How Do I Brine A Turkey?
Brining a turkey is a delicious way to prep your turkey for cooking. It involves soaking your turkey for many hours or overnight, up to 24 hours. The turkey absorbs some of the brine while soaking in the liquid, and the salt dissolves some muscle proteins, which helps in losing less moisture as it cooks. All the spices just make it delicious.
Brining just helps overall in making your turkey even better. Guest writer. Mr. Cherry shares his recipe. Enjoy!
***If you are planning to smoke the turkey, check out our recipe here.
Hard Apple Cider & Broth Turkey Brine Recipe
How To Brine A Turkey
Ingredients
- 3 32oz Chicken Broth
- 2 12 oz Hard Cider (orange or any citrus)
- 1 Sweet Onion
- 1 Purple Onion
- 1 Whole Head of Garlic
- 2 tbsp Salt
- 3 tbsp Garlic Salt
- 3 tbsp Uncle Chris's Seasoning (optional) *Or your favorite all seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Chupacabra Seasoning (optional) *Or your favorite BBQ seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
- 3 Bay Leaves
- 1 tbsp Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Rosemary
- 1 teaspoon Thyme
Instructions
- Cut onion into large pieces. Separate garlic into cloves, remove protective skin and crush.
- Bring large pot to boil with all ingredients. After full boil, let simmer 5 minutes.
- After simmering, fill the pot the rest of the way with ice. Refrigerate until cool. Brine MUST be cold before use on the turkey.
- Remove turkey from packaging and remove giblet pack. Rinse bird inside and out and pat dry. Turkey neck will be in the chest cavity, the giblet pack will be in either the chest or neck cavity.
- Set up brine bag in large baking pan or for smaller turkey in a crock pot. This will help prevent from getting turkey brine or blood everywhere.
- Put turkey in brine bag and cover turkey with ice. Pour the brine solution over the turkey and tie a secure knot. Turkey must be completely submerged. If you need more liquid, add water.
- Let turkey in brine sit for up to 24 hours.
***If you are planning to smoke the turkey, check out our recipe here.
The brine has really made a difference in the outcome of the bird. Plump, moist turkey is always a win. Brining prior to cooking infuses the turkey with spices, breaks down the muscle proteins and tenderizes the meat, and allows the softened tissue to retain moisture during the cooking process, and we all know turkey takes forever to cook!
Check Out My Other Recipes:
- How To Smoke A Turkey
- Easy and Delicious Pineapple Cranberry Almond Cheeseball
- Easy Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Delicious Coconut Meringue Pie
- Creamy and Delicious Flan
Fun Fact: Do you want to know some Turkey and Thanksgiving day history? Click here.
This post may contain affiliate links,which means I may be compensated (at no cost to you).My opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure.
Great recipe!! Thank you!
Author
You are welcome! 🙂
I have never thought of brining but this makes so much sense!
Do you think it could work for a chicken as well? Looks amazing!!
Author
I have never tried it on chicken personally, but I don’t see why not. ☺️
I have never brined a turkey before. It looks so delicious.
Brining a turkey is so crucial to a delicious bird. Thanks for sharing!
I haven’t heard of these two seasonings…. Uncle Chris’s and Chupacabra. Do you have any suggested substitutions for them? Looks like the turkey came out great with this recipe!
Author
Uncle Chris’s is a season salt, I would suggest your favorite one, and Chupacabra is a bbq rub, made by a company called Dos Gringos. I would suggest a bbq rub. Both spices are available on Amazon too if you want to try those specific ones. 😊
That looks delicious! I’ve never cooked a turkey before. I may do it this year just to try this!
Oh this sounds so good! I love anything with rosemary
I’m gathering Christmas dinner ideas. This recipe sounds very juicy. Love it.
This is just what I needed! Thanks! I hate eating dry turkey meat at Christmas. I’ll be planning on making it a juicy bird this year!
Seeing this brine turkey makes me so hungry, definitely a perfect dish to prepare for Thanksgiving. I love it!
This sounds yummy and it looks delicious too!
Oh THANK YOU!!! Can you believe I have never cooked Thanksgiving dinner? I’ve always been at relatives’ houses so someone else has, but with the pandemic it’ll just be the 4 of us at home this year, and I have always wondered about turkey brining but had no clue where to start!
This looks amazing. I got to try it
Thank you for sharing this! We usually order our turkey but due to the pandemic we’re actually planning of preparing it at home. This is really helpful for someone like me. So far I have all the ingredients available except the Chupacabra seasoning.
Author
A bbq rub is really what it is, but you can use any spice you like! This is just what we used, but you can sub for your favorite seasonings.
I’m planning on making my own turkey this year. This is super helpful.
I don’t know that we have ever prepared a huge turkey for Thanksgiving. This is such useful info for pulling off the perfect turkey.