Remember the scene in the Christmas Vacation movie where the Griswold family is sitting down to a beautiful dinner and Clark carves into the turkey only to have it burst open and reveal a smoldering carcass?
Everyone tries to remain in good spirits while gnawing at the skin. It’s hilarious.
Also, ew.
In real life, a dry turkey is not very funny and can be super embarrassing for the cook. Luckily, there is a wonderful and relatively easy way to keep this from ever happening to you!
It’s done using a method called brining, which ensures you will carve into a succulent turkey every time.
Great. So, what is brining?
Brining is the process of submerging poultry in salt-rich water, thus allowing the meat to absorb the moisture and keep it from turning dry and tough while roasting.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1 bottle of Riesling (preferably marked sweet or “Late Harvest”)
3 bay leaves
5 tarragon sprigs
6 sage leaves
1 tbsp peppercorns
4 crushed garlic cloves
1 cup brown sugar
1½ cups salt
1 quart water
Here’s how you do it:
In a large pot combine all ingredients.
Bring to a boil and stir well until salt and brown sugar have dissolved (about 5 minutes).
Remove from heat and add 1 gallon of water. This is your brine.
Let it cool to room temperature.
Pour brine into the brining bag or oven roasting bag, then add turkey and tie the bag closed. I have found the easiest way to do this is place the bag in a large stock pot, add turkey and then add the brine.
Now, there are a couple options.
If you have a large stockpot or a 5 gallon bucket AND you can make room for it in your refrigerator: Place the bag into the pot or bucket and put it in the fridge for 12-24 hours. Weigh the turkey down so that it’s completely submerged.
You can use a cooler if you don’t have a proper pot, bucket or fridge space: Place the bag into the cooler and fill with ice. Keep refilling ice as needed to keep it at 40°F for 12-24 hours, adding weight to the turkey as necessary to keep it fully submerged.
If you time this right your turkey will be fully brined Thanksgiving morning!
Once you’re ready to cook this bird, take it out of the bag, discard the brining solution and rinse, rinse, RINSE. When you think you’ve rinsed it enough, rinse it once more.
All this rinsing is crucial because the salt from your brining solution can ruin the turkey – nobody wants a mouthful of ocean on their first bite.
Afterward, pat the turkey dry and prepare it for roasting!
Now that you know how to brine a turkey, you have the ability to serve a juicy, tender bird at every Thanksgiving table. Regale your guests and enjoy the meal!
Bawk bawk.
Get the printable -> Thanksgiving Turkey Brine
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