On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 13:27:17 -0500, Walt Lewis >
wrote:

>Maybe I'm asking for it but I see so many posts saying " I won't buy
>so and so's pork/chicken etc because it is injected!!"
>
>I ask because we often sing the praises of brining -- best damned
>turkey I've ever made!!-- yet complain if the factory does it for us.
>Sure we're paying a ton for a bit of salt, but it saves me a day of
>prep.

>
>Walt
>
[...]

[1] I like to be the one who decides whether to brine and with what.
If the meat comes to me adulterated, I cannot reverse the process and
have no control over further seasoning because I don't know to what
degree it has been done.

[2] Salt, sugar, and particularly water do not cost $3-$8 per pound.
I'll pay for the meat. Let me buy my water at a few cents/hundred
gallons.

[3] It is difficult for the industrial process minded to resist
"feature creep". Today it is water, salt and sugar to "improve flavor
and texture" (and sell you water at $6/pound). Tomorrow it will be
just a tad of "mono-ethyl-awful" or "di-butyl-gloop-ti-gloop" to help
the bottom line a bit more. Since it is a matter of faith with our
current regime that all regulation is bad and the only way to do it is
to have the industry regulate itself in secret, I think that it is
best not to take the first step.

YMMV.