Turkey Brine

[Mikey]

I've brined my turkeys for the last 4 or 5 years and they always come out nice and moist. I seem to be having a hard time finding my brine recipe, which I will post here if I find it.

Anybody else have any tried and true brine mixtures that they would like to post?

[ppanther]

I've never done it but if I did, I'd probably use Alton Brown's recipe.

[indyfrisco]

Just remember always 2 parts salt to one part sugar and then whatever else you wanna put in as far as seasonings. Some sherry vinegar is usually good as well as rosemarry, thyme, and oregeno.

[Mikey]

I've never done it but if I did, I'd probably use Alton Brown's recipe.

This one?

(Sounds pretty good)

Good Eats Roast Turkey Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water
For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

[The Whistle Is Screaming]

Just buy a kosher turkey. The process of "koshering" the turkey is pretty much the same as brining. I recommend Empire brand turkeys, never had a bad one.
Only problem is if you need a big bird, I can never seem to find an 18+ lb, so this year I will make a 15.5 lb turkey & a 5 lb breast.

[Headhunter]

Kind of my standard Brine:


3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Kosher Salt (If you don't use Kosher salt, cut in half. Kosher salt weighs about half of table salt per cup, so Indy's half Salt to sugar ratio applies here)
1 cup boiling water
A couple of twigs of fresh rosemary
2 TBS Ancho Chile powder
2 TBS Chiplotle Chile Powder
2 TBS onion Powder

I will probably chop two large onions and a head of garlic and toss it in the water as well.

The cooler I use to Brine has very little room for the liquid, so I don't have a tone of excess brine. You may want to double this if you use a standard cooler.

[Goober McTuber]

I seem to be having a hard time finding my brine recipe, which I will post here if I find it.

Did you try looking under a fold of your fat gut, tubby?

[Mikey]

I seem to be having a hard time finding my brine recipe, which I will post here if I find it.

Did you try looking under a fold of your fat gut, tubby?

First place I looked, actually.

Now, you got anything constructive to add or are you just gonna look for some ankles to bite?

[Goober McTuber]

Did you just borrow some smack from KFC Paul?

Oh, you wanted something constructive. A couple of years ago for Thanksgiving, I decided to try brining a turkey for the first time. Probably a 15-16 lb bird. I knew it was supposed to sit overnight in a cool place, so I set the bucket out in my garage. Went down to about 18° that night.

I took the turkey out in the morning, dried it off and put it in the oven. It was so thoroughly chilled that it took an extra 90 minutes to cook through.

[Mikey]

Did you just borrow some smack from KFC Paul?

If the shoe fits...

[Goober McTuber]

Did you just borrow some smack from KFC Paul?

If the shoe fits...

Why, you FAT fucking RETARD.

[Mikey]

I'm NOT FAT ANYMORE.

And I can almost fit into a single airplane seat.

[Mikey]

Kind of my standard Brine:


3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Kosher Salt (If you don't use Kosher salt, cut in half. Kosher salt weighs about half of table salt per cup, so Indy's half Salt to sugar ratio applies here)
1 cup boiling water
A couple of twigs of fresh rosemary
2 TBS Ancho Chile powder
2 TBS Chiplotle Chile Powder
2 TBS onion Powder

I will probably chop two large onions and a head of garlic and toss it in the water as well.

The cooler I use to Brine has very little room for the liquid, so I don't have a tone of excess brine. You may want to double this if you use a standard cooler.

This is for a gallon of brine, right?

[smackaholic]

I'm NOT FAT ANYMORE.

And I can almost fit into a single first class airplane seat.

ftfy slim.

[Headhunter]

Yeah, Mikey. I forgot the part about adding the Cold Water.


I use one of these for brining...





So I mix my recipe in the cooler, Let it cool, drop the Turkey in, and then cover with water. I'll plunge the turkey up and down to mix the liquids, but yeah, it's about a gallon of water that I add.

That cooler also fits in my garage fridge, so I keep the turkey cool.


I started to do a PET yesterday, but my daughter had shanghai'd my digital camera.

I've got a turkey in the cooler in the fridge now. I'll pick up the PET from there today! I'm going to drop in the smoker today. Drink copious amounts of Bourbon, and get my Q on.

[Mikey]

I'm used to cooking 24 lb birds, so I've been using a standard large cooler which is a lot more space than I need for this year's 17 pounder (only immediate family this year). In the past I used a trash compactor bag (unused) and just dumped some ice in the cooler and kept in the garage. This year I bought some large oven roasting bags which I will try (for brining, not roasting). What I think I'm gonna do is keep the ice in its bag and stuff it in one end of the cooler to reduce the empty space. That way the bird will hopefully stay covered in the brine.

I'd like to try smoking mine but the family demands a stuffed oven roasted turkey for T-day. I might go out and pick up a surplus bird on Friday and smoke it over the weekend.

[Goober McTuber]

You actually put the stuffing in the turkey? I thought that was a good way to serve up a Salmonella relish with your bird?

[Headhunter]

I got that Igloo for about $12 at the Igloo plant nearby. you can get one for about $25 retail. I've got a 17Lb'er in it now with some room. Pretty sure you could get 24 in there. It also holds 20 LBS of fryer quarters and brine quite nicely.

I'll PET the smoking. Should be a delicious bird.

[Mikey]

You actually put the stuffing in the turkey?

I guess that's why they call it stuffing.

[Goober McTuber]

I thought that was a good way to serve up a Salmonella relish with your bird?

I think most people actually cook the bird.

And a lot of people wind up sick every year because they don't get the stuffing up to at least 165°.

Mikey, around these parts a lot of people call it dressing, not stuffing. They also call a water fountain a “bubbler”.

[Mikey]

A lot of people around your parts are idiots.

[Mikey]

And a lot of people wind up sick every year because they don't get the stuffing up to at least 165°.

A few people around these parts get carbon monoxide poisoning at the beginning of every winter because their unvented wall heaters aren't working correctly.

Anybody with half a brain can avoid either of these two pitfalls.

[Goober McTuber]

Here’s the thing, Mikey. The stuffing has to hit 165° inside the bird to be safe. That means the bird will be around 180° when you take it out. But the turkey continues to cook for a while after it comes out of the oven, thus getting drier than it has to be.

If you take an unstuffed turkey out of the oven at 165° and leave it sit for 15 minutes, it will be good to go and not as dry. And the stuffing dressing tastes just as good baked in a casserole dish. And you can put some nice aromatics inside your bird.

[Mikey]

Yeah, I get all that and I've suggested not stuffing the bird before but certain family members will not settle for anything different than what we're used to.

I've gone through 50 or so thanksgiving dinners with stuffed turkeys and never seen anybody get sick. Also never had any complaints about dried out meat.

So, if my luck runs out this year and I heave my guts for a few days, then so be it. PM me your info and I'll send you a sample.

[Goober McTuber]

Yeah, I get all that and I've suggested not stuffing the bird before but certain family members will not settle for anything different than what we're used to.

Nice to see who wears the panties in your house, AP.