Apple Brine and 5 gal bucket

[Mike_L (Big Mike)]

Ok, I started my apple brine last night. I heated the apple juice, brown sugar, and salt to a boil for 1 minute. I let it sit to room temp then put it in my 5 gal bucket. When i did this it filled up 2 inches of the bucket. I know i haven't added 3 qrts of water or the 14 lbs turkey yet but i'm concerned the bucket might be too big.

Has anyone done this recipe with a 5 gal bucket? Will i have enough liquid to cover the bird? I know when i add the turkey it is going to displace the water but i'm not sure.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[JeffB]

Ok, I started my apple brine last night. I heated the apple juice, brown sugar, and salt to a boil for 1 minute. I let it sit to room temp then put it in my 5 gal bucket. When i did this it filled up 2 inches of the bucket. I know i haven't added 3 qrts of water or the 14 lbs turkey yet but i'm concerned the bucket might be too big.

Has anyone done this recipe with a 5 gal bucket? Will i have enough liquid to cover the bird? I know when i add the turkey it is going to displace the water but i'm not sure.

Any thoughts on this?

Is the bird still wrapped? To check, you could always put the brine in another container, replace the VOLUME of the brine with some water, add the additional water, etc, and then lower your bird into the container to see how close you come. I think I had the same issue/concern last year, but it fit perfectly. If you end up with some exposed bird, you could always add more water and/or apple juice to cover it and you are fine.

It does not have to be exact.

 

[Mike_L (Big Mike)]

Thanks Jeff. I can move the brine out and fill it with water tonight. I do have some extra apple juice i could add. Just didn't know if that would affect the taste.

 

[JeffB]

Thanks Jeff. I can move the brine out and fill it with water tonight. I do have some extra apple juice i could add. Just didn't know if that would affect the taste.

How did it work out? I have a 5 gallon Igloo cooler (the orange one with white top) and an 18 lb bird. I used the same brine recipe but ended up with about 4" of bird sticking out the top of the brine, so I added water and packed it down with ice, and it was fine.

I think next time I will hold 1/2 of the squeezed orange rinds and put them on top of the bird. As I have it now, all of the oranges are at the bottom of the cooler mashed down by the bird.