Turkey brine recipes and how to go about doing it to get the moistest turkey possible...

[rickandcindy23]

I need advice. One recipe calls for two bags for the turkey, and I only have the one turkey bag, so that's weird.

I bought a Kinder's Turkey Brine kit at Costco and am hesitant to use it after reading so many recipes.

What works for you?

Our daughter's recipe is apple cider, oranges, some spices, cooked together, cooled with ice before adding the turkey to the cold mixture.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

This thread hasn't been bumped for several years now. It's overdue.

The "Original" Cat Turkey Brining Thread.....

Many of these TUGers are still around - this was originally from 2005! Pat Help - What did you tell us to do last year? I know it makes the turkey nice and moist I am using a frozen bird - does this make any difference? ------------------ Pat No difference at all, unless you're...

tugbbs.com

 

[Talent312]

I brined my T-turkey with a recipe I found online.
I used one bag in a 5-gal. bucket which I put in
my fridge in my garage. I let it sit for ~24 hours.
.

 

[CO skier]

What works for you?

Very simple, very easy. I line a clean, plastic 5-gallon pail (from HD or Ace Hardware, etc.) with a food grade turkey bag (and rinse and use it for roasting the turkey). It helps to "get personal" with the turkey and use fingers to loosen the skin from the breast and legs without completely separating the skin from the middle of the breast. Just enough to allow the brine to penetrate between the skin and meat, as much as possible.

Brined & Roasted Lemon Thyme Turkey​

1 cup table salt

6 lemons, zest and juice (discard rinds)

1-2 tablespoon(s) dried thyme according to taste (use 1 T the first time)

2 gallon ice cold water, divided

1 12-14 lb. turkey, rinsed and thoroughly dried with paper towel

5 large onions, sliced

Disposable roasting pan


The day before you brine the turkey, combine salt, 1 gallon water, lemon zest, and thyme in very large stockpot and bring to boil. Cool to room temperature, add lemon juice then place in refrigerator to cool completely.

In a very large plastic bucket (at least 5-gallon), combine brine and 1 gallon ice water. Place turkey in brine breast side down and completely submerge. Place container in refrigerator or cool place that is below 40 F. Brine at least 6 hours , and no more than 24 hours, flipping turkey once.

Remove turkey from brine, rinse very well and dry thoroughly. Discard the brine.

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven 400F. (Optional: place turkey in roasting bag, and close using a method that allows easy access to turn the turkey. Less cooking time will be needed using the bag). Roast turkey on a rack in a large baking pan lined with onions (keep some water in the bottom of the pan at all times, so onions do not burn), breast side down, 45 minutes. Remove pan from oven and close the oven door. Turn turkey on its side so that one leg/thigh faces up. Return turkey to oven and roast 20 minutes.

Remove turkey from oven again. Turn turkey on its other side so that one leg/thigh faces up; roast another 20 minutes. Remove turkey from oven for final time and turn it breast side up; roast until breast registers 160-165F, and thigh registers 170-175F on instant-read thermometer, 30-45 minutes.

Transfer turkey to platter and let rest 30 minutes before carving. Reserve pan juices to make gravy.

 

[rickandcindy23]

The recipe that our daughter gave us, which is what she uses for Thanksgiving eat year and the turkey turns out moist and delicious, was not simple or easy as Cat's is/was. It calls for apple cider, oranges, a bunch of spices, etc,... Rick opted to use that one and we got it brined today for roasting tomorrow. I am good at cooking dry turkeys, which is why I have always been fond of the dark meat and not the white meat. Rick suffers through the dry white meat. Our favorite leftovers are bite-sized pieces turkey in the leftover gravy over mashed potatoes, which we eat 2-3 times, then we throw the rest of the turkey away, unless we are in the mood for turkey and noodles.

My grandma's recipe is amazing and was passed down for generations: For every egg used, add one egg shell of milk, one half eggshell of vegetable oil, 1 tsp salt, and flour to make a stiff dough, roll flat, cut into noodles (we have a pasta cutter that does about six inches of the dough at once). Dry on clean dishtowels (as opposed to dirty ones!! LOL). Cook in turkey broth. So good, but our daughter found a recipe she likes better, and I need to get it from her.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I am not a cook, and I've never brined a turkey. So, I don't have experience with this topic. But I am a science oriented person who likes to figure out "how stuff works and why".

So, the logic confuses me to take a salty and spicy water and put a turkey in it and think that it is going to get more moist. If I understand the principle of osmosis, water molecules will flow from the less salty stuff (the turkey) INTO the brine. That will effectively be reducing moisture from the turkey. That is why people with a swollen hand or foot may soak it in either a salt solution or something like Epsom salts.

If a person put the brine and turkey into a pressure vessel and pressured it, yes, it would put moisture into the turkey - - a reverse osmosis of sorts.

I can understand injecting the turkey with the brine. Perhaps others could comment on the science part of turkey brining.

 

[Talent312]

From https://www.scienceofcooking.com/science-of-brining.html

The brine surrounding the muscle fiber cell has a higher concentration of salt than the fluid within the cells. This leads salt ions to enter the cell via diffusion. The high salt concentration immediately begins to do its work on the protein complexes within the muscle fiber... The end result is the muscle fibers draws in and retain a substantial amount of water by capillary action. The meat’s weight can increases by 10% or more, allowing for greater moisture in the food after cooking. In addition, the dissolved protein does not coagulate into the normally dense aggregates, so the cooked meat seems more tender....

 

[BJRSanDiego]

From https://www.scienceofcooking.com/science-of-brining.html

The brine surrounding the muscle fiber cell has a higher concentration of salt than the fluid within the cells. This leads salt ions to enter the cell via diffusion. The high salt concentration immediately begins to do its work on the protein complexes within the muscle fiber... The end result is the muscle fibers draws in and retain a substantial amount of water by capillary action. The meat’s weight can increases by 10% or more, allowing for greater moisture in the food after cooking. In addition, the dissolved protein does not coagulate into the normally dense aggregates, so the cooked meat seems more tender....

Thanks. So the big difference is diffusion versus osmosis. In the case of the turkey, there isn't a semi-permeable membrane so the action is diffusion.

Thanks again.