turkey brine

[pascooter94]

need help with one anyone have any?( and I dont have a turkey fryer its on the list for the big guy). so it will be done in the oven.thanks

[fishinchicks]

This is the recipe I use. It is from Cooking Light, November 2004. The Savory Herb Gravy is listed under the "gravy" thread.

This turkey is a pleasure to offer on your table. It's incredibly moist and flavorful, and it received our highest Test Kitchens rating. Brining is an overnight process, so if you're using a frozen turkey, be sure to thaw it well in advance. Choose turkey-sized plastic oven bags for brining the turkey. Use two bags to prevent brine from leaking, and place the turkey in a large stockpot as another precaution.

Yield

12 servings (serving size: 6 ounces turkey and 3 tablespoons gravy)

Ingredients

Brine:

8 cups apple cider

2/3 cup kosher salt

2/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon black peppercorns, coarsely crushed

1 tablespoon whole allspice, coarsely crushed

8 (1/8-inch-thick) slices peeled fresh ginger

6 whole cloves

2 bay leaves

1 (12-pound) fresh or frozen turkey, thawed

2 oranges, quartered

6 cups ice

Remaining ingredients:

4 garlic cloves

4 sage leaves

4 thyme sprigs

4 parsley sprigs

1 onion, quartered

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

Savory Herb Gravy

Preparation

To prepare brine, combine first 8 ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes or until sugar and salt dissolve. Cool completely.

Remove giblets and neck from turkey; reserve for Savory Herb Gravy. Rinse turkey with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Stuff body cavity with orange quarters. Place a turkey-sized oven bag inside a second bag to form a double thickness. Place bags in a large stockpot. Place turkey inside inner bag. Add cider mixture and ice. Secure bags with several twist ties. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours, turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 500º.

Remove turkey from bags, and discard brine, orange quarters, and bags. Rinse turkey with cold water; pat dry. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under turkey. Tie legs together with kitchen string. Place garlic, sage, thyme, parsley, onion, and broth in the bottom of a roasting pan. Place roasting rack in pan. Arrange turkey, breast side down, on roasting rack. Brush turkey back with 1 tablespoon butter; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bake at 500º for 30 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350º.

Remove turkey from oven. Carefully turn turkey over (breast side up) using tongs. Brush turkey breast with 1 tablespoon butter; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bake at 350º for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into meaty part of thigh registers 170º (make sure not to touch bone). (Shield the turkey with foil if it browns too quickly.) Remove turkey from oven; let stand 20 minutes. Reserve pan drippings for Savory Herb Gravy. Discard skin before serving; serve with gravy.

[pascooter94]

thanks I also need to say that the bird I have is 25 lbs so then just add more cider and salt, more cider then salt?

[fishinchicks]

You want to make sure the bird is covered in the brine. The last time I did a 20 lb bird, I increased the amounts by half (1 1/2 recipe total). I like to use bags to put the turkey and brine in, then put it in a bucket incase of a leak. For a larger bird, I use the giant ziplock bags.

[nofishfisherman]

5 gallon buckets work great for soaking a bird. 2 smaller birds might be easier to deal with then one huge Turkzilla.

[Windy City]

Alton Brown from the Food Network has a good looking brine reciepe on the show Tuesday night. I might be inclined to google that and give it a shot. He did his in 5 gallon Igloo water jugs, no bags or liner and said you should do it at least 8 if not 16 hours. Then bake it at 500 degrees for half hour and then drop the heat down to 325-350 to finish until it reaches an internal temp of 151 degrees. There will be external cook time that will increase that once you take it out of the oven and let it cool down.

Windy

[Jim Almquist]

Windy was this the recipe ?

For the brine:

* 1 cup kosher salt

* 1/2 cup light brown sugar

* 1 gallon vegetable stock

* 1 tablespoon black peppercorns

* 1/2 tablespoon allspice berries

* 1/2 tablespoon candied ginger

* 1 gallon iced water

For the aromatics:

* 1 red apple, sliced

* 1/2 onion, sliced

* 1 cinnamon stick

* 1 cup water

* 4 sprigs rosemary

* 6 leaves sage

* Canola oil

Directions

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

[nofishfisherman]

I'm going to have to call my IT department to bring me a new keyboard. I think my drooling might have damaged this one.

[fishinchicks]

The spices look similar between the two posted recipes. The biggest difference lies in the liquid - apple cider instead of vegetable stock. I am guessing they would taste pretty similar as well.

[Da Beak]

FishinChicks,

Just curious, why Apple Cider and not Juice? Does it make a big difference?

[fishinchicks]

The cider is processed differently than the juice. Cider has a tangier and less sweet taste than the apple juice, and is a little cloudy. Traditionally, cider is the result of the fresh pressed apple - where the juice is filtered and concentrated, then mixed with water. The concentrating of the juice makes it sweeter, since the process makes the sugars more pronounced.

[Jim Almquist]

The spices look similar between the two posted recipes. The biggest difference lies in the liquid - apple cider instead of vegetable stock. I am guessing they would taste pretty similar as well.

I also noticed that yours has fresh ginger and I always use fresh grated and Altons use's brown sugar. I am sure that this is the recipe I used 2 years ago and Lisa said it was the best turkey ever and will try again this year. The big GTG this year is on the sat. after and will be deep fried so I will cook one this way just for the 2 of us on Thursday. Just have to have gravy for my taters

[fishinchicks]

I'm a huge Alton fan, and recorded his show from last night. I'll have to watch it tonight.

I really like the aromatics that are placed in the bottom of the roaster in the first recipe. I am not a fan of cinnamon in meat dishes, so I would probably leave that out of the second recipe.

We'll have to have our brined turkey a different weekend. We're headed north to my sister's. She makes the typical Griswold turkey. Looks good on the outside, but needs plenty of gravy for the inside.

[Jim Almquist]

Quote:

She makes the typical Griswold turkey. Looks good on the outside, but needs plenty of gravy for the inside.

That is too funny but the worst part is that I know exactly what you mean

[pascooter94]

tryed it and it was great, thank you very much!!

[mmeyer]

Tried Fishinchicks recipe this weekend. It was fabulous!! It was a little bit of work but it's the best turkey I've had.

Thanks for the recipe.

[mmeyer]

bump