Opinions on salt bath?

[Bucky182]

I can tell you that brining a turkey in salt and brown sugar makes it twice as moist and tender than just a normal turkey. A secret I learned from the cooking channel with the wife.

 

[Chickapooh23]

Yeap, that's where I learned how. I love Emeril's Thanksgiving Show. That's about the only time I watch him. I have tried using the herbs with it but I really don't think that it matters. I use either salt and brown sugar or salt and honey. I have had great results with both. Save the herbs for stuffing the bird.

 

[dancingbear]

Heritage and DP's have a lot more flavor, I don't know how much is genetic, and how much is age, but even the older Cornish X's have better flavor than the very young ones. I don't usually brine mine, unless they're over 6 months old, then I brine overnight before cooking. Not when aging before freezing them.

My DP roo's are always extremely lean, at any age. The broilers I've raised have always had more fat on them, even if they were only 6 weeks old. As they get older, 8-12 weeks, sometimes there's so much fat it's kind of gross processing them. They can be really greasy and hard to hold onto. DP hens tend to put on some fat, now and then a hen will get injured or killed by misadventure and I'll process her.