Turkey Brine Recipe

Do you brine your turkey? I had never heard of it until years ago watching Alton Brown on Good Eats. We've done it ever since and it always is a moist bird.




This is the bird after it brined for 12 hours.

We tried a new recipe this year. What I liked about it was the we had everything for it already. That's the best kind of recipe.

Turkey Brine
Recipe courtesy food.com

2 gallons water
1 cup kosher salt
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 T black peppercorns
3-4 T chopped garlic
2T Worcestershire sauce


Warm the water enough so all the salt and sugar dissolves. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Cool this mixture completely.

Rinse your turkey after it has thawed. Place your turkey in some kind of device that will hold the brine and be able to keep cool for 12-24 hours. We put ours in a big trash bag with the brine, then put that bag in a big ice chest. Then we put 2-3 bags of ice in the ice chest.

The next day take your turkey out of the brine. Completely rinse the bird and pat it dry. Then prepare the bird however you normally prepare it. This year we cooked ours with a butter soaked cheese cloth on top.



This was one moist bird.


Doesn't it look beautiful.