Thanksgiving week, people seek an edge to cooking the best bird around, and for many that means brining their birds. But some Utah residents take that a little too far, putting their turkeys into the Great Salt Lake to brine.
Great Salt Lake State Park and Marina is sharing a silly, but serious, message for Salt Lake City residents — don’t brine your turkey in the Great Salt Lake.
The discovery of a wayward bird someone had left in the huge salty body of water prompted the Monday post. A store-bought turkey was found on Silver Sands Beach, which the park attributes to a possible brining gone awry.
That’s probably for the best, though, because a Great Salt Lake-brined turkey isn’t a great idea.
“I wouldn't say a lot of people try to do it, but some people believe it might be a good idea to try,” said Ryan Sylvester, the lead park ranger aide at Great Salt Lake State Park. “You wouldn’t want your whole meal soaking in that.”
Recipe For A Dinner Disaster
The Great Salt Lake is more than the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere. It’s a dynamic ecosystem that supports brine shrimp and a wide variety of shorebirds and waterfowl with its highly salinated water.
But the same salty water that supports wild birds is a bad concoction for the Thanksgiving bird.
Brining is the process of placing meat in a mixture of water and salt for several hours before it’s cooked. It’s not a bad way to prepare a Thanksgiving turkey, as it seasons the meat from the inside out and keeps it moist in the oven.
However, any turkey brined in the Great Salt Lake will absorb much more than the recommended serving of salt and many other minerals.
“The salinity of the Great Salt Lake is too high for a proper brine, and there are a lot of minerals in that water,” Sylvester said. “We have a lot of potassium, sulfur and other stuff that you’re not going to want your turkey to be brining in.”
The Great Salt Lake's salinity ranges from 5% to 27%, depending on the water level. It’s much easier and safer to pass the table salt than to hope that a single bite of a drumstick doesn’t give grandpa hypernatremia, or too much sodium in the blood.
Also, according to the Utah Geologic Survey, soil samples from the shores of the Great Salt Lake show high quantities of unpalatable things like arsenic and heavy metals. That doesn’t mean a Great Salt Lake turkey will turn a family Thanksgiving into a production of “Arsenic and Old Lace,” but it’s best not to tempt fate.
“It's a fair warning that this isn't something people should consider,” Sylvester said.
Turkey Cannon Fodder
A properly brined turkey should be fully submerged in the brine, either in a sealed bag or a cooler. The Great Salt Lake has waves, which are less than ideal for any meal.
Strong waves can quickly turn a turkey into a castaway waterfowl, which is what Sylvester thinks might have happened to the turkey found on Silver Sands Beach.
Of course, there is another possible explanation. Sylvester hasn’t ruled out the possibility of the turkey artillery theory.
“Some people will shoot turkeys into the lake with a turkey cannon, like many people use a potato cannon,” he said. “I'm not sure if that's the case here, but I know people occasionally do things like that.”
It is legal to carry a firearm in any state park, state wildlife management area, state and national wildlife areas and refuges, national forests, and national parks in Utah. There are no state ordinances specifically about carrying or firing turkey cannons.
Finger-Licking Good
While brining a turkey directly in the Great Salt Lake isn’t a great idea, there are ways to savor that flavor.
Redmond Salt, a company out of Redmond, Utah, sells prehistoric salt from a salt deposit 150 miles from the Great Salt Lake.
Sylvester isn’t too concerned about finding more brining turkeys this week. Great Salt Lake State Park’s Thanksgiving warning is meant to be funny, but also “a forewarning” for any cook crazy enough to try a Great Salt Lake brine.
“I usually tell people that you can dip your finger into the lake and taste the water to see how salty it is,” he said. “That’s not going to harm you. But if you were to actually drink the water, you're going to have a bad night.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
