George and Andrew violently disagree on whether brining meat matters. George thinks brining is totally unnecessary; Andrew thinks George is a heathen. They resolve their dispute with the help of some chemistry, a blind tasting, and DC’s very own Roaming Rooster.

Serving Up Science on PBS Food
https://youtu.be/Mi84o9ZKuXs

For a guide on how to brine turkey (*not* 5 days) see J. Kenji’s comprehensive blog post:
https://www.seriouseats.com/the-food-lab-the-truth-about-brining-turkey-thanksgiving

You might also like other Reactions videos:

Why the Maillard Reaction Makes Everything Delicious:
https://youtu.be/rs1JLYXROVU

Frying Your Way to Better Chicken:
https://youtu.be/Vjj2OJBOQ_0

The Science of J. Kenji López-Alt’s Roasted Potato Recipe:
https://youtu.be/fehedawj1DM

How to Fry a Thanksgiving Turkey Without Burning Your House Down:
https://youtu.be/t9Dhhxnvt2Y

Better Grilling Through Chemistry:
https://youtu.be/RqUEh-B-U-k

What is the Future of Fake Meat?
https://youtu.be/uOT2_LNJmzg

Credits:
Executive Producer:
Matthew Radcliff

Producers:
Laurence Vuckovic
Elaine Seward
Andrew Sobey
Darren Weaver

Writer/Host:
George Zaidan

Scientific Consultants:
Dr. Mark Jones, Ph.D.
Brianne Raccor, Ph.D.
Michelle Boucher, Ph.D.

Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell

Reactions is a production of the American Chemical Society.
© 2022 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Sources:

Polarized but illusory beliefs about tap and bottled water: A product- and consumer-oriented survey and blind tasting experiment – ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969718322666

Consumer preference for chicken breast may be more affected by information on organic production than by product sensory properties – ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579119395847#!

CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND PREFERENCE OF BOTTLED AND TAP WATER – TEILLET – 2010 – Journal of Sensory Studies – Wiley Online Library
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-459X.2010.00280.x

Different actions of salt and pyrophosphate on protein extraction from myofibrils reveal the mechanism controlling myosin dissociation – Shen – 2016 – Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26085314/

Histological Study of Ultrastructural Changes in Muscle Exposed to Various Concentrations of NaCl Brine – Astruc – 2018 – Journal of Food Science – Wiley Online Library
https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.14122

Techniques for postmortem tenderisation in meat processing: effectiveness, application and possible mechanisms | Food Production, Processing and Nutrition | Full Text
https://fppn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s43014-021-00062-0

Structure of Muscle Fibers (IB Biology) – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFreCZ8XiZg

Myology – Skeletal Muscle (Sarcomere, Myosin and Actin) – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZJ6kTKDFmw

Science of Brining
https://www.scienceofcooking.com/science-of-brining.html

On the mechanism of water holding in meat: The swelling and shrinking of myofibrils – PubMed
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22055626/

The Food Lab’s Definitive Guide to Buying, Prepping, Cooking, and Carving Your Holiday Turkey
https://www.seriouseats.com/buying-prepping-cooking-carving-thanksgiving-turkey-complete-guide-food-lab

The Right Way to Brine Turkey | The Food Lab
https://www.seriouseats.com/the-food-lab-the-truth-about-brining-turkey-thanksgiving

How to Brine a Turkey for Thanksgiving
https://www.seriouseats.com/quick-and-dirty-guide-to-brining-turkey-chicken-thanksgiving

Physical Characteristics and Sensory Evaluation of Cooked Pectoralis superficialis from Broiler Carcasses Chilled in Water or Brine Solutions Under Commercial Time and Temperature Conditions – ScienceDirect
https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.0640664

The Effect of Water Soaking, Brining and Cooking Procedure on Tenderness of Broilers1
https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.0551494

A Comparison of Brined and Unbrined Paired Broiler Carcass-Halves for Tenderness1
https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.0610716

Physical Characteristics of Pectoralis superficialis from Brine-Chilled Broiler Carcasses1
https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.0620433