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I love Thanksgiving and how it gives us a day together as a family to pause and reflect on all the things we’re thankful for each year. In fact, it’s not long into the Fall before I start thinking about Thanksgiving and start working on my meal plan for the big day.
I don’t start this far in advance just because I’m into planning (ok, maybe I am a little) but also because I want to have time to brine my turkey before roasting it.
If you’ve never heard of brining a turkey or skipped this step in the past, make this the year to try it! This one simple step makes the traditional turkey meal at least twice as delicious.
Why Brine a Turkey Before Roasting?
Brining involves soaking a turkey in a salt and liquid solution for at least a day prior to roasting, grilling, or frying. Brining adds flavor and moisture and helps the turkey retain flavor during cooking.
This is especially helpful if you use a pastured organic turkey from a local farm (more on that below) since they are not pre-brined like a conventional store-bought turkeys. (With a soy vegetable protein solution … no thank you!)
Brining takes a little planning ahead but really very little hands-on time, and the result is so worth it!
Ingredients for Brining a Turkey
The essential elements of brining a turkey are:
- Liquid of some kind: Water works but I like to add apple cider and bone broth for added flavor.
- Salt: The common amount is 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup per gallon of water. I personally like to use 2 gallons of liquid and 1.5 cups of salt.
- Spices: Add any spices of choice. I like to add minced garlic, cracked pepper, and thyme. I also like to add two lemons and one orange, both zested and sliced.
You can customize these elements to suit your own taste. In a pinch, just use water, salt and any spices you like.
How to Make the Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey (By Giving It a Bath!)
If you’re aiming to make the the turkey the star of the show this year, great news … it takes less effort to brine a turkey than to roast one! It’s the truth!
In fact brining makes the roasting process faster and results in a juicy, moist turkey with a whole lot of flavor … not like the dry, bland turkey so many of us grew up eating at holidays.
There are several ways to brine but the main thing is to use a big airtight container that maintains a cold temperature. The two ways I have accomplished this are:
- In a large stock pot in the fridge – This only works if you have room in the fridge, and I often don’t this close to Thanksgiving. The best and easiest way I’ve ever done this was the year I did have room in the fridge and I put a frozen turkey in the brine in the fridge two days before Thanksgiving in a 5-gallon food grade bucket. It defrosted and brined in those two days and the results were great.
- In a large cooler with replenished ice – A little more work refilling with ice but gives the same results if you don’t have fridge space. Basically, put the turkey in a large air-tight bag or container of some kind and pack ice around it. Check it to make sure that it is maintaining a temperature above freezing but below 40 degrees.
No Time? Still Brine!
Extra bonus: Brining not only makes turkey moist but it also defrosts the turkey quickly! So even a still-frozen turkey only a day or two before Thanksgiving has a hope for being ready on time and seasoned to perfection. The brine actually defrosts the turkey more quickly and infuses flavor as it does.
My Favorite Turkey Brine Recipe
This is my go-to recipe and the one I am prepping for this year…
How to Brine a Turkey (and Why You Should)
Ingredients
- 1 gal water (warm)
- 1½ cups salt
- 3 qt apple cider
- 1 qt chicken broth (or more apple cider)
- 6 sprigs thyme (or 1 TBSP dried)
- 8 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 lemons (zested and sliced)
- 1 orange (zested and sliced)
- 1 tsp whole cloves (optional)
Instructions
- Dissolve the salt in the warm water.
- Add the apple cider, broth, thyme, garlic, lemons and orange and stir to combine.
- Place the turkey in whatever container you will use for brining (stockpot, 5-gallon bucket, or bag) and add brine.
- Cover or seal tightly and leave at least 24 hours but no more than 48 before your planned cook time. TIP: Place breast side down and make sure brine is touching all sides, if possible.
- Before cooking, rinse well and pat dry. I recommend rubbing skin with butter and adding spices before roasting.
- TIP: Roast breast side down and stuff with 1 apple, 1 lemon, 1 orange and 1 onion (all quartered). I roast uncovered at 450 for 45 minutes and then cover and reduce to 325 until done.
Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!
Where to Find Organic Free Range Turkeys
I’ve gotten a lot of questions asking the best place to find organic, free-range turkeys for Thanksgiving. There are several options and I’m listing them in order of my preference:
Find a Local One from a Farmer
This is by far my favorite option and what we do whenever possible. The only problem is that it is often difficult to find a farmer with truly free range turkeys and they often have already pre-sold them by this time of year. Also, most farmers ask customers to pre-order in the spring when they hatch the turkeys so for most, it is too late to buy one. If you can find one this way, it is definitely preferable though.
Buy One from a Local Grocery Store
If you can’t get one from a local farmer in your area, sometimes regular grocery stores carry them. I’ve seen a couple here at different times, though the prices can sometimes be incredibly high. This is probably the second easiest option if your store has them. The only caution here is that many organic turkeys labeled organic have just been fed organic feed but are not truly free range. Still a better option, but no where near the nutrients of truly free range turkeys.
Order One Online
I have done this in the past from companies I trust and have been impressed with them. Butcher Box occasionally has some great quality turkeys and U.S. Wellness Meats currently has some in stock as well.
Are you excited for Thanksgiving this year? Have you ever brined your turkey? Share your favorite recipes or Thanksgiving memories below!
This is how I do my “Jacked up turkey. half a fifth of Jack Daniels, half a gallon apple juice, half a gallon water, 2 c apple cider vin. 1 c sea salt, 1 c lemon pepper (homemade from dehydrated lemon)Throw in 5 gallon stock pot add turkey. Cover with linen towel in the pot and brine for 7 days! Take out,pat dry, roast at 350 uncovered 1 hour adding 10 minutes for every pound over 10lbs. The bird will come out looking burnt to a crisp But no fear. This WILL be the bestest turkey you ever have. Put on goggles before piercing! For juice will spray everywhere!
Do you remove the peel from the orange and lemon before putting it in the turkey?
No, the peel goes in, too!
Are you using apple cider or apple cider vinegar?
Apple cider.
are you using table salt for this? would pink himalayan be better or would it not make a difference when brining? thanks so much!
Is this ok to do this if you are only cooking a a turkey breast? And would it be okay to use home made chicken bone broth?
It should still be fine and definitely ok to use homemade 🙂
Does this brine recipe need to be adjusted for a smaller turkey (10-12pds) or fine to use as is?
Is it possible to deep fry a turkey after brining?
I’ve never tried but I would think so as long as it is really really well dried but I would definitely research to be sure
Yes, you can absolutely fry a turkey after brining it! We have done it several times and it’s turned out great! We do pay it dry as best we can, but oil will still splatter, so watch out for that. Otherwise, it’s great!!
why breast side down?
It isn’t as pretty when it comes out of the oven but the flavor is so much better because more of the meat is in contact with the juices during cooking and anything stuffed inside (lemon, apple, etc) infuses flavor down into the meat while cooking.
Agreed I’ve always cooking mine breast down since people always complain about the white meat being too dry.
Who cares the poor thing is dead anyway
Bon appetite
Turn your oven or electric roaster into a huge crockpot by cooking turkey at 350 for an hour to kill off surface bacteria then turning the temp down to 200. Cover it the whole time, add a cup or so of water to pan before starting at 350. An hour later it’ll have enough juices in there too, it’ll be good till done. Cook it all night till legs come easily off the carcass. If you start late at nite, say 10pm, you can go to bed at 11 after turning down oven. Then it will prob be 11 before its done–for a large turkey anyway. I always cook btwn 20-25 lb turkey. It needs to sit 30 min before carving too so you can put the stuffing in to cook and finish up the mashed potatoes. A holiday meal at noon! Yay!
And no, the bird doesn’t dry out. It’s wonderfully moist.
Excellent idea, Helene
Heres a link to recipes, incl the overnite turkey, that goes into more detail
http://media.wix.com/ugd/2f8d99_cae60e6afb854ed9ba3e0eb1baed2f79.pdf
Sue Gregg ckbks but originally from Adelle Davis, diva of nutrition!
I have an issue with sodium, even sea salt bothers me. If I use sea salt when I cook, I use the pink Himalayan one that has added potassium. I’d love to try this, but I hesitate. Would it be worth doing with much less salt? Does the salt do that much, or is the liquid and seasoning adequate?
The salt is really important for the brining because it helps hold in the moisture and flavor. If you can’t do the salt at all, I would either skip brining or use a smaller amount of salt and smaller amount of liquid and just keep moving the turkey around in the brine.