Friday, November 22, 2013

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
 
 
 
 


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love the ingredients you're using in this brine. There are a lot of spices I just don't like, either...like rosemary, sage, etc. Going to show this recipe to my hubby as soon as he gets home! Thanks for sharing...
Deb

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