Turkey Brine
For an extremely juicy turkey this Thanksgiving, try a simple Turkey Brine made up of just 7 ingredients. This recipe has been our family’s favorite for almost 10 years! Let us show you how to brine a large turkey with minimal clean up.
Servings: 16 (assume 1 lb of turkey per serving)
Equipment
- Cooler or Ice Chest (5 gallon or larger)
- Turkey Brining Bag (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 turkey up to 16 lbs
- 1 cup Kosher Salt
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 gallon stock vegetable, chicken or turkey
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
- 2 tablespoons chopped candied ginger
- 20 crushed garlic cloves
- 1 gallon cold water
- 8 cup ice plus more as needed
Instructions
3 - 4 days before roasting
- Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or a cooler and kept at 38 degrees.
- Combine kosher salt, light brown sugar, stock, black peppercorns, allspice berries, candied ginger, and garlic in a large stock pot and cook over medium high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to boil. Remove from heat, allow to cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
1 day before roasting
- Early in the morning of the day before cooking day, pour brine into a brining bag placed inside an insulated 5-gallon bucket or ice chest.
- Place the turkey, neck and the giblets bag in the brine, breast side down. Pour in the water and add ice to cover the turkey entirely. Let sit for 16-24 hours. Flip halfway through brining.
- Check occasionally to make sure there is a sufficient amount of ice to keep the bird cold the whole time. If necessary, add more ice to the brining bag to ensure the turkey stays at below 40 degrees.
Roasting day
- When you’re ready to cook. Take the bird out of the brine and place it on a roasting rack in your roasting pan about an hour before cooking. Allow the bird to come closer to room temperature and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the brine.
Notes
- Thawing a frozen turkey will take a long time so make sure you give yourself 3 - 4 days before brining day to thaw it.
- The water and ice is used to both dilute the brine so it is not too salty and to keep the turkey cold while brining, especially if you’re not able to keep the brining container in the fridge. We usually cook a large turkey, 10 lb +, and never have enough fridge space to brine it in the refrigerator.
- The brining bag is optional but since we started using it a few years back, it’s been a life saver in terms of cleaning up afterward.
Nutrition
Serving: 484g | Calories: 683kcal
