bad news Buffy mcmeel basting is
[15 - 19] A1 useless no way yes way not only does
[19 - 21] it do nothing for the flavor or texture
[21 - 23] of the meat but repeated opening of the
[23 - 26] oven door just slows down cooking
[26 - 28] whatever hey isn't that your pager right
[30 - 32] of course you could and should add
[32 - 34] juiciness and flavor to your bird by
[34 - 38] giving it a pre- roast soak in a brine
[38 - 40] now to understand what a brine is and
[40 - 42] how it do its Voodoo we're turning to
[42 - 45] Shirley corer a mad food scientist if
[45 - 47] ever there was one surely what's the
[47 - 50] score well a brine can be as simple as a
[50 - 52] salt solution salt and water or sugar
[52 - 56] and salt and water okay so how exactly
[56 - 60] does a brine work you're just in time
[60 - 65] for mystery Food Science
[65 - 67] Theater where does she get all these
[67 - 71] wonderful toys take this turkey for
[71 - 74] instance excuse me Shirley house lights
[74 - 77] go ahead now let's put this turkey in a
[77 - 83] brine this turkey cells are capable of
[83 - 86] Osmosis the osmosis is when the cell
[86 - 88] walls allow moisture to move from an
[88 - 90] area of lower concentration to higher
[90 - 92] concentration so if the salt level is
[93 - 95] higher out in the braine the moisture
[95 - 97] inside the cells is going to move out
[97 - 99] into the braine but won't that dry out
[99 - 102] the meat ah but we're not done yet oh
[102 - 105] okay what happens as soon as the water
[105 - 109] outside gets diluted by the water coming
[109 - 112] out then the liquid on the inside and
[112 - 114] the out are about the same and the
[114 - 117] liquid's flowing back and forth back and
[117 - 120] forth It's equilibrium yes yes and the
[120 - 123] liquid from the outside is carrying the
[123 - 126] salt and the seasonings into the bird
[126 - 130] and so this means that you got all this
[130 - 133] moisture and seasoning trapped inside
[133 - 136] the muscle and it's not even going to
[136 - 137] come out when you cook it cook it the
[138 - 140] moisture stays in the meat yes well how
[140 - 143] are the leftovers fabulous yeah don't
[143 - 145] you just love a happy ending
[153 - 153] now for a basic turkey brine I like to
[153 - 155] start with about a gallon of uh
[155 - 157] vegetable broth and don't use the low
[157 - 159] sodium or no sodium kind because we need
[159 - 161] the salt content and we're even going to
[161 - 164] add some more a cup of Co your
[164 - 167] salt followed by about half a cup of
[167 - 169] light brown sugar you can use regular
[169 - 171] brown sugar it'll be
[171 - 174] okay and about a tablespoon of whole
[180 - 180] peppercorns along with about a half
[180 - 184] tablespoon each of a whole all spice
[186 - 189] berries and crystallized or candied ginger same
[189 - 190] and crystallized or candied ginger same thing now these last couple ingredients
[190 - 192] may sound a little odd to you but you
[192 - 194] can probably find them in your Grocer's
[194 - 196] uh spice Department if you can't go
[196 - 197] ahead and leave them out the brine will
[197 - 199] still make a huge difference to the
[199 - 201] turkey as soon as your brine comes to a
[201 - 203] boil give it a couple of stirs just to
[203 - 205] make sure everything's dissolved and
[205 - 208] kill the heat let it cool down to room
[208 - 209] temperature then refrigerate it until
[209 - 211] it's completely chilled you can do this
[211 - 214] like two 3 days ahead of time just make
[214 - 216] sure you leave the lid on early the
[216 - 218] morning of the big day or late the night
[218 - 222] before add your brine to a large clean
[222 - 224] bucket not one that was recently home to
[224 - 228] Roofing tar or latex wall paint
[228 - 236] please add a gallon of heavily iced
[240 - 240] water now to the turkey first make sure
[240 - 241] that the uh giblets the neck and
[241 - 243] anything else that used to be in the
[243 - 245] cavity isn't in there anymore since the
[245 - 247] breast has a tendency to dry out more
[247 - 249] than dark meat I like to start with the
[249 - 251] breast down in the brine first so just
[253 - 256] head first right in there I'll let this stay
[256 - 258] first right in there I'll let this stay in for 6 to8 hours just park it in a
[258 - 260] cool corner of your kitchen or if it's
[260 - 261] winter time and your garage is cold just
[262 - 263] put it in a corner of your garage you
[263 - 265] won't really have to worry about
[265 - 266] bacteria because the ice is going to
[266 - 269] keep it cold and besides bacteria don't
[269 - 271] like salt which explains why Salt's been
[271 - 274] used for Millennia to cure and preserve
[274 - 276] meats and don't worry as long as you
[276 - 278] turn this over once about halfway
[278 - 280] through the brining the meat will be
[280 - 284] perfectly seasoned