Alton Brown turkey brine - which kosher salt?

[redthong]

I'm using AB's brine this year for the first time. The recipe calls for 1 cup kosher salt. I know Cooks Illustrated says Morton is saltier than Diamond Crystal and adjusts accordingly. Since I'm using Morton, can I safely use the full cup or do I need to cut back? Thanks!

[blue room]

HI-- I have an AB turkey brining article from 2003. He uses 2/3 cup sugar to a pound of salt. Then he says
2 cups of Morton's Kosher = 1 pound, and
3 cups of Diamond Crystal Kosher = 1 pound. So, if you are told to use 1 cup of Morton Kosher salt, you should be using *about* 1/3 cup of sugar. Does this help at all? Fit with your recipe?
The ratio of salt to sugar varies in brine recipes, I throw a handful of salt and a handful of sugar into a bowl... there are so many versions!

[redthong]

I'm okay on how much sugar to use - it's just that his recipe from the Good Eats website calls for "1 cup kosher salt," and I'm wondering whether I should use less than that since what I have is Morton's.

[mpsavage]

Blue room, the artcile you have I believe is the one I have been hunting down. Can you give me a copy? If it is the correct one i made it years ago and my turkey was perfect. I have been scouring the web to find it again.

[Andrew_Cookbooker]

The important thing is to go by weight when working out a ratio of salt to water in a brine. It's too bad Alton didn't give a weight or at least a type of salt, as it really can vary quite a bit. Morton is not 'saltier' than Diamond Crystal, but rather it is less dense (because it's shaped differently - flattened flakes rather than larger crystals). A cup of Diamond Crystal weighs about 5 oz. A cup of Morton weighs about 7.7 oz.

A standard brine is 1/2 cup of Diamond Crystal to 4 cups water, so about 2.5 oz per quart. There's a great master class on brining at eGullet here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/...

[jpc8015]

Use the full cup.

[Andrew_Cookbooker]

Oops - in all my discursion I forgot to answer the original question - thanks jpc8015. Yes, using my math, 2 gallons would take about 10oz of salt - however in Alton's recipe he also has stock, which is salted, and he brines for quite a while. So yes, one cup of Mortons should be just right.

[jfx]

I forget the source, but in my recipe notes I have the following per gallon of water salt equivalence noted for brining, which as someone else commented probably is the same amount of salt for each by weight:
Table Salt (without iodine) - use 1 cup
Morton Kosher Salt - use 1 1/2 cups
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt - use 2 cups

[greygarious]

Personally, I would not trust a recipe that omits this information. I hope he got the other amounts and directions right. I would use 2/3 cup of Morton - better to need a salt shaker on the table than to serve an oversalted bird.

[redthong]

Thanks for all the input. Since my vegetable broth is homemade and has no salt, and since I'm not going to be leaving my bird in the brine quite the full time he advises, I'm going to go with 1 scant cup of Morton's and hope for the best.

[simplycumin]

I've followed the Good Eats recipe using store bought vegetable stock and Morton's kosher salt with great success. The best turkey I've ever had, perfect flavor ... not overly salty. I stumbled upon a veg stock that had a lot of mushrooms, which added to the great taste.

[CocoaNut]

You know what? It's been my experience that it just doesn't matter. I've been brining birds for about 6 years and have always used the Kosher salt whatever-is-on-my-local-grocery-shelf Brand at the 1-1 ratio.

You can EVEN use table salt at 1/2 the volume of Kosher.

[mtomto]

Interesting that you have found table salt usable. Long ago when I first found ABs recipe, I read where people got a very salty taste when using TS. Then digging further I found a science-like article on the subject (which I no longer) have that explained the differences of the salts, their reation with the protein cells and all that good stuff. So Ive stuck with Kosher ever since. It was quite convincing.

That said, what I have found is there isnt enough to be gained from the pepper, allspice and candied ginger. Ive done birds and breasts both ways and cant tell the difference. The bottom line being that Brining puts more water in the cells of the meat, hence its moist outcome. Although I see people that are convinced the other ingredients add to flavor. The science disputes that for the most part, the salt only being key to the brining process and outcome.

[blynk]

I first became aware of brining from America's Test Kitchen - they did a grill roasted turkey (Excellent and I still do this on T'giving w/a bone-in turkey breast). I got my ratios from them. They say to cut the amount of TS in half if no Kosher is on hand. http://www.americastestkitchen.com/sc...

I totally agree about all the other additives. The first few time I brined, I probably added 15 different additives. Anymore, salt and water is mostly what I use. Occasionally, I'll add some garlic powder and/or molasses.

1 tbl Kosher salt with 2 cups water make a perfect brine for 2 or 3 chicken breasts.

[amokscience]

Eh? The amount of salt in a cup varies according to the size of the salt crystals that's all.

[Diane in Bexley]

If you buy a kosher turkey, it's already soaked in salted water as part of the koshering process and it's also guaranteed to be minimally processed (no goopy injection as in Butterball). Just a thought, less work.