Good article on salting vs brining and why it works

[Major Nikon]

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/11/the-food-lab-the-truth-about-brining-turkey-thanksgiving.html

[Tab]

1. I had read this article earlier

Brining is a pain in the ass, particularly for something the size of a turkey, and if you overdo it, you get ham. I last tried it at a big house I used to own with a second fridge. This stuff wouldn't even fit in my fridge now. It's my turn to do the turkey this year (after a few years off) so I'm going to try salting it overnight or whatever. I'm not into flavor injections, but I might try that too. However, if you get a decent turkey and cook it right (meaning: not overcook it) you should be okay. That's all I'm trying to do this year.

[Autumn]

2. "brining robs your bird of flavor."????

I always brine mine, it's not hard to do, and it's very flavorful. I guess it all depends on how you season it.

[Major Nikon]

3. In a manner of speaking

I brine things all the time. It's a great way to add flavor other than salt to things along with salt. However, if you just want to talk brining vs salting, with brining there is some natural flavor loss due to the actions of osmosis because some of the natural flavors are inevitably going to leach back out into the brine solution. This is the disadvantage that salting overcomes while still retaining moisture through the cooking process due to the addition of salt.

[Autumn]

4. Never tried the salting method, but

like the brine.

[Major Nikon]

5. Think of salting as brining without the water

The action is really the same, which is osmosis. Salting draws out the natural moisture inside the meat, combines it with the salt, and back in it goes. Brining uses supplemental water to effect the same process and has the advantage of bringing other supplemental water soluble flavors like seasonings and sugar into the meat.

[Autumn]

6. I might try that on a chicken.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

7. Except that he says it's not osmosis

My mother-in-law hates dried turkey, so what she does is put it in a large Nesco Roaster with a couple of cups of water in the bottom. Essentially, she steams it.

Personally, I'd rather have dried turkey.

[Major Nikon]

8. I don't agree with him on that point

But it's really tangential to the article. There's still a lot of good methodology in there.