While it might sound like a great idea to brine your Thanksgiving Day turkey in the waters of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, you should stick to your kitchen. Great Salt Lake State Park just issued this friendly annual reminder that the Great Salt Lake’s salinity is too high for proper brining and waves might sweep your bird away:
“It’s the time of year again! Just your annual reminder not to use Great Salt Lake to brine your turkey. Not only is the salinity too high for a proper brine, the waves can be very strong and there’s a good chance you could lose the entire turkey as this person did. It ended up washed up on Silver Sands Beach and someone went turkey-less.”
A typical turkey wet brine calls for the ratio of about 1¼ cups of kosher salt per gallon of water, resulting in a salinity of about 6%. The salinity of the Great Salt Lake fluctuates with the level of the lake and can be as high as 32%. Happy Thanksgiving.
