Help - Turkey not so good - UPDATE

[runway1]

Did a test run for the big day in my MES 30" using a turkey breast, 2 thighs and two wing sections. Turned out very salty and not much flavor as well as rubbery skin, which I know how to fix. Ok....
**Brined for 20 hrs. Added some brown sugar, honey, sage and soy to the brine
**Well rinsed. Added cracked pepper and rubbed with Penzeys "poultry" seasoning (no salt)
**Smoked @ 240° with apple until IT of about 155 breast and 165 thighs. Meat was cooked perfect

Result: Overly salty, flavorless meat, rubbery skin. Seemed like the soy also threw it off a bit.

Solutions? For the skin, I figure I'll undercook and then crisp it up in in the oven. As for the flavor?? I've brined many meats and poultry and never got this salty. Does smoking increase the salt flavor? Should I brine for less time? Any flavor ideas? Thanks for the help all!

 

[jbk90]

I'm not of much help for the flavor part except to say that I would look around for the correct salt/water ratio in your brine and to see if the turkey you bought had been previously brined/injected/frozen.

As for the skin I would highly recommend drying it with paper towels before rubbing it, and also considering getting some air flow over it as well to build up a pellicle. Those two should help you get crispy skin.

 

[buffalobbqpete]

Maybe the meat was already pre-brined? Think it would say it on the packaging.. Not sure. Best bet would be to try again, change up the process a little.

 

[chopsaw]

I look for the sodium content on the package before I do anything .

 

[dirtsailor2003]

How much soy did you use? How much water?

If you are going to brine and your brine contains salt, make sure to use a rub that doesn't have salt in it. Also use a bird that hasn't already been enhanced. For enhanced birds there is no need to wet brine. Enhanced birds are injected with a sodium solution.

I prefer to dry brine poultry. Pat the bird dry. Use a mixture of kosher salt, baking powder, and what ever spices you like. rub all over the bird. Place the bird on a drying rack over a drip pan and into the fridge uncovered. Allow it to dry like this for 8-24 hours.

 

[runway1]

This was Sprouts cut up turkey. Natural stuff. No pre-brining or injections.

I had about 3/4 cup salt in about 3/4 gal of water

 

[Rings Я Us]

Hmm.... 1 cup kosher salt and half cup of Brown sugar in 2 gallons of liquid.. Is all you need.. 24 hours.. we use vegetable stock and ice water 1/2 each. peppercorns and some whatever ...
dont think anyone brines frozen turkey in our family ever.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

This was Sprouts cut up turkey. Natural stuff. No pre-brining or injections.

I had about 3/4 cup salt in about 3/4 gal of water

Once again how much soy sauce did you add? Kikkoman has 920 mg of sodium per tablespoon. So if you added soy that probably was the killer. Depending on the brand 1 teaspoon of soy sauce will equal 1 tablespoon of salt.

Shooting for a 2% salt solution is about right for most meats.

 

[runway1]

Once again how much soy sauce did you add? Kikkoman has 920 mg of sodium per tablespoon. So if you added soy that probably was the killer. Depending on the brand 1 teaspoon of soy sauce will equal 1 tablespoon of salt.

Shooting for a 2% salt solution is about right for most meats.

I guess that may be a contributor. I added 1/4 cup of soy. That I'll definitely remove as I think it contributed to the funky flavor. Didn't seem to mesh with the sage/thyme theme. Also, maybe a soak of <20 hrs would also help.

 

[runway1]

One source says:
https://www.thespruce.com/salt-to-brine-ratio-336235
How Much Salt?
The traditional brine is made from a ratio of 1 cup of salt to 1 gallon of water. This is based on table salt. 1 cup of table salt weighs in at 10 ounces. So we want 10 ounces of salt (by weight) per gallon of water. Kosher salts can weigh between 5 to 7 1/2 ounces per cup, so in these cases, we would need between 2 cups to 1 1/2 cups of kosher salt per gallon of water. The two most popular brand of kosher salt weigh in like this: Morton Kosher = 7 1/2 ounces per cup and Diamond Kosher = 5 ounces per cup.

Seems like my salt ratio was about right if the soy isn't counted.

 

[equinn]

Could be because it was cut up. For a whole turkey, you'd usually brine 1 hour per pound. But if its cut up, I'd imagine the time would be much less.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Myself.. I use the 1-1-1 method... 1 gallon of water.. 1 cup of kosher salt... 1 cup of sugar .. (Pop's version).. seems to work for us.. and were not big salt fans ...

 

[tallbm]

I'm thinking the saltiness was due to the following factors:

• soy + salt in brine = lots of sodium. I go one or the other but never both.
• 20 hours on just turkey legs and wings is a long time for those small parts. 20 hours for a whole turkey no problem. I do my turkey drums and thighs for 12 hours.

I have only done Turkey drums and thighs state fair/disneyland style. If I didn't do them that style I probably wouldn't brine turkey legs or wings. I don't do it for chicken dark meat and never have issues.

As for the skin, best of luck on that one because I find you need more of a 325F'ish temp during the whole smoke to produce edible poultry skin... edible does not always mean crispy but it's not leather. With your MES you will have to try the oven thing. I would guess that once your turkey hits 140F you want to put it in the oven at like 400F or something to get the skin to crisp up but I am speculating on the combo of turkey IT and oven temp that will be successful. Please report back on your findings in this area :)

 

[flywatt]

Did you rinse the turkey after removing it from the brine? I can't remember where I read it, but I always follow the rule. "Always rinse".

Did you use Kosher salt? "Always use kosher salt".

 

[runway1]

Yes and yes. I only use kosher salt and always rinse my brine. Seems like the soy, combined with cut up pieces, may have put this over. Trying test #2 this weekend. I'll report.

 

[runway1]

Test result #2: Ok, the salty issue is resolved and I pulled it early and crisped up the skin in the oven. Smoked on a bed of celery/onions/carrots/garlic. Cooked perfectly but....just don't like the flavor. Dripping also made a super smoky gravy. A bit overwhelming. I just love my smoked chicken but turkey isn't working out for me. I have one more test run before the BIG DAY.

I might try hickory only, as opposed to hickory/apple. Smoke flavor is plenty strong. Maybe it's just me, and I don't like smoked turkey??...;>). Don't understand it as I just love the chicken. Anyhow...one more run and we'll see.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Hickory will give you a stronger smoke profile. Go with straight apple. Also unless I was going for an Asian flavor profile I’d ditch the soy too.

 

[runway1]

Yeah, that was one tweak that helped - no soy. I think I'll try #3 with apple only and maybe less smoke time or....smoke at 325° on my gas grill with AMZN tray of pellets

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Yeah, that was one tweak that helped - no soy. I think I'll try #3 with apple only and maybe less smoke time or....smoke at 325° on my gas grill with AMZN tray of pellets

I smoke all my poultry at 325°+. I typically use 50/50 Cherry & Pecan. I don't wet brine anymore. When I did I used a concoction of apple juice, kosher salt, brown sugar, whole pepper corns, and whole cloves and halved oranges.

 

[runway1]

Problem is my MES only goes to 275°. Thinking of using my AMNPS in my gas grill but not sure if it'll stay lit. I guess that's something else I need to go check.