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The Ultimate Thanksgiving Turkey Brine (pic)

How should I alter this recipe if I was just doing a trial run with one turkey breast?

Also, if you had a choice between Apple, Pear or Alder wood, which would you use here?

Thanks!
 
Thank you for the quick response! Brine is made, and my 6yr old daughter just confirmed that it smells "awesome"!
Hopefully she still likes it tomorrow after it's cooked. To her, any meat that is not fish is considered "chicken". Tonight at supper, she said "I don't like this chicken", pointing to the pieces of steak left on her plate.

Ron
 
Fantastic

John, this brine is really good.....gives the bird a nice flavor, keeps it REALLY moist, and best of all it's simple to do (good for a lazy guy like myself). It even kept the bird moist when I accidentally let it the breast temp get to 180 degrees. I'd recommend it to anyone looking to make a great turkey.....
 
I used this brine over the weekend for my test Thanksgiving turkey. I put the juiced citrus in with the turkey and it turned out wonderful.
 

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John,

My wife of late is not happy with a brine, she says she can taste the salt? DUH :crazy: But I just fall over for the tenderness, it doesn't matter if it's on the grill or in a pan out of the smoker so I'm going to give yours a pre-run before the big day. I'm sure it will be a big hit!

I'm going shopping for an Igloo water jug like Alton Brown used on his turkey show, hope to find one on CL for a good price but with the temps there calling for soon I'll be ok anyway.

I have been deep frying birds for years and I have always used Cajun Injector, I'll bet this brine would do well in oil also correct?

Thanks to you and all the brethern for all your help! It sure makes puttin smiles on peoples faces after a good meal a lot easier!!!!:thumb:
 
Sounds good, John. Similar to mine, though I use fresh ginger and apple juice in addition to some water. One thing though, I will NEVER make a recipe with hot tap water. Uh-uh, no way. A quick boil of water is safer(better flavor too) than percolating in water heaters.
Only takes another minute or two to boil.

For those who have NEVER had a brined bird, YOU ARE MISSING OUT! :doh:
 
Hi John, so do you not rinse the bird after the Brine, just pat dry? I asked about rinsing in another thread and it seemed the majority rinsed. To me it seemed to be unneeded.

Thanks for the recipe!
 
{Midnight ☼ Smoke};1851048 said:
Hi John, so do you not rinse the bird after the Brine, just pat dry? I asked about rinsing in another thread and it seemed the majority rinsed. To me it seemed to be unneeded.

Thanks for the recipe!
Click to expand...

The majority wisdom is that you should rinse, although I often don't. I really
don't think it makes a difference.

John
 
I'm the only one in the family that really likes turkey, so I usually just do a turkey breast. I may try brining it with the recipe and see how it turns out. I luckily have a full sized second fridge in the basement, so I can put it down there among all my frosty beverages.
 
Thanks for the recipe John...

I will be using my WSM for my turkey next week. Should I put water or sand in the water pan?
 
I don't know why no-one evr added tags to this thread. It seems to come up every year... Just search Thanksgiving from now on!

BTW John, I hope I can try this soon. Just gotta find me a fresh turkey that has not been pre-mairinated. In Aussieland, they are majority FROZEN and Pre-marinaded because Aussies can't BBQ anything in general.

Cheers!

Bill
 
if you use a bag to brine is there any reason why you need to put the bag in ice instead of in the refigerator?
 
and if you can fit the bucket in the refrigerator is there any reason not to?
 
dealm9 said:
if you use a bag to brine is there any reason why you need to put the bag in ice instead of in the refigerator?
Click to expand...

There are only two requirements -- keep the bird completely submerged, and
keep it below 40*. How you do it depends on your preferences and options.

John
 
At work tonight & notice a sign-up for pot-luck TG dinner for night shift. Notice work is also giving out our annual free turkeys in the AM.
Signed up for smoked turkey so i can try your brine recipe (and also since i'm "expected" to always bring smoked meat).
Thanks John for posting this recipe.
 
Thanks for the recipe John. I heard you talking about it on last week on the BBQ show on ITunes podcast, that was a good interview.
 
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