Forum favorite brine?


 
Bruno

Bruno

TVWBB Hall of Fame
Do we have consensus on the best brine for a turkey?
Picked up a nice brining bucket at Costco this AM and want to give it a go.

thanks!!
 
Chris Allingham said:
I've received the most positive feedback on this one:

www.virtualweberbullet.com

Whole Turkey - Apple Brine - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Apple brined whole turkey smoked to perfection on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Based on a 1999 recipe from a Weber cookbook.
www.virtualweberbullet.com www.virtualweberbullet.com
Click to expand...

I've been using that for several years. It's excellent. This year, I'm adding some allspice berries and peppercorns. I also picked up some local-pressed cider, so I'm going with that. Can't wait for the turkey coma on Thursday.

Jeff
 
J Grotz said:
I have used this brine many times and love it:

https://www.weber.com/US/en/blog/gr...brined-hickory-smoked-turkey/weber-29490.html

Here’s the one I’m trying this year that many on the board love:

https://www.weber.com/US/en/recipes/poultry/brined-and-barbecued-turkey/weber-9139.html
Click to expand...
J. Barb and I are doing the 2nd one you have listed this year. We have done it it the past and it's very good, just FYI if you get an enhanced bird I would recommend that you use 1/2 cup of salt for the brine as a full cup with the enhanced bird gets a little to salty.

https://www.weber.com/US/en/recipes/poultry/brined-and-barbecued-turkey/weber-9139.html
 
Rich Dahl said:
J. Barb and I are doing the 2nd one you have listed this year. We have done it it the past and it's very good, just FYI if you get an enhanced bird I would recommend that you use 1/2 cup of salt for the brine as a full cup with the enhanced bird gets a little to salty.

https://www.weber.com/US/en/recipes/poultry/brined-and-barbecued-turkey/weber-9139.html
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip, Rich. We splurge and get a natural turkey from a local butcher, so no enhancing involved. I am changing the recipe a little. Instead of cooking it in a roasting pan with the neck, veggies and stock, I'm putting those things in a drip pan and cooking the bird on the rotisserie.
 
J Grotz said:
Thanks for the tip, Rich. We splurge and get a natural turkey from a local butcher, so no enhancing involved. I am changing the recipe a little. Instead of cooking it in a roasting pan with the neck, veggies and stock, I'm putting those things in a drip pan and cooking the bird on the rotisserie.
Click to expand...
That should work fine, wish we had a butcher here. I'll be doing ours on the Camp Chef for the first time.
 
I'm a sucker for every new turkey gimmick that comes along.

So one of my turkeys this year will be a test run for this buttermilk/salt brine from the Salt/Fat/Acid/Heat author.

cooking.nytimes.com

Buttermilk-Brined Roast Turkey Recipe

With only two ingredients — buttermilk and salt — this might be the least complicated turkey brine recipe ever The trickiest step will be pulling out your kitchen scale to weigh out the salt, but it's worth doing if you can to ensure a properly seasoned turkey The acid in the buttermilk leads to...
cooking.nytimes.com cooking.nytimes.com

The other will be getting the French Laundry/Thomas Keller no brine mayo slather.
 
Here is one that I got off of this site from around 2004! I believe the members name was Larry. I haven’t brined in a long time now. But way back then I have used this one several years in a row! And it was and is great! This is the original brine recipe. I do remember taking the bird up to 165, 170 in the breast though. Also I modified it a little bit with putting in apple cider, some cinnamon, and honey.
Jack Daniels Maple Syrup Turkey
Container large enough to brine your turkey in (a 5 gallon food grade container works well for large birds)
2 cups maple syrup
1 cup bourbon
1 tablespoon pickling spice
Remainder of container filled with salt water mixture with ½ cup table salt per gallon of water (you can also add apples oranges etc.)
Ice can be added to brine to insure safe temperatures
Brine in refrigerator for 24 - 36 hours, rinse bird and allow to air dry in the refrigerator overnight
Season cavity, place carrots, celery, pierced lemon and anything else you desire in cavity.
Butter and season skin
Smoke or grill to 155 Breast/175 Thigh, cherry or other fruit wood recommended
Be sure to use a drip pan below your bird to capture all the "goodness" for your gravy.
Note: I ice down the breast for approximately 45 minutes prior to cooking. This helps the breast and thigh come to temp. at the same time. Ziplock bags of ice work well.
 
I'm partial to whiskey brine, I used two cups in this cook, I think three would have been even better

tvwbb.com

2016 Thanksgiving Turkey

By request, I had to cook this guy on the WSM. It was a good call, it was very good. Super moist 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM I was so full from all the snacks today, my pitiful plate is all I could manage
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
 
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