How to Brine a Turkey
How to Brine a Turkey
How to Brine a Turkey
I’ve called brine a magic potion for years, since once I learned how to brine a turkey, it as as though I actually had a magic method for making the best turkey anyone had ever had. A brine is nothing more than a salt water bath at its most basic, but over the years I’ve learned how to tweak that basic salt water bath and turn it into something pretty spectacular. Of course it’s me – I’m not going to do anything difficult, nor am I going to spend a whole lot of money doing this either – so rest assured when I say you can learn how to brine a turkey, I’m going to be showing you how to do something that is easy, inexpensive and simple. Oh – and incredibly delicious.
You won’t need any special equipment either. You can use the giant Ziplock bags if you wish – just make sure you have it sealed real well. Those work great if you have to maximize space. If you have a little more room to work with you can use a small stockpot (as long as the bird fits) or what I use – a giant glass jar.
Lastly – I like to stick turkey in the brine and let it sit overnight, but don’t let it go more than 24 hours, especially if it’s a smaller bird – you’ll end up with one that is salty rather than seasoned, and that’s the last thing you want. If you can, let your bird sit on a wire rack in the fridge for a few hours after you take it out of the brine and before you roast it – yo
Turkey Brine - THE secret to having the most delicious, moistest, incredible turkey you've ever had!
Ingredients
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon allspice OR juniper berries
- 1 tablesppon dry thyme or 3-4 sprigs fresh
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary or 3-4 sprigs fresh
- 4-5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup kosher salt
Instructions
- 1. Place half the vegetable broth in a large pot over medium high heat. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Stir until salt and sugar are melted, remove from heat. Stir in remaining broth.
- 2. Pick a vessel just large enough to hold your turkey. You can use a ziplock bag, or a stock pot - even a cooler if necessary. Transfer brine to the vessel and add enough ice to bring the temperature of the brine below 40F. Start with a couple of quarts of ice and go from there. Alternately you can chill your brine to below 40F, then transfer it to the brining vessel. Add the turkey, adding a weighted plate if necessary to make sure the bird stays submerged.
- 3. Stash the whole thing in the fridge, or if using a cooler, in a cold spot and monitor the temperature to make sure it stays cold enough. All the bird to brine for at least 12 hours, but no more than 24 hours.
- 4. Remove the bird from the brine, pat dry, and roast according to your favorite recipe.
Love the recipes! I made a turkey last year and it was, hands down, one of the juiciest, most savory turkeys that I can recall ever making. Thanks so much! ~R~
Yay! That’s awesome! I’m so glad it works so well for you – thank you, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Came across your receipe while searching for a good way to cook a turkey. For the past 3 yrs I’ve been the one to cook the turkey but everytime the meat is too dry. I think it is because of the time left in the oven. In your video you suggest a 500 degree oven for the first 1/2 hour and then at 350 for the rest, I am going to try that.
Question for you, the brine reciepe is for I am assuming for a 8-12lb turkey, is that correct? Would this reciepe double if I am cooking two turkeys? Like I said its been about 3yrs since I’ve been cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving and am hopeful I do not over cook the turkey so that it comes out juicey.
Thanks for the great cooking tips. I am hopeful I this time around my Thanksgiving turkey is nice and juicy, well that will depend on me.. LOL!
I sure hope the brining solves your dry turkey trouble – that’s no fun! And yes, absolutely you can double it. And the 500 degrees, then 350 really works well. Here’s to a juicy turkey for you this year!
Just want to express my gratitude for an awesome brine reciepe you have.. The only draw back is not knowing the weight of the bird so that at least you have an idea of how long to leave it in the oven.. lol!
That was my experience last night although you state in your video to leave the bird cooking for at least 2 1/2 hours after the initial 500 degree 1/2 cooking time.. it took mine more than that.. it was more like about 5hrs, everyone was waiting and I was kind of getting a bit frustrated.. awkward moments… lol
but when it was finally done.. the turkey was a hit.. everyone enjoyed and liked the taste and the great thing about all of this.. is that the meat was so tender and get this.. it was juicy!! I have a brand new receipe which I will be using for Thanksgiving and for any other bird or things like that.. 🙂
Thank you for this amazing receipe!
Oooo – yes. Ok – so IN GENERAL it will be right about 12-13 minutes per pound. Don’t use that – use the thermometer. But next time you can use that to roughly plan out how long it will take. Sorry about that – I should have put that in the video!