Description
Our basic Turkey Brine Recipe is a great way to ensure that your turkey is juicy, tender, and flavorful, no matter how you cook it!
Ingredients
Scale
Wet Turkey Brine:
- 4 cups water
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
Multiply this ratio as-needed to fully submerge turkey.
Add-ins:
- 2–3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 2–3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- sliced apple
- slice of lemon
- 2 slices red onion
- 6 black peppercorns
Instructions
- Dissolve Salt: Determine how much water you will need to fully submerge your turkey. Then determine how much salt you are going to need (1/4 cup salt for every 4 cups of water). Add 4 cups of water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add salt and allow to dissolve. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
- Wet Brine: Place the turkey in whatever you will be brining it in (cooler, bucket, etc). Add the salt/water solution as well as the remaining water needed to submerge the turkey. Add any of the additional ingredients you want to include. Place turkey in brine for 12-48 hours in the refrigerator Remove turkey from brine. Discard brine.
- Turkey Prep Option 1: You can pat dry bird (no need to rinse) and rub with soft butter or ghee. Cook turkey as desired.
- Turkey Prep Option 2: Pat dry bird and set in the fridge, uncovered, anywhere from 2-12 hours. This will result in a more crispy skin. Before cooking, rub with soft butter or ghee and then cook as desired.
Notes
- Kosher Salt: Make sure you pay attention to what type of salt you are using. Use kosher salt and if you HAVE to use table salt, it is recommended that you cut the total salt amount in half to avoid it getting too salty.
- Refrigerate: It will need to stay refrigerated during the brining process.
- Rinse: There is no need to rinse the turkey after brining, but you can.
- Season: Before cooking, pat dry turkey dry, and rub down with soft butter or ghee, plus salt, pepper, and any other seasonings.