Smoked Brine?

[omgheather]

I am making two kinds of small turkeys this year. One plain for the traditional guests and another for us that likes it flavorful. :o)

I am going to brine both. But with "mine" I saw somewhere that you can add liquid smoke to the brine. This sounds really good.

Has anyone tried it? How much or little should you use? I just want it to have a slightly smoky background to the cajun butter seasonings.

[Raine]

Never added liquid smoke, as we always smoke ours. But liquid smoke is very strong, and too much might be bitter. Use just a little.

[Raine]

or you might try doing a chicken in the brine before Thanksgiving to give you some kind of idea.

[omgheather]

In brining chickens, it would be the whole chickens right? Not just the boneless breasts? LOL I ask because I am wierd that I don't like whole chickens.

But thanks for the tip on the bitterness. Maybe I will just use a tablespoon rather than the 5-6 reccommended in the recipe.

[Raine]

you could just brine the chicken parts you like.

[mudbug]

I haven't used liquid smoke for anything, but any recipe I've read that calls for it usually requires only a minuscule amount, as in a few drops.

Five to six tablespoons of the stuff would probably be too much for brining a mastodon!

[GB]

If you are brining just parts, remember that you will want to leave it in the brine for less time then if you were brining the whole bird. For breasts I usually go 2 hours. I would go 3 max, anything past that would not be good IMO. The texture would suffer too much.

[omgheather]

Mudbug

Five to six tablespoons of the stuff would probably be too much for brining a mastodon

I know! And I saw another for 8-9 tablespoons. I think I will use a teaspoon for two gallons of water/salt mixture.

[marmalady]

WHen you're using liquid smoke, you're talking drops of the stuff! Even when we do kahlua pig in the oven, using about 10-15 lbs of pork shoulder, we use only a tsp. or so.

[choclatechef]

The last time I brined a mastodon, I only used a tablespoon of liquid smoke. Of course I never got to cook it, the saber-toothed tiger chased me away!