How to Brine a Turkey

Thanksgiving Day is right around

the corner, just day's away.

Are you ready? Do you know how your going

 to prepare the turkey yet?

Want to try something new?

 

Today I am going to give you the

easy steps to help you make

sure you have the BEST TURKEY EVER!!

For years I prepared my Thanksgiving

Turkey the same way my Mother did.

(Nothing wrong with the way Mom made it!)

I just happened to be watching a

TV episode on how to elevate

your standard turkey to the next

level. It promised that "you would

not find a more moist turkey, if you

brined your turkey". I had heard of

brining fish, duck, even Cornish hens....

but never a turkey. I have no idea why I

never thought of it before then.

So I wrote out the directions and

thought that one day I would try it.

(well before Thanksgiving in case I didn't like it.)

Anyway to make a long story short,

I brined a turkey within a week

of seeing the episode. I didn't follow the

directions to a "T", because they had used

spice's that I knew I didn't like. So I

added my own blend of spice's to the

brine mixture I used. It was a HUGE,

HUGE SUCCESS! It has now become

my chosen way to prepare my bird.

~What y'all are going to need~

 

  Brined Turkey

*This is for a 15 lb. Turkey~ you can double

for a larger sized bird. Making sure you keep

the ratio of salt to water at 1 Cup to 1 gallon

 

15 lb. Turkey~ thawed/remove giblets 

1 Gallon of Water

1 Cup Course Salt

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

4 Cups Apple Cider
4 TBSP Chicken Bullion~powder

3 TBSP Fresh Corse Black Pepper

2 tsp. Garlic Powder

2 tsp. Onion Powder

1 tsp. Cumin

1 Orange~ sliced in rings

1 Lemon~ sliced in rings

Ice

5 Gallon Bucket w/ lid

 

Combine all the ingredient's (except turkey)

in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil to

dissolve the salt and sugar.

Remove from heat, let stand for 1 hour.

Make sure your 5 gallon bucket is clean

and then place your thawed turkey inside.

Pour the brined mixture over the turkey,

add in enough ice cubes to make

 sure the turkey is submerged.

Now if you live in a warmer state

you will want to make sure to keep the

turkey in a chilled area. I placed it in a

garage, since it was 40 degree's in there.

You can leave the turkey in the brine

 mixture for 2 day's. On the day you are

going to cook the turkey, remove from the

brine, rinse and pat the bird dry. Then just continue

to cook as you desire. I bake mine in a

Reynolds Turkey Bag.

And just LOOK at how moist

the meat is...

*Feel free to substitute in your favorite

spices, if you do not care for the one's listed.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Lark