How to Brine a Turkey

Brine is little more than sugar and salt dissolved in water. To brine meat, you submerge the meat in the solution and let is sit for 30 minutes to 30 hours, depending on the size and intensity of flavor you desire. The reason this works is that meat is composed of cells, and cells have these things called membranes. Membranes desire nothing more than balance. So if they detect more salt on one side of the membrane than the other they move some salt across the membrane in a process called diffusion. Diffusion of a liquid across a membrane is called osmosis. Osmosis is the reason brining does anything at all.

So the brine is pumped into the meat, resulting in more liquid in the meat and more flavor. At the same time, the salt denatures proteins present in the meat. These denatured proteins are suddenly very effective at hanging on to water. Which means that brined meats are juicier when cooked and they are more forgiving of accidental overcooking. These are the three main reasons why brining meat has become so popular. Typically, poultry and pork are the most popular target meats for brining. But a marinade is another form of a brine. So you may have been brining meat for years, and you never knew it. How trendy of you.

Steps to Brining a Turkey

1. First, you must make sure you have the tools required to brine a turkey. The process is going to require a large container to hold the brine and the turkey. A cooler works the best, but I have seen other plastic tubs and buckets used. The cooler works well because it keeps the turkey cool the longest. But if you use enough ice, anything will work.
2. Next, you need to procure a turkey that will fit into your brining vessel. The turkey, depending on its size, may take two full days to thaw in the fridge. Refrigerator thawing is the safest way to thaw meat. The other realistic way to thaw a turkey is to thaw it in cool running water. But that is wasteful.
3. Next, you will be preparing the brine for the turkey. The basic recipe for brine is salt, sugar and water. The recipe I have chosen for this bird is as follows: 1 ½ C salt, ½ C sugar, one 6 oz container of frozen lemonade concentrate, and one gallon warm water. It is not necessary to cook this mixture; just stir until everything is dissolved.
4. Put the turkey into the cooler and pour the brine over it. Make sure to get the brine in the cavities. You can add more water if the turkey isn't fully covered. The recipe should not be diluted beyond a total of two gallons water.
   
   
   
5. Add five pounds ice to the turkey brine. The ice will keep the turkey cool, since you won't be able to fit this in the fridge.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Brine the turkey for 6 – 10 hours, depending on how you like your turkey. The longer the turkey sits in the soak, the saltier it will become. After you take the turkey out of the brine, dry it with paper towels before cooking. Enjoy.

 

Tips for Brining Turkeys

Those cheap, disposable Styrofoam coolers have a tendency to leak. So skip all that and just get a real cooler, but make sure to clean it really well before and after you brine your turkey in it.

Also, do not attempt to use a zipper-locking style bag to brine an 11-pound turkey in. I know it seems like you could use a two-gallon bag and put it inside a tall pot in the fridge. But those bags just aren't built to stand up to the kind of pressure that much weight provides. Believe me: I already tried.

If you live in a cool environment, you can put the turkey outside while it brines, but remember to put it somewhere out of reach of animals. Also, the water will get below freezing, so don't put your bare hands in it.

Variations on the brining method

There are so many things that you can do with brine. The basic recipe and method are good starting points, but you can add just about anything you can imagine to the brine. Some will be delicious. Some will be horrible failures. Just keep track and try improving upon your recipe in small increments. But taste, try and adjust. That is the best way to perfect your own recipe.