Loading ...How To: Brine Your Bird On Thanksgiving
Turkey Day is right around the corner and if you have anything to do with what’s cookin’, I suggest you grill or smoke your bird this year (and every year thereafter). The biggest myth about cooking a turkey on your outdoor grill/smoker is that it gets too dry because you’re not able to baste your bird in its own juices like you are in an oven. The truth is, grilled turkeys are just as (if not more) moist. So what’s the key? Brine your bird! If you brine your bird, I guarentee it will be more juicy and flavorful than any turkey you can cook in an oven!
My introduction to brining turkeys is an interesting tale. It came about from an accumulation of frozen turkeys in our freezer. Between the sales guy at work who always drops one off and my wife getting a “free” one for using her points at the grocery store (a post for another day), I always find myself long on turkeys this time of year. I know I’m not alone because for years every friend or family member I tried to pawn off a frozen turkey to were faced with the same situation. So what’s a guy to do with too many turkeys? Get your buddies together and fire up your grill or smoker!
I started a great tradition a few years ago when I called upon my neighbors, friends and family members to bring their turkeys over for a smoking session. The age old problem of having too many turkeys turned into yet another excuse to get together with the guys and drink while watching plumes of smoke come out of a huge lump of steel on wheels. Everyone is responsible for brining/preparing their own turkey and bringing it over at a designated time depending on how long I plan on cooking (see my grilling timetable or my smoking timetable for more information). I simply commit to tending a fire for a few hours and more often than not I’m rewarded handsomely with a case of beer and some nice single malts, hell, one guy even plows my driveway every time it snows!
Whether you’re firing up the WSM to feed the family or filling up a smoker with enough turkeys to feed the neighborhood, there’s absolutely no better way to to prep your bird than by brining it! Once you smoke or grill a brined turkey, you’ll never go back to an oven cooked bird again. It offers a slow smoked flavor you simply can’t get from an oven and its juicier and more moist than an oven bird thanks to the brine. Brined turkey is truly the only way to go.
Heres how you do it:
Pour the brine over the turkey in a food grade plastic container, cover and keep in the refrigerator for 12-48 hours. This time of year, you can also leave it in your garage assuming you live in a geographical location that is cool enough to keep it safe. That said, you MUST make sure temperatures do not rise much above freezing. A great way to monitor the temp of the brine is to add ice to the bucket. As long as there is still ice in the bucket when you take the bird out, you’re safe. When you remove the bird from the brine, rinse thoroughly with cold water and pat dry before throwing on the smoker or grill- otherwise, you run the risk of oversalting. Note: you should only use a natural turkey that has no additives or solutions. Brining a bird that’s already sitting in “10% solution” will become too salty! Finally, check out my smoking timetable or my grilling timetable to determine how long you need to cook your bird.
Here are my 3 favorite brine recipes that I’ve collected over the years:
Basic Turkey Brine
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1 gallon cold water
1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
Mix in a non-reactive container until dissolved. Makes 1 gallon of brine. Substitute 3/4 cup Morton Kosher Salt or 1/2 cup table salt for Diamond Crystal.
Apple Brine For Turkey
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2 quarts apple juice
1 pound brown sugar (light or dark)
1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
3 quarts cold water
3 oranges, quartered
4 ounces fresh ginger, unpeeled and thinly sliced
15 whole cloves
6 bay leaves
6 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
Substitute 3/4 cup Morton Kosher Salt or 1/2 cup table salt for Diamond Crystal.
Combine apple juice, brown sugar, and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve. Boil for one minute, remove from heat, let mixture come to room temperature, then refrigerate to 40°F.
In a large non-reactive container, combine the apple juice mixture with the remaining ingredients. When adding the oranges, squeeze each piece to release the juice into the container, then drop in the peel.
Shake’s Honey Brine
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1 gallon water
1 cup kosher salt
2 TBSP Morton Tender Quick
1 cup honey
3 bay leaves
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp pickling spice
Combine all ingredients in a large pot and heat to 160°F. Temperatures above 160° will harm the flavor of the honey. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Makes about 1 gallon of brining solution.
Morton Tender Quick is a meat curing agent containing salt, sugar, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite and propylene glycol. It can be found at butcher supply stores or ordered from Allied Kenco.
Good luck, have fun this Thanksgiving, and as always…
Be A Man.
-The Founding Father
