Time’s getting away from me! We spent all last week on pies, and it occurred to me this morning that I needed to run through what happens after brining the turkey. In years past, I’ve experienced a little trial-and-error with brining. While it unquestionably injects a lot of flavor in the turkey and helps it to retain a lot of juiciness and moisture, it also can result in saltier drippings, which can cause problems with both the stuffing (if you stuff your bird, which I don’t generally do) and the gravy, since the gravy is made from turkey drippings.
There are several things you can do to decrease the “over-salty” quality of your brined turkeys. The more of these tips you follow, the more you’ll be able to control the saltiness that can result from brining.
Brining is a popular technique used to keep turkey moist and flavorful However, it can easily make the turkey overly salty if not done properly. Don’t worry if your brined turkey has turned out unpleasantly salty. There are several effective ways to fix an over-brined turkey and still save your holiday meal.
How Brining Can Make Your Turkey Too Salty
Brining involves soaking the turkey in a saltwater solution before cooking. The salt allows the turkey to retain more moisture keeping it juicy and tender as it cooks. But all that salt absorbed by the turkey has to go somewhere – namely into the turkey meat.
Too much time sitting in a heavy brine can make the turkey inedibly salty. This is especially true if you brined a frozen turkey, as many frozen birds are pre-injected with salty solutions
Signs Your Brined Turkey Is Too Salty
Some clear signs that your brined turkey is overly salty include:
- Very salty drippings for the gravy
- Salty smell and taste in both white and dark meat
- Extreme thirst after eating the turkey
- Soft, spongy texture from over-absorbing brine
Before cooking the whole bird, taste a small piece of turkey meat. It’s much easier to fix an over-brined turkey before it’s cooked rather than after.
4 Effective Ways To Reduce Saltiness
Don’t panic if your test turkey tastes extremely salty. Here are four proven methods to desalinate your over-brined turkey and still prepare a great holiday feast:
1. Rinse thoroughly after brining
Give the turkey a good rinse under cold water to wash off excess salt from the skin and cavity. Let water run inside the cavity as well to flush out excess brine.
2. Soak in fresh water
After rinsing, submerge the turkey in a pot or sink filled with cold water for 15-30 minutes. This helps draw out absorbed salt from the deeper meat.
3. Use low-sodium chicken broth for gravy
Opt for low-sodium or no-salt added chicken broth when making your gravy. This prevents compounding saltiness issues.
4. Dilute gravy with cornstarch slurry
If the gravy itself seems too salty, whisk in a cornstarch slurry (equal parts cornstarch and water) to thin and reduce salt concentration.
Tips To Prevent Over-Brining In The Future
Learn from any brining mistakes and adjust your technique to avoid overly salty birds next time:
- Don’t brine frozen turkeys marked “injected with sodium solution”
- Reduce brining time for large birds to 12-18 hours maximum
- Use a lower 1:1 ratio of salt to water in the brine
- Always rinse and soak turkey after removing from brine
- Use fresh low-sodium chicken stock for gravy
With some quick troubleshooting, you can still rescue an over-brined turkey and whip up tasty gravy. Let this be a lesson in proper brining technique for next time around. Consider it a valuable learning experience on your culinary journey!
How To Tell If Your Turkey Is Too Salty Before Cooking
It’s much easier to remedy an over-brined turkey before cooking it. Here are some ways to test for excess salt:
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Do a small taste test – Cut off a tiny piece of meat from the breast, leg, and thigh. Quickly sear then taste it. An overly salty brine will be immediately obvious.
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Check the brine – Scoop out a bit of brine and taste it. If it’s extremely salty, so will the turkey.
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Touch and smell – Rub a section of skin and meat. An overly salty turkey will feel spongy and have a strong salty aroma.
Trust your senses. If multiple signs point to a very salty bird, take corrective desalination actions before roasting.
Common Causes Of Too Much Salt
Why does brined turkey sometimes end up inedibly salty? Here are the most common reasons:
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Too much salt in the brine – Exceeding the recommended 1 cup salt per 1 gallon water ratio leads to an oversaturated brine.
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Brining too long – Exceeding the recommended 12-18 hours brining time allows salt to over-penetrate the meat.
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Using a frozen turkey – Frozen turkeys injected with salty solutions become extremely salty when brined.
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Forgetting to rinse – Neglecting to rinse away excess surface salt after brining leaves salt behind.
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Using salt that’s too fine – Finely ground salt dissolves faster, quickly over-seasoning the brine. Use kosher salt.
With a few simple adjustments and precautions, you can avoid an overly salty brined turkey next time.
How To Make Turkey Less Salty After Cooking
What if you only realized the turkey is too salty after it’s fully cooked? Here are some ways to reduce saltiness at that point:
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Make gravy with low-sodium chicken broth and extra water
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Serve stuffing and mashed potatoes on the side to help counter saltiness
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Offer salty-sweet options like cranberry sauce and sweet potato casserole
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Encourage guests to cut saltiness with tart lemon wedges
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Focus on enhancing other flavors like herbs to mask saltiness
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Cut salty dark meat sections smaller or skip them when serving
While an over-brined cooked turkey can’t be fully rescued, you can still make it more palatable with smart pairings and preparations. Chalk it up as a good brining lesson.
Health Concerns With Overly Salty Turkey
Eating very salty turkey isn’t just unpleasant – it can potentially lead to some health issues:
- Increased blood pressure and heart rate
- Excess fluid retention leading to bloating
- Causes or worsens conditions like hypertension
- Can trigger extreme thirst and dehydration
These effects are usually temporary but can be dangerous for people with heart disease or high blood pressure. It’s best not to serve very salty turkey, especially to elderly guests or those with medical conditions.
While brining is a useful technique for juicy flavorful turkey, it can easily go wrong and produce an inedibly salty bird. Look for signs of over-brining before cooking the turkey. If it seems too salty, a few simple fixes like rinsing, soaking, and using low-sodium broth can still rescue it. Learn from any brining missteps to avoid salty turkeys in the future. With care and some tweaking, brined turkey can still be the delicious centerpiece of a memorable holiday feast.
After brining, rinse the turkey thoroughly under cold water for a few minutes.
Take the brined turkey out of the brining bag or pot (or whatever vessel you set it in for brining), then discard the brine and set the turkey in a clean sink. Turn on the water and move the turkey underneath the water, allowing the water to run all the way into the cavity, and even using your hands to rub the surface of the turkey as it rinses.
Use a fresh (i.e. non-frozen) turkey.
The reason for this is that most frozen turkeys are typically injected with a sodium solution to help them freeze well, and brining an already-injected turkey can often result in an inedible bird (I’ve learned this the hard way.) Fresh turkeys are typically not preserved this way. Be sure to check the package before you buy the turkey, too; some frozen turkeys are thawed out before they’re sold, so they can give the impression of being “fresh.” But if they say “Injected With Sodium Solution” (or anything resembling this), you won’t want to brine them—or, if you do brine them, decrease the time.
I will say that my friend Julie found frozen turkeys at Whole Foods that were injected with a sodium solution, but on a very small scale. We just decreased the amount of time we brined them (around 12 hours instead of 16-24) and they turned out great!
To make it easy, just read the labels and/or ask the meat department or butcher. Just keep in mind that if you brine a frozen turkey, you’ll want to use one with injected with a lower sodium percentage than average.
If you brine turkey, try overcooking it!
FAQ
Why was my brined turkey so salty?
If it’s pre brined and you brined it more then yes it’s going to be super salty. I’m not sure you should pull it and rinse it. The salt is penetrated in the meat so rinsing it will do nothing. The only way to extract the salt is to let it sit in unsalted water and let the water pull the salt out.
How do you make brined meat less salty?
- Use a fresh (i.e. non-frozen) turkey. …
- After brining, rinse the turkey thoroughly under cold water for a few minutes. …
- After rinsing, fill the sink with cold water and soak the turkey for fifteen minutes. …
- While making gravy, use the lowest sodium chicken broth you can find.
What if turkey is too salty after brining reddit?
You should rinse after the brine and if you’re still concerned, soak the bird in fresh cold water for 20 minutes to draw some of the salt out.
What to do if your turkey is too salty after cooking?
If you’ve accidentally oversalted your meat while cooking, there are a few strategies you can try to salvage the dish: 1> Dilution: If the meat is part of a dish with a sauce or broth, you can dilute the saltiness by adding more of the unsalted liquid component.
Is brined Turkey too salty?
There are a few things you can do to prevent brined turkey from being too salty: * Use less salt in the brine. As mentioned above, the most common cause of brined turkey being too salty is using too much salt in the brine. To prevent this from happening, use a moderate amount of salt in the brine. How do I reduce the saltiness of a brined Turkey?
How do you remove salt from a Turkey After brining?
This is an important step after brining. Too much surface salt can give your turkey an overly salty flavor. You have two options to get rid of excess salt: Rinse under running cold water. Place turkey in a colander in the sink and let cold water run over it for 5-10 minutes. Either method works fine.
Do you need salt to brine a Turkey?
The salted brining liquid has penetrated the turkey from the inside. Though no additional salt is needed and could create a salty bird, feel free to coat the turkey in herbs or other spices for added flavor. How Much Turkey Per Person Is Enough?
What should I do if my Turkey is too salty?
* Use less salt in the brine. As mentioned above, the most common cause of brined turkey being too salty is using too much salt in the brine. To prevent this from happening, use a moderate amount of salt in the brine. A good rule of thumb is to use 1 cup of salt for every gallon of water. * Brine the turkey for a shorter period of time.
Do you rinse a Turkey After brining?
* Not rinsing the turkey thoroughly after brining. After brining the turkey, it is important to rinse it thoroughly under cold water. This will help to remove any excess salt from the meat. If you do not rinse the turkey thoroughly, the meat will be too salty.
Is brining a Turkey a good idea?
whether you choose to use turkey, chicken, or guinea hen, it is that salty, briny taste that defines the Thanksgiving bird. But because brining is basically soaking the meat in a long, salt water bath to make the meat plump and moist, this technique is a no-go for low-sodium eaters.