No More Dry Thanksgiving Turkey! Tender-Moist Turkey Dinner With My Baking Powder Brine [No Salty]

Does baking powder tenderize turkey for thanksgiving?

YES.

My husband and I love turkey and we cook it an all-around year and we have never gotten a dry turkey dinner so far.

My husband’s tip is simply to use an oven bag.

My tip is simply to brain a turkey with a baking powder brine.

The detail about my Japanese tips for brining meat is in this post.

Japanese Cooking Hacks From My Kitchen: Brine The Meat In The Baking Powder Solution

LEARN HOW TO USE BAKING POWDER TO BRINE MEAT (NEVER GET SALTY)! Why baking powder can tenderize meat? Using baking powder can bring meat not only tender but also moist and juicy. It's the easy brine for chicken, turkey, pork, maybe beef. (If you like meaty texture, I don't recommend brine beef steak)Thankfully, I never have the terrible dry, tasteless, rubbery chicken (breast), turkey, and pork chops, since I use my secret brine with baking powder.

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Now, I will tell you a quick guide.

The Ratio Of The Baking Powder, Salt To Water

The basic baking powder solution

Water : Baking Powder : Salt = 1 Litter (4.2 us cup) : 2 tbsp : 1 tbsp

I recommend using boiled water to dissolve the salt completely or you can boil water and salt until dissolved completely, then put ice to get it chilled.

Use double basic baking powder solution to brine a half turkey.

8 tbsp of baking powder (1/2 cup) + 4 tbsp of salt + water

Use a double of this ratio for a whole turkey.

16 tbsp of baking powder (1 cup) + 4 tbsp of salt + water

How Do The Japanese Make Tough Meat Tender At Home

We can't afford to buy A5 Wagyu beef all the time in Japan so we have no choice to buy discount tough meat at a grocery store. Yet, we have secret weapons to make the chewy meat tender and juicy. There are my best 3 ways to marinate meat with baking powder solution, with shio koji, with Japanese BBQ sauce. As a bonus, I will tell you my freezing meat hacks too.

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Don’t Be So Meticulous

You don’t have to be so meticulous to measure ingredients, but only watch out for the amount of salt.

For example, I put 9 tbsp of baking powder + 4 tbsp of Himalayan pink salt and water.

You can add water until the turkey is fully covered if there is not enough water in the solution.

Why did I add 1 tbsp of baking powder? I just felt that it looked like a big half turkey.

You can add baking powder, but don’t add any spoons of salt than the ratio to avoid the turkey becoming salty.

Pierce A Turkey Before Brining

Let’s poke holes in the meat with forks as much as you can before marinating meat to the solution permeate it better and quicker.

Use two forks and hold them on each hand.

Pierce especially the skin side, underwings, and drum stick thoughtfully.

When you visualize people or things that you feel stressed under them when poking piercing the meat, watch out for splashing juice (water from the turkey) to your face and body. (I did.)

So, I recommend piercing the meat gently.

How Long You Should To Brine A Turkey

Highly recommend letting the turkey brine with the baking powder solution overnight (at least) in the fridge.

You know, the turkey is bigger than chicken.

Baking powder helps to keep moist the meat so don’t be hesitated to brine the turkey for 24 hours.

If you cook a whole turkey, you can bring it for up to 48 hours.

Do You Need To Rinse A Turkey After Brining?

Nop. You don’t need to rinse the turkey after brining.

The reason I use baking powder rather than baking soda is that the baking powder will not change the meat flavor so no-rinsing doesn’t affect the flavor of the turkey.

Simply, place the brined turkey on kitchen paper towels and pat dry inside and outside to remove excess liquid.

Learn How To Make A Baking Powder Brine In 5 MIN