Frankenturkey!
Our 2025 bargain frozen turkey turned out a Frankenturkey. It had the following message on the label, which of course was not noted by me when purchasing: “pre-brined with approximately 9.5% solution of turkey broth, salt, sugar and natural flavoring” with a separate message on the side: “pre-brined/simply thaw and cook”.
I discovered this info just as I was about to start the dry brining process which was promptly cancelled. Instead, the defrosted turkey spent a final night out of its wrapping in a cooler, before being dried with paper towels and stuffed prior to going in the oven Thanksgiving morning at 11:00 am. The finished product was ok with crisp skin and moist breast meat, but skin on the bottom of the bird was still pale white and when transferred to a serving tray it exuded a half cup of pinkish clear liquid. Also the stuffing inserted in the bird’s cavities was way moister than it usually is.
I managed to correct these problems without causing anybody any health problems, but caveat emptor. Next year I will try to find a bird on sale which is not pre-brined and if that fails it will spend a good amount of time on a rack drying out prior to cooking. How was your turkey experience this year? Anybody else struggling with a Fankenturkey?
Hello burnt fingers
My turkey was defrosted when I purchased it. I just got a 13 pound bird for us three. It was brined as well and the bottom was pale when I removed it from the oven. I roasted the bird at 300 degrees. It was perfectly roasted juicy and tasty. I have roasted more than 200 turkeys including 7 Turducken feasts. Turducken is the best but I do it without help it takes two days to prepare for the oven. At 195 degrees Fahrenheit oven it cooks for 14 hours. If you haven’t made one I promise it is worth your efforts. All the flavors blend.
I was surprised that the bottom skin had no color but it didn’t affect the taste.
Gobble Gobble.
I’m not surprised the turkey provider would add water to game the system, and the addition of salt and sugar that can be called “brine” is probably supposed to make us feel okay about it. But my guess is the salt causes the meat to retain liquid longer than it would with plain water. Hopefully enough folks will complain (I will) that they’ll go back to plain water in the future.
C’mon! Supermarket turkeys have been brined = injected forever.
Bottom pale? Start breast down or use a vertical roaster.
or the deep fat!
Breast down? Brilliant! Will definitely do that next year.
I agree with the breast side down….2nd year in a row that I’ve done that…got a fresh Butterball natural bird (not brined) night before I made an herbed butter that was spread under the skin on the breast, thighs and leg..let it sit in the refrigerator overnight to tighten up the skin (on a rack to also allow juices to drip below). in the morning, I took it out of the fridge, to allow to come to room temp and then flipped it so breast side was down. Cooked at 400 degrees for first 30 minutes and then turned the oven down to 325 for the next 2.5 hours. I flipped it back breast side up for the last 30 min of cooking and then to brown the skin on the breast…turned on the broiler on low for about 8 minutes. I did baste it every 30 min and also made sure to turn the pan when I basted it so it would cook evenly. This was the juiciest bird I’ve ever made….not too salty and everyone raved about it.
Hm, actually I was joking. Guess I will have to try Breast Down.