I love turkey in a brine, really any brine. My husband usually is in charge of brining, but the last few years with me staying at home, I have taken over the brining part of Thanksgiving. He is way more technical and follows a recipe to the last grain of salt, I usually eyeball most ingredients for my recipes and the measure everything put the second time o make it so I can share it here.
This time I took pictures first, to make it a little easier to remember all the ingredient measurements the first time. I also wanted something really simple since I know my husband will be smoking it.
I grabbed some limes, a lemon, and some fresh herbs and a few other spices threw it in a large stock pot with some salt and brought everyhing to a boil. The boiling helps dissolve the salt in the water. I tasted my brine and it had the saltiness of pickle juice, but without the tang of the vinegar.
I also added some pop and a can of beer last year and it was amazing. So while I was grocery shopping this year, I purposefully bought a lemon lime pop this year for the brine. I love that the pop adds some sweetness to the brine, so I don’t have to add any extra sugar.
Also make sure that your turkey is completely thawed before you place it in the brine, or the brine won’t work correctly.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup salt
- 1 head of garlic peeled
- 1 large onion, quartered
- 5 sprigs of thyme
- 3-4 bay leaves
- 1-2″ fresh ginger
- 4 sprigs of oregano
- 1 tspn black peppercorns
- 1 tspn allspice
- 1 lemon, halved
- 2 limes, halved
- 1 liter of lemon lime pop (7-up or sprite works too)
Directions
- Fill a large stock pot, with about two gallons of water.
- Add all the ingredients and bring to a boil. Boil for at least 5 minutes, or until the salt is dissolved.
- If the turkey is small enough to fit in the pot, place directly in the pot.
- My turkey weighed 16lbs, and was just a little too big. So I grabbed my water bath, that I use for canning, and placed my turkey in their and poured the brine over the turkey.
- The turkey has to be completely submerged in the brine. If your turkey is poking out just add some more water until everything is covered.
- Brine for at least 24 hours before cooking.
