Thanksgiving turkey....to brine or not to brine.?

Question

I keep hearing that the best and most moist turkey is when you brine it. Is this true and if so, what's the best brine recipe??

Answer 1

How large a turkey are you planning to brine? America's Test Kitchen decided to not brine theirs. They cooked an 18-22 lb unstuffed bird for 1 hour at 425, then lowered the heat to 325 for about 2 hours (til temp registered 170-180 in thickest part of the thigh), then let it rest for 35-40 minutes uncovered. Came out beautifully juicy.

Answer 2

Eilishaa, I watched that same program on America's Test Kitchen and agree that brining isn't necessary.
The key was high heat at the beginning and low and slow after that.
Avoid basting as it just rolls off the skin anyways. better to butter and season under the skin from the beginning and maintain the oven temperature with a closed door.
I'm going to try the ATK of cutting out the backbone (butterflied) and resting the bird over the stuffing in that unused broiler pan that the oven came with.
Most turkeys have saline injected into them from the factory anyways. I might think about brining if I had a natural/fresh turkey though. The salt and sugar solution seems to make the most sense.

Answer 3

When you brine a turkey it tightens up the skin and seals the outer layer and traps the moisture in the turkey, so yes it will make it very moist. Here's my brine recipe:

1/2 cups salt(any kind of salt) to 1 gal of water (make sure the salt is dissolved. To test to make sure it is dissolved, float an egg in the water. If it's dissolved the top of the shell will just be at the top of the water level.) Make sure you make enough brine to cover the entire turkey. The turkey will rise in the water so have something to weigh it down so it's completely covered. It has to be stored in a very cool refrigerator, basement (in the north where it's cold) or else it will spoil on you. You should soak it at least 2 days before cooking it. Hope this helps and happy cooking! GOBBLE GOBBLE

Answer 4

Brining a turkey will make it more flavorful and juicy.

Here's my recipe:

1 gallon hot water OR vegetable broth
1 cup sea salt OR 1 1/4 cups Kosher salt
1/4 cup Italian seasoning
1 gallon ice water

-In a clean cooler or 5 gallon bucket, stir together first 3 ingredients until salt has dissolved. Stir in ice water.
-Wash and dry turkey, remove innards. Place the turkey in the brine and sumberge completely.
-Either place the bucket/cooler in the fridge, or place an unopened bag of ice over top to weigh the turkey down.
-Allow to sit for 24 hours. If not in the refrigerator, replace ice as it melts.
-Remove the turkey carefully draining off the excess brine and pat dry. Discard excess brine.
-Cook the turkey as desired reserving the drippings for gravy.

Answer 5

You could brine the turkey, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be moist. If you want the white meat to be moist and tender, you have to slightly undercook it. When you check the temperature, pull the turkey out at about 150 degrees. Also, cook it breast-side down for at least the last half of the roasting process, allowing the juices left in the turkey to drain downwards into the breast.

Answer 6

Good Eats Roast Turkey Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
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

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.

This is a good recipe to use. Some of my notes are as folows:

If you don't have kosher salt, then use half the amount of table salt.

Note: the allspice berries and any spices that you don't have on hand are best bought a the place like Whole Foods Market where you can just buy the amount you need for the recipe. Also, be very sure to wash the turkey in cold water inside and out to remove any excess salt or it will be too salty on the surface of the bird.

Also, if you want to roast the turkey with stuffing instead of the aromatics, you can stuff the bird and cook it until it's done by using the directions on the turkey wrapper.

Answer 7

Another thing to keep in mind is you should NOT brine a self-basting bird like a ButterBall self baster. These birds are already treated at the processor. These birds already contain a solution of water, salt, modified food starch, sodium phosphates and natural flavors, so there is no need to flavor brine them.

Answer 8

I'm going to brine for the first time this year. The recipe I have decided on is Emeril Lagasse's. Just google it. It seems GREAT.

Answer 9

I have to agree with Cookingpancake... The Alton Brown recipe is GREAT. I've tried it and even though I used a frozen turkey it tasted amazing.

Answer 10

It's o.k. to brine if you don't have to watch your salt intake. Frozen turkey is already filled with enough sodium.