I'm a turkey flipper and proud of it! I don't baste a whole lot as, besides brining, I'll make up a compound butter and work it under the skin. I just baste 2-3 times after I've flipped it and always get a nice golden brown skin.
Boom.
Problem is when you are feeding larger groups you can't enough stuffing in the bird to feed everybody.
...Instead, he dry-brines it - gives it a good salting and lets that sit for about 12 hours. The salt pulls out juices, which then dissolve the salt, and the salty juices are pulled back into the meat, primarily by osmosis...
Actually, I think the two are very similar. Brining doesn't add water to the meat, It replaces unsalted fluids with salted fluids similar to dry brining.
Except that the salted fluid in dry brining is just the turkeys natural moisture, not the additional saltwater that you would get from wet brining. I can see Kenji's logic that you are just packing more water in addition to the natural juices. Wet brining doesn't remove juices from the meat, just adds more. The salty brine only allows osmotic fluids to move in one direction. Osmosis seeks to equalize the mineral concentration of the fluids on both sides of the membrane, so the migration is always one way.
I never heard of anyone wet brining a steak, but dry brining makes a great piece of beef. Seems like it would be a great thing to try on chicken or turkey.
Actually, I think the two are very similar. Brining doesn't add water to the meat, It replaces unsalted fluids with salted fluids similar to dry brining.
Dry-brining adds flavorful, now-seasoned meat/poultry juices, while wet-brining adds salty plain water.
When I wet brine a turkey, I use salt, brown sugar, allspice, ginger and vegetable broth. You can most definitely taste mote than salt in the finished product.
Okay. I don't think I would enjoy those flavors with turkey; I just want good turkey flavor and crispy skin, which wet brining also inhibits somewhat. As always, it's a matter of taste
When all is said and done (which almost never happens on this forum )
in the end it is a matter of personal taste - so no matter how much science is injected under the skin -
everyone will have their own formula that they believe is the ultimate answer.
Science has its place just not always in the kitchen.
Problem is when you are feeding larger groups you can't enough stuffing in the bird to feed everybody.