Food science question
 

Hey food gurus! I need some advice. I'm having a big holiday dinner here in Japan on Sunday, and I'm serving turkey. Turkey is a bitch to get here in Japan, and I was lucky to get two 12 pounders at Costco. They are Honeysuckle Whites, with a 7% infusion.

I'm going to cook them in the smoker, so I want to brine them. I want to use a maple syrup/savory brine. I want to get the brine that is in the turkeys out, and my brine in. Should I put the birds in a, say, 2% brine solution, won't the brines equalize at around 4%? If I then put my brine in at 8% won't they equalize at around 5%? I seem to remember that saline solutions will equalize across a membrane, would it work the same way in this case?

Thanks in advance!

In a word, no. When you talk about membranes that means osmosis. Turkeys aren't brined via osmosis, but rather by injection. Furthermore, once a brine is introduced there is no extracting it as it permeates the meat and cannot be separated for removal.

That's what I was afraid of. Oh, well. I'm sure they will be very tasty at any rate!

Yes, turkey is *always* good, no matter how it's prepared.

Not to mention leftovers! MMMmmmm...turkey sandwiches! The only place you can get a turkey sandwich in Fukuoka is the Subway that just opened. No deli here!