Is brining a kosher turkey redundant?

[GB]

My mom is buying a kosher turkey this year. My understanding of the koshering process is that the bird is covered in salt, not submerged in salt water. She thinks that part of the koshering process is brining the bird.

Does a kosher turkey not need to be brined because it has basically already been brined or is this not the case?

 

[jennyema]

The kosher birds I have seen around here contain some type of sodium solution.

Here is a Cooks Illustrated piece which lists sodium % of different turkeys. The kosher one has quite a bit of sodium already in it. The article describes the koshering process (you are right) but says "Because both koshering and brining encourage the absorption of water and salt, we do not recommend brining a bird that has been koshered."

et add the quote

 

[GB]

Awesome! Thanks Jenny!!!

That will make it a little easier since I was struggling to think it anyone had something large enough to brine it in in the first place

 

[ronjohn55]

Hi GB,

While I don't have any real knowledge of kosher turkeys, I think the point you bring up is what you need to clarify.

If the bird was packed in sale, but no additional liquid was involved, then brining might be advisable, although less salt might be the way to go...
(Think country style ham here - but not to that extreme, it may actually have a reduced moisture content to it if this was the method)

If it WAS brined, then you're good to go.

Although, even if it was brined, you could still do it again to introduce your own flovorings, it's just that the salt amounts need to be adjusted accordingly. If there's a lot of salt in the turkey already, use a low salt brine, and the salinity will equalize over time, and still be effective.

As always, keep the brine cold - but you knew that already.

John

 

[licia]

I thought being "kosher' meant it had been blessed by a rabbi!!!! There's more to it than that?

 

[Robo410]

kosher or koshering refers to the proper slaughter, handling, butchering, and packaging of the animal. That of creation is already of God and thus good, requiring no blessing, but thanks is indeed in order.

 

[CharlieD]

Being kosher has absolutelly nothing to do with any kind of rabbi, exept maybe supervision, and everything to do with the product it self. Kosher means fit, as fit for eating.

As far as brining, Iusually do not do that, but this year was thinking about it, contemplating this very point you are bringing it up. Though it has been salted in my opinion brining is a completely different process and might be a good idea. One just has to be carefull about how much salt you add during actuall cooking.

 

[mish]

My understanding of "Kosher" has come to mean - a rabbi says a prayer over the food. My guess is, if you buy food that is Kosher, you can prepare it any way you like after that. If you are planning on serving a kosher bird, I would leave it at that. Some people cannot eat anything but Kosher, so I would ask a kosher butcher.

 

[CharlieD]

P.S. The part that Robo410 is talking about comes after what i already sdaid, and is absolutelly corect.

 

[buckytom]

what's not to brine? oy.

but too much salt might make you a little fuhklempt.

 

[sarah]

kosher meat is the same as halal meat,which muslims eat!the procedure of slaughtering etc is the same,muslims either eat halal or kosher meat!

 

[mish]

but too much salt might make you a little fuhklempt.

I'm feeling a SNL moment - Talk amongst yourselves.

 

[CharlieD]

halal and kosher is not the same. though muslim eat kosher meat, the people that eat kosher cannot eat halal, as they are not up to the kosher rules and standards

 

[amber]

I thought being "kosher' meant it had been blessed by a rabbi!!!! There's more to it than that?

Thats what I thought too!

 

[GB]

The kosher laws are very extensive and encompass many different things. Like Charlie said, a Rabbi has little to do with it other than supervising the slaughter. As far as I know, the Rabbi does not say any prayers over the food.

One of the kosher laws is that you are not allowed to ingest blood. By salting the meat this draws out the blood and makes the meat OK to eat (for acceptable types of meat. No matter how much salt you use, pork will never be kosher). It would seem to me that the koshering process and the brining process would be exact opposites. brining is the process of getting salt and water into the bird while koshering is the process of drawing things out. I know from experience that kosher birds are saltier to taste than non kosher birds, but I would be looking to brine for the added moisture.

 

[Andy M.]

GB:

Brining a turkey (or any other piece of meat) locks moisture in more than adding moisture to the meat. When you put meat into a brine, there is an exchange of fluids through the cell walls. Unsalted fluid is expelled and saltier fluid is drawn in. This occurs in an effort to equalize the salinity on the opposite sides of the cell walls.

A portion of this process I don't understand causes the cells to hold onto the saltier fluids and resist releasing them in the cooking process. This results in a saltier/more flavorful bird.

Following that thought process, dry salt applied to the bird would extract moisture from the flesh (a attempt by the cells to equalize the moisture on both sides of the cell walls). This fluid will dissolve some salt and that saltier liquid will be drawn back into the cells (in an attempt to equalize the salinity).

So, if I'm correct in my recollection of the science, a salted but not brined bird will be more moist than an unsalted one. I can't say if the effect of salting is greater than, equal to or less than the effect of brining.

Of course, this doesn't add any of the other flavors you may put into a brine. I'd be concerned about the bird's being too salty.

You could soak it in plain water to draw some of the salt out then brine it to add salt and other flavors. That seems like a bit of overkill.

All that being said, I'd fry it without brining. It cooks so fast that dryness really isn't an issue.

 

[Constance]

I agree with Andy, that if you deep-fry the turkey, there's no need to brine it.

You could also cook the turkey the way my first MIL taught me...Just rub with seasonings, put it breast side down in a roaster, tent with foil, and let it cook. The fat from the back drips down on the breast and makes it so juicey. So you don't have a crisp brown skin...you have a moist delicious turkey, every time.

 

[SpiceUmUp]

This is from the Cooks Illustrated web Site:

Kosher: Empire Kosher
Hand-processing often leaves these salt-treated birds with a good number of feathers still attached. They taste great without brining.

 

[buckytom]

feathers taste great without brining?
cooks illustrated needs a new editor.

 

[marmalady]

I don't know from laws or koshering - I DO know that kosher birds are on the salty side, no matter how they got that way! So I'd be careful about brining the bird on top of that, or you'll have all your hypertensive aunts and uncles keeling over!