4 ms·

I like Kenji, but he's wrong about osmosis. Specifically, this claim "Moreover, if you soak a turkey in a ridiculously concentrated brine (I tested turkey in a

I like Kenji, but he's wrong about osmosis. Specifically, this claim "Moreover, if you soak a turkey in a ridiculously concentrated brine (I tested turkey in a 35% salt solution), according to the osmosis theory, it should dry out even more." is completely wrong. Osmosis works not only for water, but for the solutes themselves. Water doesn't just (or even initially) move into the cells: salt, in fact, is what initially osmotes into the cells (they have membrane pumps for equalizing sodium concentration across the cell boundary), and then water follows, in order to equalize overall solute concentration. That's why you see the turkey take on water even when placed in a concentrated brine.

pm90 14y ago
Do these cell pumps work even when the cell is dead? I was under the impression that ATP was required for that.
alwold 14y ago
I wouldn't think any significant form of active transport would be going on in a dead bird. Also, I think the sodium-potassium pump pumps sodium out, not in, although you could be talking about a different pump? In the absence of any pumps going on, I would imagine a 35% solution would be extremely hypertonic compared to the interior of the cells, and water would definitely flow out.
bherms 14y ago
Let him know in the seriouseats comments... He's a really cool guy and would genuinely like to learn if he's ever incorrect about something.
smithzvk 14y ago
This was what I thought was happening as well. Even without active transport (because that turkey is dead) some salt should work its way into the tissue, after all it remains salty after a thorough washing post brine.
ramchip 14y ago
As far as I know the definition of osmosis is a movement of solvent across a membrane, without extra energy input, so I don't think "salt osmotes into the cells" makes sense. It would be diffusing along the gradient or undergoing active transport. I'm not a chemist, though.

pm90 14y ago

Do these cell pumps work even when the cell is dead? I was under the impression that ATP was required for that.

alwold 14y ago

I wouldn't think any significant form of active transport would be going on in a dead bird. Also, I think the sodium-potassium pump pumps sodium out, not in, although you could be talking about a different pump? In the absence of any pumps going on, I would imagine a 35% solution would be extremely hypertonic compared to the interior of the cells, and water would definitely flow out.

bherms 14y ago

Let him know in the seriouseats comments... He's a really cool guy and would genuinely like to learn if he's ever incorrect about something.

smithzvk 14y ago

This was what I thought was happening as well. Even without active transport (because that turkey is dead) some salt should work its way into the tissue, after all it remains salty after a thorough washing post brine.

ramchip 14y ago

As far as I know the definition of osmosis is a movement of solvent across a membrane, without extra energy input, so I don't think "salt osmotes into the cells" makes sense. It would be diffusing along the gradient or undergoing active transport. I'm not a chemist, though.