zoe wrote:

> Which seems to work best brine or injected marinade? Hubby has ordered
> a kit after trying fried turkey awhile back and loving it. He says he
> read that you are to inject it but doesn't know with what. I have never
> had one but recall seeing people talking about doing the brine thing.
> Any tips would be appreciated.

I've seen more bad poultry results from improper
injecting technique than I'd like to remember. People
rarely do this correctly. Usually they make the mistake
of injecting the marinade into a few very large pockets
in the bird instead of getting evenly distributing enough.

This will often ruin the meat. It usually makes it mushy,
among other problems. This is especially true when
the marinade is very acidic, which many injection
marinade recipes are.

If you do decide to inject, use a very long needle
and draw it out evenly through the meat while slowly
injecting the liquid. This produces more of a
longish "vein" of marinade then one big pocket. I
use a needle specifically designed to avoid the
pocketing problem called a spray pump.

If I had to choose brining over injecting I'd always
choose brining. It's easier to do properly and it
usually makes for better results.

--
Reg