{"id":373,"date":"2008-11-19T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-19T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/19\/brining-the-turkey\/"},"modified":"2017-02-02T12:34:03","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T17:34:03","slug":"brining-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=373","title":{"rendered":"Brining the Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\n
To properly brine a turkey you need to start the night before you plan to cook.<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
You will need at least 10 to 12 hours (plan on 1 hour per pound of turkey), a container large enough to hold your turkey and enough brine to cover it.<\/div>\n
You’ll also need salt, water, sugar, seasonings, and enough room to refrigerate it.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A large stainless steel stock pot or even a 5 gallon clean plastic bucket would make excellent containers. Whatever container you choose the turkey needs to have enough room to be turned so it should be big. Both Reynolds (Oven Roasting Bag for Turkeys) and Ziploc (XL Storage Bag) make very large food safe sealable bags that are great for brining.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Turkey:<\/strong><\/div>\n
Now let’s get to the turkey. The turkey should be cleaned out, completely thawed, and should not be a self-basting or Kosher turkey. Self-basting and Kosher turkeys have a salty stock added that will make your brined turkey too salty. A fresh turkey works best, but a completely thawed, previously frozen turkey will work just as well.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Brine Ingredients:<\/strong><\/div>\n
To make the brine, mix 1 cup of table salt<\/a> in 1 gallon of water. You will need more than 1 gallon of water but that\u2019s the ratio to aim for. One way of telling if you have enough salt in your brine is that a raw egg will float in it. Make sure that the salt is completely dissolved before adding the seasonings you like, making sure not to add anything that contains salt. Brines can be spicy hot with peppers and cayenne, savory with herbs and garlic, or sweet with molasses, honey and brown sugar. Whatever your tastes are, you can find a large number of brine recipes<\/a> on my site.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Set-up:<\/strong><\/div>\n
Place the turkey in a container and pour in enough brine to completely cover the turkey with an inch or two to spare. You do not want any part of the turkey above the surface of the brine. Now you put the whole thing in the refrigerator. If you are like me, making enough room in the fridge is the hardest part of this project. The turkey should sit in the brine for about 1 hour per pound of turkey. Brining too long is much worse than not brining enough so watch the time.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Keep it Cool!:<\/strong><\/div>\n
Don’t have room in the refrigerator? Try a cooler. A cooler big enough to hold your turkey makes a good container for your turkey and brine. The cooler will help keep it cool and allow you to brine your turkey without taking up precious refrigerator space. If the weather is cool, but not freezing you can put the whole thing outside until you need the turkey. If the weather is warm fill a a zip top bag with ice. Place this in the cooler with the turkey and brine and it will hold down the temperature during the brining process.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Rinsing:<\/strong><\/div>\n
When you are ready to start cooking your turkey, remove it from the brine and rinse it off thoroughly in the sink with cold water until all traces of salt are off the surface inside and out. Safely discard the brine and cook your turkey as normal. You will notice the second you start to carve your turkey that the brining has helped it retain moisture. The first bite will sell you on brining turkeys forever, and after you’ve tried this you will want to brine all your poultry.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  To properly brine a turkey you need to start the night before you plan to cook. You will need at least 10 to 12 hours (plan on 1 hour … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[380],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recipes","tag-turkey"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/BrinedTurkey.jpg?fit=180%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-61","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1906,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1906","url_meta":{"origin":373,"position":0},"title":"A Tasty T-Day Turkey Riddle. Please solve this for me.","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Brining your turkey violates a basic law of science. Help me out with this.\u00a0To explain what I mean, we'll have to do the \"Tasty T-Day Turkey Test\". But first, let's establish what we know.Fact #1, in \"science-speak\":\u00a0Osmosis\u00a0is the spontaneous net movement of solvent molecules through a partially permeable membrane into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Osmose.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2275,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2275","url_meta":{"origin":373,"position":1},"title":"The 5 Biggest Thanksgiving Turkey Mistakes & How To Avoid Them","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Great article about the upcoming T-Day and Turkey!! I would like to add to this, that brining the turkey the day before is a great idea to pump up the flavor and to help keep it moist. Osmosis rules!!Read the Article at HuffingtonPost","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1907,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1907","url_meta":{"origin":373,"position":2},"title":"Wild Turkey VS Supermarket Turkey: Who’s the better bird?","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Wonderful graphic from the World Science Festival.Follow @willclowerThey've made them gigantic, but at what cost? If you want to learn more about these amazing birds, here's a PDF by the USDA on our remaining wild turkeys.As with all game, the meat will be richer, less likely to have been treated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/a-tale-of-two-turkeys_graphic.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":155,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=155","url_meta":{"origin":373,"position":3},"title":"Curried Turkey Soup","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Did you freeze some turkey from the holiday feasts? Give this turkey recipe a try. Chicken also works well for the recipe too. You\u2019ll Need 6 cups turkey stock 1 cup peeled apples, chopped 1 large onion, chopped \u00bd teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons curry powder \u00bc teaspoon garlic powder 1\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Recipes"","block_context":{"text":"Recipes","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=380"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/turkey-218742_1280-300x195.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":154,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=154","url_meta":{"origin":373,"position":4},"title":"Turkey Noodle Soup","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This recipe\u00a0takes some time but it is worth it. Give it a try on a day when you are sitting around and enjoying chatting with families and friends. You\u2019ll Need Bones from a roasted turkey 7 cups water 1 bay leaf 2 stalk celery, chopped (separated) 1 onion, quartered \u00bc\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Recipes"","block_context":{"text":"Recipes","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=380"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/turkeysoup.jpg?fit=200%2C200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":167,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=167","url_meta":{"origin":373,"position":5},"title":"Crock Pot Turkey","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a unique way to make turkey in the crock pot. Use it for a holiday party or even for an easy to prepare meal during this time of year. You'll Need: 4 pounds turkey breast 1 Tablespoon salt 2 large onions Garlic powder Paprika Directions: Two days before\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Recipes"","block_context":{"text":"Recipes","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=380"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=373"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5230,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions\/5230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}