HELP with brining a Turkey and still have regular tasting gravy?
So last year I made a phenomenal brine with kosher salt, pure maple syrup and a few seasonings. I loved the turkey, it was awesome. However the pan drippings that became my gravy turned out very sweet and tasted like maple syrup. I really want to brine. I need help with a brine that will make it flavorful yet give me normal tasting gravy when done.
Best Answer
In my opinion it can't be done without cheating. A fully brined turkey will always make overly salty drippings, and a maple brined turkey will produce overly sweet/salty drippings. Some cooks have successfully made gravy with brined turkey drippings (see Can you make pan gravy if the turkey was brined?), but I suspect that those turkeys were under brined.
A solution is to buy inexpensive turkey parts. Necks, wings, backs and giblets (if you like them) are all good for this. Don't brine them, just roast them in a another pan at the same time you roast the brined turkey. Use those drippings for your gravy. You can cook those parts way past the temperature that you cook the brined turkey to give you more drippings and yummy brown bits for gravy. The meat can then be shredded to add to your dressing or gravy if you like.
Little by little you can add some of the drippings from the brined turkey to the drippings from the miscellaneous parts, tasting after each addition. Carefully adding some of the brined drippings to the plain drippings could result in a spectacular gravy.
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Does brining a turkey affect the gravy?
As much as we love brined turkeys, they do have one unfortunate side effect: overly salty gravy.Does brining add flavor to turkey?
While there lots of ways to keep your turkey moist and succulent, brining is probably the best way. It adds flavor from the skin to the bone- no rub or injection offers that.Should you rinse turkey after brining?
Leaving the turkey uncovered for the last 4 to 6 hours will help dry\u2014and thus crisp up\u2014the skin. Resist any temptation to rinse the turkey after brining. There will be no trace of salt on the surface and rinsing would only make the skin less prone to browning.What happens if you over brine your turkey?
In addition to making the meat taste too salty, over-brining may also give the turkey an unpleasant sponge-like texture. The key is to use the correct ratio of salt to liquid and take the turkey out of the brine within 18 hours.Dry Brined Turkey with the BEST Gravy you've EVER HAD!
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Answer 2
Using unsalted offal bits may temper the saltiness but I agree it will probably always have a strong taste of salt.
If you can get a chicken with the Giblets then you may want to roast it with the Giblets present, this may also improve the meaty flavour of your gravy.
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