Community Pick
Kittencal's Best Brown Sugar Turkey Brine
photo by Jonathan Melendez
- Ready In:
- 24hrs
- Ingredients:
- 7
- Yields:
-
32 cups (approx)
ingredients
- 7570.88 ml warm water (2 gallons)
- 236.59 ml kosher salt (must use kosher salt ONLY)
- 354.88 ml light brown sugar (well-packed)
- 29.58 ml black peppercorns (can use 1 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper)
- 44.37-59.16 ml fresh coarsely chopped garlic (or slice the cloves into thirds)
- 29.58 ml Worcestershire sauce (optional)
- 1 whole turkey (up to 20 pounds)
directions
- In a large bucket or container mix together the warm water with brown sugar and salt; stir until NO kosher salt and sugar granules remain in the water (make certain to use very warm water so that the salt and suagr will dissolve easily and completely).
- Add in Worcestershire sauce, peppercorns, and garlic; stir until the Worcestershire sauce is combined.
- Cool the water until almost room temperature.
- Wash the turkey inside and out with cold water, then place in the brine (if the brine does not quite cover the turkey, then place it breast-side up to start, then turn it over after a couple of hours later).
- Place in refrigerator for 24 hours,.
- Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse the turkey THOROUGHLY under cold running water.
- Pat dry with paper towels then cover and refrigerate if not preparing right away or continue with my turkey recipe (#199612).
Questions & Replies
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Hi there. I'm making a turkey on my own for the first time this year. This brine recipe and Kittencal's Roasted Turkey recipe seem like a good way to go. My question is about gravy: I've noticed that some people don't make gravy from brined turkeys because the gravy is too salty. Is that an issue here? If so, how would folks suggest I make the gravy? Thank you in advance to anyone who can help!
Reviews
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We used this brine on a 7 pound bone in turkey breast for Thanksgiving. We rubbed the turkey with butter, stuffed the cavity with fresh thyme, onion, and celery, and brushed it with pure maple syrup during the last hour.The skin cas crisp and golden, and the meat was moist and tender. The maple really highlighted the brown sugar in the brine. Thank you for such a delicious start for our holiday dinner!
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This worked out very well for us. I liked that I had all the brine ingredients in the house as I decided to brine at the last hour and didn't have such things as apple juice or maple in the house. I didn't have a large container, so I just used one of my crisper drawers and then flipped the turkey. Our turkey was moist and delicious, thanks for the recipe.
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This brine made the best turkey that I have ever made or eaten! 5 Stars all the way! I have been brining turkey for the last 4 Thanksgivings and I have always liked brined turkey better than a regular roasted turkey, but with this brine I LOVED the turkey. I used the recipe exactly as written and added a 24 pound turkey. There was enough brine to cover the whole thing. I then baked my turkey using your recipe for Recipe #199612. Thank you for both wonderful recipes! Both are winners in my book!
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Tweaks
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EXCELLENT recipe! I used this yesterday for Thanksgiving and everyone raved that it was the best turkey they had ever tasted. I used only 28 cups of liqud. I replaced 4 cups of the water with Southern Comfort (24 cups warm water and 4 cups of Southern Comfort). It gave the skin a slightly sweet, "wow" what is that taste. Thanks for the recipe!