Wait, What? :-)
My 21 lb. turkey is in the freezer. Got it for .78/lb. at Walmart. Was so mad to see Jennie-O on sale for .58/per the next day at another store.
Anyway, I’ve done fresh vs frozen but never brined. I actually like the frozen ones with the injected solution, which is what this one has! But now that I have the brine mix and want to try it this year, you mean I can’t brine it or it will be too salty?
HELP!
This is from The Pioneer Woman’s blog. I have had similar experience to her using frozen, so just use fresh now.
1. 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.
Frem Pioneer woman site;
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.