Question
Michael Senteck
Can I "over-brine" a turkey? Is that a thing?
Answer
Um, you, you can, and the, you, you can over brine anything. Uh, the usual concern is, uh, excessive salt uptake, and therefore, a salty product on the palate. As the salt penetrates, the, the salt solution penetrates deeper, and then in exchange, it pulls out, you know, the, the, the natural water that's present. And so you can continue to pull in, uh, more salt as time goes on. So you can, that's probably the biggest issue. Um, if you were to, uh, keep something in, uh, that environment for a long time, you can start to affect the, the, the texture of the protein or of the meat itself. And, um, so, um, uh, a couple of possible outcomes. But the, the biggest and most immediate and common concern is gonna be over salted food. You can play with this, you know, by, if you're wet brining, then you can create a solution that's less than, uh, whatever recommendation you're following. And, um, then you can see if you can go longer, you know, in that environment if you have to, for some reason. Let's say you're traveling or you're busy doing something else, but you need to start the brining process. Okay? So again, um, take notes, uh, beforehand, take notes while you're tasting, and then do some comparisons to see what works best for you and the equipment and, uh, you know, your particular situation.
