[Sca-cooks] First Turkey Jitters--Brine it!!!

[Stefan li Rous]

Avraham commented:
> It's not a matter of chemistry as much as a matter of physics. When you put
> meat in an osmotically dense solution (that is, a liquid with more "stuff"
> dissolved in it than the intracellular fluid), water flows into the cells,
> plumping them up and making it juicy. Some of the "stuff" dissolved in the
> brine (salt, sugar, flavoring agents like spices) flows in with the liquid,
> flavoring the meat. The meat will not be "salty", it will just taste better.

Are you sure about this? It's been <ahem> years since my high-school

biology class, but I thought water flowed from less osmotically dense

solution across the membrane to the more osmotically dense solution.
Basically in the direction that would make the two solutions equal.
In other words, the problem with drinking a salt water solution was
that it would extract water from the cells. Or does the water stay
on either side of the membrane and only the salts pass through?
Or is this what you were saying? The effects on brining the turkey
probably depend upon whether the solution is denser or less dense
than the solution within the turkey cells. So, which is it?

--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas         StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
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