Fay & Texpat’s Turkey Bird Brining Recipe

UPDATED !

Fay & Texpat’s Turkey Brining Recipe

Ingredients:

NOTE:  It takes two people to easily and safely get the turkey into the bags with the brine.

Large Oven Bags for 20-24 lb. Turkey (make sure you double bag)

Wire Zip Ties – 2 ea.

Large Turkey Roasting Pan

2/3 cup Kosher Salt

½ cup sugar

8 whole cloves

1 tsp Juniper Berries

1 tsp Black Peppercorns

1 T. Allspice

4 or 5 Sprigs of Thyme

8 Leaves of Sage

3 Bay Leaves

8 cups of hot water

4 cups of ice water

Grind the juniper berries, peppercorns, cloves with mortar & pestle or put in Ziploc bag and crush under a small pan.  Put this mixture into a dry pot along with the allspice, salt and sugar.  Pour the 8 cups of hot water into the pan, add the fresh thyme sprigs, sage leaves and bay leaves.   Stir well and bring to a boil for 3 minutes.   Turn off heat and pour the ice water into the pot.  Continue to stir for a minute and let cool to room temperature.

Put one oven bag inside the other and put it into the roasting pan.  Fold the opening back to make a collar and place your turkey in the bag.  Pour the brine mixture into the bag slowly, twist the bag shut carefully forcing out as much as possible and secure with 2 zip ties.  Turn the bird so the breast side is down and place into the refrigerator for 18 – 24 hours.

Remove the turkey from the bag, rinse off all the debris, pat dry and let sit uncovered in the pan for 6 hours in the refrigerator to dry out the skin.  Remove from the refrigerator and prep the turkey for roasting in whatever way you like.

Cooking the Brined Turkey

Once I’ve followed all the steps I describe in my brining recipe, I set the bird into a disposable roasting pan on a bed of onions and carrots.  I make a paste of melted butter and paprika and smear it over the whole bird.  I put a bunch of onions and garlic cloves inside the turkey and sprinkle the outside with cracked black pepper.  Then I cook it in the oven in the traditional way.  The only way I get to have leftover turkey for sandwiches is to stick a couple of turkey breasts into the oven also.  The whole turkeys always disappear.