Turkey Brine Recipes

TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• In a large stock pot, combine the vegetable broth, sea salt, rosemary, sage, thyme, and savory. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to be sure salt is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.
• When the broth mixture is cool, pour it into a clean 5 gallon bucket. Stir in the ice water.
• Wash and dry your turkey. Make sure you have removed the innards. Place the turkey, breast down, into the brine. Make sure that the cavity gets filled. Place the bucket in the refrigerator overnight.
• Remove the turkey carefully draining off the excess brine and pat dry. Discard excess brine.
• Cook the turkey as desired reserving the drippings for gravy. Keep in mind that brined turkeys cook 20 to 30 minutes faster so watch the temperature gauge.

ULTIMATE TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• Bring water to a boil in a large stockpot. Stir salt and sugar into the water until dissolved; bring water again to a boil. Add cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, rosemary, and thyme to the water, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook mixture at a simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Refrigerate brine until completely cooled.

THE BEST TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• Combine 1/2 cup salt, the sugar and 1 quart water in a medium pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir until the salt and sugar are fully dissolved, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add the peppercorns, thyme, sage and lemon strips. Let steep and cool to room temperature.
• Pour the brine into a large stockpot or bucket and add 3 quarts cold water. Remove the neck and giblets (reserve for gravy) from the turkey and put it into the brine, pushing it down to cover. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
• Remove the turkey from the brine; rinse and pat dry. Cook according to your favorite method.

THANKSGIVING TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• In a medium pot, bring 3 quarts of the tap water to a boil over medium heat. Put the kosher salt in a large bowl and slowly (and carefully!) pour the boiling water over the salt. Stir to blend.
• Add the molasses, honey, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, sage, thyme and garlic to the salt and water mixture. Stir to blend. Add the remaining 3 quarts of cool water. Add the ice to a cooler or bucket large enough to hold the brine and the turkey. Pour the brine over the ice and use a large whisk to blend all of the ingredients.
• Submerge the turkey, breast side down, in the brine. Make sure the cavity of the bird fills with the liquid as you are submerging it. Cover the cooler and allow the bird to sit in the brine overnight or for about 12 hours.
• Remove the bird from the brine and dry it thoroughly with thick (absorbent) kitchen towels. Take care to wipe inside the cavity as well. Discard the brine. Whisk together the butter and the lemon zest. Gently lift the skin covering 1 breast of the turkey and spread half of the butter right on the meat under the skin. Repeat with the other breast. The butter will add extra moisture and richness as the bird roasts.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Arrange the turkey in a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Put on the lower rack of the oven and roast until the internal temperature of the turkey taken from the thickest part of the thigh reads 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 3 1/2 hours. Remove the turkey from the oven to a cutting board or serving platter and tent with foil. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving and serving.

MY FAVORITE TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• Combine 2 gallons cold water with the apple cider, brown sugar, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic, rosemary and orange peels in a large pot. Stir until the salt and sugar dissolve. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and cover.
• Allow to cool completely, then place into the fridge to chill. Place uncooked turkey in the chilled brine solution, then refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours.
• When ready to roast the turkey, remove from the brine. Submerge the turkey in a pot or sink of fresh, cold water. Allow to sit in clean water for 15 minutes to remove excess salt from the outside.
• Discard the brine. Remove the turkey from the clean water, pat dry, and cook according to your normal roasting method.

ALTON BROWN'S BRINED TURKEY

Steps:

• 2 to 3 days before roasting:.
• Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.
• Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
• The night before you'd like to eat:.
• Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
• Place the bird on rack of roasting pan and pat dry with paper towels.
• Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.
• Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and cover the breast with a foil triangle. Then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• Bring 1 quart water, salt, bay leaves, and spices to a simmer, stirring until salt has dissolved. Let cool 5 minutes.
• Line a 5-gallon container with a large brining or oven-roasting bag. Place turkey in bag. Add salt mixture, remaining 6 quarts (24 cups) water, and the other ingredients. Tie bag; if turkey is not submerged, weight it with a plate. Refrigerate 24 hours, flipping turkey once.

TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• Fill a large container or stock pot with 1.5 litres cold water and set aside. The pot should be large enough to hold your turkey plus 3 litres water. Pour another 1.5 litres cold water into a large pan over a low-medium heat. Tip in the salt, sugar, bay, thyme, peppercorns, orange zest and coriander seeds, and whisk until the salt and sugar have completely dissolved. Remove from the heat, then pour into the container or stock pot and leave to cool completely.
• Weigh the turkey and carefully add it to the container, ensuring it's completely submerged in the brine. Leave to brine for roughly 1 hr per 500g to ensure succulent meat and a flavourful bird, then drain well (discarding the aromatics), pat dry and roast.

THANKSGIVING TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• Mix water, chicken broth, and salt together in a 5-gallon bucket with lid until salt dissolves. Add garlic, rosemary, onion, basil, savory, marjoram, thyme, tarragon, oregano, pepper, and coriander and mix well. Stir 2 cups ice into brine.
• Place turkey into brine, filling cavity with brine. Add enough ice to bucket to cover turkey. Secure lid on bucket. Swish bucket from side-to-side to chill water. Refrigerate turkey and bucket, refilling with ice every 2 hours as needed, 12 to 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Remove turkey from brine and pat dry. Discard brine. Place turkey on a rack inside a roasting pan.
• Bake turkey in the preheated oven, basting every 30 to 40 minutes, until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, 5 to 6 1/2 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove the turkey from the oven, cover with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

BEST BRINED TURKEY BREAST

Steps:

• In 6-quart container or stockpot, mix water, salt and sugar; stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add turkey. Cover; refrigerate at least 12 hours but no longer than 24 hours.
• Heat oven to 325°F. Remove turkey from brine, rinse thoroughly under cool running water and pat dry.
• Place onion on center of rack in large shallow roasting pan; top with rosemary, thyme and bay leaves. Place turkey, skin side up, over onion and herbs.
• In small bowl, mix butter and wine. Soak 16-inch square of cheesecloth in butter mixture until completely saturated; cover turkey completely with cheesecloth. Roast 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Remove cheesecloth. Place onion and herbs in pan with drippings if using drippings to make gravy (or discard). Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in thickest part of turkey and does not touch bone. Turn turkey skin side down. Roast 30 to 60 minutes longer or until thermometer reads 165°F.