Best Turkey Brine Recipe

Cooking for the holidays can be pretty stressful so finding the best turkey brine recipe shouldn’t be hard. So here’s my recipe that I swear by every year. Making your brine is a very easy and you might want to teach your kids while their young how to make this brine.

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts apple cider (or apple juice)
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 3-4 cinnamon sticks
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of kosher salt
• 2 medium oranges, sliced
• 2 Tbsp. peppercorns
• 2 Tbsp. dried rosemary
• 2 Tbsp. ground sage
• 2-3 star anise
• 2 Tbsp. thyme
• 1 gallon, water
• 2 Tbsp. whole cloves

Preparing The Brine:

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First thing I do is get my big over sized pot out (this pot cost me about $40 20yrs ago. If you have one already that’s perfect. I mix up the brine in this pot. I also put the turkey in the brine for 12 to 24 hrs.

Next I add the 2 quarts of apple cider (I prefer the apple cider over apple juice) Then add 1/2 cup of the brown sugar. Add the 3-4 cinnamon sticks followed by the 3 cloves of garlic(minced) and 1 cup of kosher salt.

I then add the 2 oranges sliced first the whole orange in 1/4 inch slices then cut those slices in half. Add 2 tablespoons of peppercorns, 2 tablespoons of dried rosemary and 2-3 star anise( these are hard to find sometimes so you can omit that if you can’t find any.

Add 2 tablespoons of thyme, 1 gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of cloves.

Cooking instructions:

Once the turkey brine is mixed together put it on the stove bring it to a boil for 10 minutes . Remove it from the burner put a lid on it and let it cool until i is room temperature.

Preparing the Turkey for the brine:

Make sure your turkey has thawed completely. If it has a few ice crystals inside it’s okay. Make sure you take the neck and bag out of the turkey and give it a good rinsing. Next you place the bird in the pot with the brine or place it in a brining bag.

Place the bird in the brine either in the pot. Make sure the lid is on) or in the bag and place it in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.

Once the birds brining time has come to an end then its time to rinse the bird. Place it in a oven or an roaster oven. I prefer a roster oven because a oven can dry your bird out.

Cook your bird to perfection using the cooking guidelines on the turkey instructions.

and there you have it folks you have just discovered the best turkey brine recipe.

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