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Why You’ll Love My Recipe
Do you struggle to get your turkey right each year? Or have you just avoided turkey altogether? Give this easy brining technique a try and you’ll see how simple it can be to get a moist and juicy turkey every time!
Not sure What Savory Spice Is or where to find it, learn everything you need to know here! Also, make sure to learn How to Make Crock Pot Bone Broth to add a rich taste and plenty of extra nutrition to this and many other recipes.
Karlynn’s Recipe Notes
- Skill Level: The process of making this brine and then brining your turkey is incredibly easy, but please ensure to keep your work areas sanitary when handling the raw turkey.
- Total Time: The cooking time for this turkey brine is about 20 minutes. That does not take into account the overnight brining and the roasting time for your specific turkey, so please make those calculations separately.
- Variations: The basics of a brine are salt, sugar, and liquid. What form of sugar you use, as well as what herbs and seasonings you add, is up to you. This recipe uses honey as a sweetener, but lots of people go with white or brown sugar. A brine can also be made with water instead of broth, though broth will give you much more flavour.
- Tools Needed: You’ll need a large pot, a mixing spoon, and a brining bag. A massive stock pot also works as a brining vessel, though it can’t be discarded like a plastic bag and will require extra sanitization efforts. Paper towel to pat your turkey dry will also be useful.
What You’ll Need For Ingredients
Salt: For this brine, you’ll want a bigger grained salt like kosher salt or sea salt. It’s going to soak into the meat and help to breakdown the tissues to give you a tender and juicy bird.
Broth: While brines can absolutely be made with plain water, a good broth or stock will add a rich flavour. You can use a store bought turkey or chicken broth for this, or make your own for an even better taste.
Honey: Every brine uses some sort of sweetener. In this case, we’re using honey which pairs beautifully with rosemary and the other herbs in this brine. If you dislike honey for some reason or just don’t happen to have any around, you can use a little bit of brown sugar or white sugar. Just make sure it gets fully dissolved along with the salt.
How To Make Turkey Brine
This is a brief overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Mix together brine ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil and stir until the salt is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool. Add ice water.
- Dry your turkey and remove the innards. Place turkey, breast side down, in a brining bag. Pour in cooled brine, making sure that the inner cavity of the turkey gets filled. Seal the brining bag. Refrigerate overnight.
- Drain and pat dry the turkey before roasting.
Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for Making Turkey Brine
Crispy Skin: This may seem counterintuitive after you’ve spent time soaking your turkey in liquid, but drying it off and letting the outer layer of skin dry for will help you get crispy skin. Better yet, if you have the space in your fridge, get your turkey on to a rack in your roaster and into the fridge for an hour or two before you start roasting. You’ll still have a juicy interior.
Stockpile Ice: If you haven’t got a fridge with an ice maker, you may not keep a lot of ice on hand. You can either go to a store and buy a bag of ice or start making ice cubes a few days in advance. Empty the cubes into a large bowl, store it in your freezer, and keep adding more ice.
Short On Time? If you haven’t got the time to roast your turkey overnight, but you’d like to try brining it anyway, you can break the turkey down into it’s main portions (breasts, legs, wings, etc.) and brine those for as long as you’re able.
Storage Instructions
While you can make this brine in advance and refrigerate it, do not save any of the brine that was used for the turkey.
More Delicious Marinade and Sauce Recipes
Looking for more delicious Marinade and Sauce recipes?
Try this Orange Cranberry Relish with your roast turkey as an alternative to classic cranberry sauce.
Make some Turkey Gravy to add to the meal.
If you’re not interested in making an entire turkey, why not give The Best Chicken Marinade a try?
Once you’ve got your turkey all brined and ready to go, try this recipe for a wonderful Thanksgiving Turkey or prepare it however your family likes it best. Enjoy!
Happy Cooking!
Karlynn
Turkey Brine
Ingredients
- 1 liter turkey broth
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 ½ Tablespoons dried rosemary, crushed or chopped
- 1 Tablespoon dried sage
- 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 Tablespoon dried savory
- 16 cups ice water
Instructions
- In a large pot, Add the turkey broth, sea salt, rosemary, sage, thyme, and savory.
- Bring it to a boil, stirring often to be sure salt is completely dissolved, about 15 minutes. Remove it from the heat, and let cool to room temperature.
- When the herb brine mixture is cool, stir in the ice water.
- Dry your turkey. Make sure you have removed any innards if your turkey comes with them.
- Place the turkey into a brining bag breast side down. Pour in the brine. Make sure that the cavity gets filled as well. You can place the turkey in the brining bag in a roaster to make this easier to move. Place the turkey in the refrigerator overnight.
- Remove the turkey from the fridge and drain off all the brine. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels.
- Cook the turkey with your favorite roasting method.
Notes
- Brined turkeys usually cook 20 to 30 minutes faster so watch the internal temperature of your turkey.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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