What Does Self-Basting Mean on a Turkey Label?

Find out what it means when you see the words "self-basted", "pre-brined", or "tender & juicy" on the packaging of a turkey. Should you buy or avoid these turkeys?

A packaged Kroger Tender & Juicy Young Turkey in the store.

There are many terms that you can find on the packaging of a whole turkey you buy in the store.

Grade A.
All Natural.
Premium Young.
Self-Basted.

While a lot of these terms are purely subjective, one that can be defined is self-basted. And that is what we are talking about in this blog post.

Jump to:

🙋 What is a Self-Basted Turkey?
❔ Is Basting a Turkey Necessary?
💲 Should You Buy Self-Basted Turkey?
🧂 Can You Brine One?
🦃 More on Turkey

Plainville Farms Classic Pre-Brined Young Turkey in packaging at the store.

🙋 What is a Self-Basted Turkey?

A self-basted turkey is a turkey that has been injected with some type of salt solution, sometimes just water, sometimes broth or stock. Other seasonings can be added as well.

Any whole turkey that has an ingredient list beyond just turkey could be considered a self-basted turkey. It's becoming more common for the turkey to be labelled as "pre-brined" with the popularity of brining in the last 10 years. Is there a difference between "self-basted" and "pre-brined"? No, they're just multiple ways to say the same thing.

Here are the ingredients you may find:

Turkey broth
Salt
Sodium Phosphate
Sugar
Natural flavoring
Spices

These turkeys will often have words on the package that say things like "tender & juicy".

❔ Is Basting a Turkey Necessary?

The idea behind the terms seems to be this turkey doesn't need to be basted because it's already been flavored.

Is basting a turkey necessary? What does it accomplish? Nothing. Well at least nothing that is good. Basting a turkey is a great way to ensure your skin will not be crisp.

Now someone may argue that it adds flavor. However you can flavor the skin yourself by adding salt, pepper, herbs, or any other seasoning. And you can do this without having to re-open the oven door. Opening the oven door over and over again is like trying to dry your hair after a shower and every few minutes you squirt your hair down with more water. It slows the process down, which leads to a great possibility of a dried out bird.

True Goodness by Meijer Frozen Young Turkey in a packaging at the store.

💲 Should You Buy Self-Basted Turkey?

Yes, if you are looking to save money, as they often are the cheapest turkey you can get in the store. But you also need to take this into consideration - these turkeys have a water solution added. This increases the weight of the bird. You are actually paying by the pound for that extra water. I have seen the percentage of solution range between 4% up to 9.5%. Despite that I think if you are tight on money then go with one.

If you want to get a better-quality turkey that isn't self-basted or pre-brined, then you need to look on the package of the turkey to see if says anything about an added solution. If it doesn't, then this is a bird I would buy.

Sometimes these are labeled as all-natural, but I would not trust that as a definite sign this turkey is solution-free. So read the package, read the package, read the package!!!!

🧂 Can You Brine One?

Often I see that people say to never brine a self-basted turkey. However I can admit I have done it before. I have gotten the cheapest frozen turkey I could find and still brined it. I never found it was too salty. And the brine definitely added more flavor to the turkey than if I never did it.

If you are worried about it being too salty, then reduce the salt that you use in your brine. I wouldn't leave it out completely though. You also could try the dry brine method that Alton Brown recommends.