Turkey Brine

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Here are the easy steps for making a super flavorful Turkey Brine that produces the juiciest turkey for your holiday guests. You’ve come to just the right place. The recipe requires cider, broth, salt, fresh herbs and citrus….plus ice, a cooler, and some time.

Turkey Brine Recipe 

Brining is a culinary technique that is sooooo worthwhile. It’s worthwhile because it produces a turkey that is soooo juicy, with a buttery-soft tenderness to all the meat, both dark and white.  And talk about flavorful….we are talking finger-lickin’ good flavor, my friends.

Yep, you do have to do a bit of advance planning since brining does require some TIME where the turkey rests in the brine to allow the magic can happen.

Once you give it a try, you’ll be forever brining your turkey each Thanksgiving, as well as other meats that you enjoy roasting and grilling.

Brining requires only two tools: a stock pot or Dutch oven for preparing the brine and a large cooler where the turkey rests in the brine.

WHAT TO LOVE

1. Once you brine a turkey, you’ll see WHY it’s so worthwhile! Even an overcooked turkey stays wonderfully juicy if it’s been brined before it’s roasted, baked, or smoked.
2. Use a big cooler with ice to brine your turkey so you don’t have to worry about the safety of the brining process.
3. Brining is essentially just soaking a turkey (or any meat) in a saltwater solution – super easy to do.

Ingredients need to make turkey brine 

• Apple cider or apple juice
• Chicken broth
• Fresh herbs – thyme and rosemary
• Garlic cloves
• Peppercorns
• Bay leaves
• Oranges
• Kosher salt
• Ice

RECIPE TIPS

• Don’t be afraid that brining your turkey will make it too salty.  This can only happen if you go away and leave your turkey in the brine for days on end, so don’t worry.
• You can still make turkey gravy from the turkey drippings of a brined turkey.  Just be sure to do a taste test of your gravy before adding ANY salt or pepper.  Odds are you will not need to add any extra seasonings.
• If the turkey gravy (from the brined turkey drippings) does happen to be a bit too salty for your liking, add some water to the gravy to tone it down.  To thicken the gravy back up, make a small amount of cornstarch slurry (1 part cornstarch to 2 parts water) and whisk it into the gravy, a little at a time, over medium heat, whisking until the gravy is the consistency you prefer.
• Make sure the turkey brine is fully cooled before adding the turkey. If the brine is still hot, it will begin to poach the turkey.

HOW TO MAKE THE BRINE

Place the fresh herb bundles into a gallon bag. Using a rolling pin, roll over the bag of herbs several times. This is an important step since it forces the herbs to release their oils/essence/aroma, making them extra potent for flavoring the brine.

In a large pot, over medium high heat, place all the brine ingredients (except the ice); bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cooking the brine just until the salt is completely dissolved.  Fully cool the brine. You’re ready to brine your turkey!

HOW TO BRINE THE TURKEY

Unpackage the turkey and rinse well; remove the neck and bag of giblets from the cavity. Stuff orange halves, garlic halves, fresh herbs, lemon halves, and onion halves into the cavity until it’s full, tying the legs together, if needed, to keep it all inside the turkey.

Place your cleaned and rinsed (stuffed) turkey into an extra large oven roasting bag; lower the turkey (still in the bag) into a tall beverage dispenser/cooler. **Or you can just use a regular cooler – I like the beverage dispenser since it keeps the turkey upright in the brine and it doesn’t require as much ice  on top to keep the turkey submerged. 

Pour the cooled prepared brine into the bag with the turkey.

Tie the bag closed to keep the brine surrounding every part of the turkey.

Top the turkey with lots of ice and cover with the lid.

Let the turkey brine for 18-24 hours, keeping it chilled with lots of ice at all times.

At the end of the brining period, remove the turkey from the cooler into the sink and rinse well, roasting as desired, using your preferred recipe.

HOW DOES BRINING WORK?

Brining is a technique that restaurant chefs have used for years and now home cooks are jumping in.  When you submerge meat or poultry into a brine, three basic things happen:

• The meat slowly absorbs some of the liquid (the brine) and this ultimately helps the end result (the turkey!) be more juicy and moist when cooked.
• The protein/muscle fibers are dissolved and they begin clumping together, which helps reduce the toughness of the meat.
• The muscle/protein fibers denature and essentially unfold; as they unfold, the brine liquid works it’s way in between the fibers so there is more liquid in the meat as it cooks, resulting in more tender cooked meat/turkey.
• Long story short:  it’s something you’ve got to experience for yo self and then you’ll be a believer!

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU BRINE A TURKEY?

this completely depends on how much the turkey weights. As a general rule of thumb, I like to brine the meat about one hour for every pound but never longer than 24 hours total.

HOW MUCH BRINE DO YOU NEED TO BRINE A TURKEY?

This depends on two things:  the size of your turkey and size of your brining vessel. It’s pretty hard to guess by eyeballing them, so I like to place my turkey (still in it’s package) in the brining container, then cover it with water until there’s enough water that the turkey can be submerged when you push it down. After that, remove the water and measure the amount  That’s exactly how much brine you’re going to need to accomplish the job.

WHICH CONTAINERS ARE SAFE FOR BRINING POULTRY AND MEAT?

Stay from metal containers for brining, such as aluminum and copper since they can react with the salt and ruin both the container AND the turkey. Instead, choose non-reactive container materials, such as glass, plastic, stainless steel, ceramic, or enamel.

DO BRINED TURKEYS COOK FASTER THAN UNBRINED TURKEYS?

In my experience, brined turkeys (all poultry and meats actually) do tend to cook a little more quickly than unbrined.  I don’t know the science behind this, but have found it to be true in my own cooking.  The difference isn’t huge, the brined turkey cooks maybe 20% more quickly.

Keep your instant-read meat thermometer handy and cook by internal temperature, not by time or by sight.  The perfect internal temperature for a moist turkey is 160 degrees in the breast and 180 degrees in the thigh.

CAN YOU BRINE A FROZEN TURKEY?

Yes, you can put a frozen turkey into brine. It just needs to be defrosted enough to remove the bag of giblets and neck from the cavity of the turkey.

The turkey will finish defrosting while in the brine. Always keep the turkey and the brine in refrigeration to keep it at a safe, chilled temperature.

CAN YOU SMOKE OR FRY A BRINED TURKEY?

Absolutely! Just remember to be checking the internal temperature of the bird as you cook it, keeping a close eye because a brined bird cooks a little more quickly than an unbrined one.

MORE FAVORITE RECIPES –

HOW TO COOK A TURKEY IN A ROASTER –

JUICY WHOLE ROASTED CHICKEN – Crispy, golden-brown skin, unbelievable flavor, and so very juicy! Easy-to-make whole roasted chicken in the oven requires little effort, yet looks like you’ve worked all day in the kitchen.

SMOKER SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN – Here is the most juicy and tender chicken to hit your lips. We love the spatchcock method for smoked chicken since it flattens the chicken, helping it cook much more quickly and evenly.

SMOKED POT ROAST BURNT ENDS – Made from an economical beef chuck roast, instead of expensive brisket, pot roast burnt ends dish out the savory, rich flavor we all yearn for. Smoker burnt ends made from a chuck roast come out extremely tender, with good bark and great smoke.

Poultry and Meat Brine

Here are the easy steps for making a super flavorful Turkey Brine that produces the juiciest turkey for your holiday guests. You've come to just the right place. The recipe requires cider, broth, salt, fresh herbs and citrus....plus ice, a cooler, and some time. 

Servings: 1 turkey

Chef Alli

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Ingredients

 

• 6 cups apple cider or apple juice
• 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 bundle fresh thyme, approx. 1 oz.
• 8 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 Tbs. peppercorns
• 2-3 star anise, optional
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups water
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 oranges, cut in half
• 2 cups kosher salt
• ice

Instructions

 

• Prepare the herbs by placing them into a gallon bag. Use a rolling pin to roll over the bag several times.  You will immediately notice the wonderful aroma that releases itself; this makes the herbs extra flavorful for your brine. 
• To make the brine, place all ingredients except the ice into a large stock pot and bring to a boil; whisk until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Remove the pot from the heat and let the brine fully cool. 
• Place your cleaned and rinsed (stuffed) turkey into an extra large oven roasting bag; lower the turkey (still in the bag) into a tall beverage dispenser/cooler. **Or you can just use a regular cooler - I like the beverage dispenser since it keeps the turkey upright in the brine and it doesn't require as much ice  on top to keep the turkey submerged. 
• Pour the cooled prepared brine into the bag with the turkey, then add enough water to the brine to completely cover the turkey. Tie the bag closed to keep the brine surrounding every part of the turkey.
• Top the turkey with lots of ice and cover with the lid.
• Let the turkey brine for 1 hour for every pound of turkey, keeping it chilled at all times. **If your turkey is frozen when it goes into the brine, you may want to let it brine for 1 1/2 hours for every pound of turkey.

  At the end of the brining period, remove the turkey from the cooler into the sink and rinse well. Roast the turkey as desired, using your preferred recipe.

Notes

RECIPE TIPS

• Don’t be afraid that brining your turkey will make it too salty.  This can only happen if you go away and leave your turkey in the brine for days on end, so don’t worry.
• You can still make turkey gravy from the turkey drippings of a brined turkey.  Just be sure to do a taste test of your gravy before adding ANY salt or pepper.  Odds are you will not need to add any extra seasonings.
• If the turkey gravy (from the brined turkey drippings) does happen to be a bit too salty for your liking, add some water to the gravy to tone it down.  To thicken the gravy back up, make a small amount of cornstarch slurry (1 part cornstarch to 2 parts water) and whisk it into the gravy, a little at a time, over medium heat, whisking until the gravy is the consistency you prefer.

Nutrition

Calories: 1660kcalCarbohydrates: 418gProtein: 7gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.5gSodium: 229260mgPotassium: 2276mgFiber: 14gSugar: 367gVitamin A: 2295IUVitamin C: 163mgCalcium: 519mgIron: 7mg

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