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Brining Turkey

brining turkey

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Brining turkey is so easy, and makes the most tender and delicious turkey! This recipe works for a 18 – 25 lb turkey. Time is 12 – 24 hours.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 28 cups water
  • 1 1/2 cups coarse salt
  • 6 bay leaves
  • 2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tbsp whole coriander seeds
  • 8 garlic cloves
  • 1 large onion (thinly sliced)
  • 1 bunch fresh thyme
  • 1 bottle dry white wine (Riesling)

Instructions

  1. Rinse your turkey and remove all the innards (neck, giblets, etc.). Pat it dry
  2. In a large saucepan, mix 4 cups of the water with the salt, peppercorns, mustard seeds, bay leaves, and coriander.
  3. Bring to a boil, and stir until all the salt has dissolved. Cool.
  4. Place the turkey in a container large enough to hold it and all the brine. You can use a stock pot, a cooler, a bucket – whatever, as long as it is clean. Make sure to clean the container (with bleach) after you are done brining the turkey.
  5. Add the remaining water (24 cups), wine, garlic, onions, fresh thyme and cranberries.
  6. Let your turkey soak in the brine for about 12-24 hours, in the fridge. We did 24.
  7. You should turn the turkey once during the brining process.
  8. Once your turkey is done brining, remove it from the mixture and rinse.
  9. Now it’s time to roast your turkey.  Here is the recipe I use for the roasting instructions.

Keywords: turkey brine recipe, how to brine a turkey