Do you brine your turkey?

[Lib E]

I am debating on trying the Williams Sonoma Buttermilk brine this year; it sounds great. I always make a butterball; but using a fresh turkey and this brine sounds great! I understand about the gravy; the WS catalogue does state that it won't make a good gravy-but I always use their turkey gravy base anyway. It's the 1st time I've heard mention of the no stuffing inside? The catalogue doesn't mention that.

I brine the chicken I use for fried chicken in a buttermilk brine. It works great.

All birds roast better without stuffing though. I loosely stuff the cavity with onions, celery & carrots, generously smear the skin with butter mixed with a little poultry seasoning, salt & pepper and then bake a dish of stuffing along the side and baste it with turkey juices.

 

[suzannen]

Nope, because I always buy an Empire Kosher Turkey, since it's salted and rinsed, it's basically the original brined turkey. It's always moist and delicious, but I don't have to do anything extra! And, it makes fabulous gravy. (Just don't every brine a Kosher turkey, because that's definitely a cooking mistake and not good at all.)

 

[Kae]

We have stuffed the bird with Altons method it's fine. And we also use a frozen turkey. I still think the big thing is starting the turkey at such a high temp it make the skin perfect.

Kae

 

[komondorok]

I am debating on trying the Williams Sonoma Buttermilk brine this year; it sounds great. I always make a butterball; but using a fresh turkey and this brine sounds great! I understand about the gravy; the WS catalogue does state that it won't make a good gravy-but I always use their turkey gravy base anyway. It's the 1st time I've heard mention of the no stuffing inside? The catalogue doesn't mention that.

We have been brining our turkey every year for what seems forever. I wouldn't do it any other way! Unbelievable results!

We have used the WS brine, the Alton's method, some fancy thing with juniper berries that took me forever to find, and plain old salt water. Haven't really noticed the difference between any of them, except that we tend to use the juniper berry one as it is easy and has always given us excellent results.

The only thing I do different is brine for longer than the 6 hours Alton Brown prescribes. We usually do it overnight to 24 hours in a large cooler with lots of ice.

We always put the stuffing in the bird and it comes out perfectly.

I never make gravy from the drippings, so can't comment on that.

Here is the recipe we use:

CHEZ PANISSE'S TURKEY BRINE

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 gallons cold water

2 cups kosher salt

1 cup sugar

2 bay leaves, torn into pieces

1 bunch fresh thyme, or 4 tablespoons dried

1 whole head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled

5 whole allspice berries, crushed

4 juniper berries, smashed

INSTRUCTIONS
Place the water in a large nonreactive pot that can easily hold the liquid and the turkey. Add all the ingredients and stir for a minute or two until the sugar and salt dissolve.

Put the turkey into the brine and refrigerate for 24 hours. If the turkey floats to the top, weight it down with a plate and cans to keep it completely submerged in the brine.

Note: You may halve or double the recipe. The important thing is to prepare enough brine to cover the turkey completely.

To roast: Remove the bird from the brine, rinse and drain well. Pat dry.

 

[komondorok]

This is the Good Eats Turkey from Alton Brown. It does say to use a frozen turkey.


Ingredients

* 1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

* 1 cup kosher salt
* 1/2 cup light brown sugar
* 1 gallon vegetable stock
* 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
* 1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
* 1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
* 1 gallon iced water

For the aromatics:

* 1 red apple, sliced
* 1/2 onion, sliced
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 1 cup water
* 4 sprigs rosemary
* 6 leaves sage
* Canola oil

Directions

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

 

[mookie]

We brined for the first time about a month ago. Dh has a new smoker, and we LOVE it! Smoking a turkey might just be our new way to go. It was amazing. And the brine had apple juice in it....yummmmy!

 

[Master Mason]

I haven't tried Alton Brown's recipe.

But brining has never given me anything less than spectacular results. For those who are reluctant to give it a try, the results aren't salty and the breast meat is incredibly moist and tasty. I served it to my Mom without telling her what I had done and she was simply amazed. When I later told her how unconventionally it was cooked, she could hardly believe it. She still "disapproves" of how my wife and I do our potatoes, yams, brussel sprouts and pumpkin pie, but even she has to admit to my turkey is pretty good.

But (and these are some big buts), no pan gravy and no in turkey stuffing. You also have to buy a fresh turkey. (Note: make gravy from the neck and giblets then use maybe a quarter cup of the pan juices for flavor. The results are great.)

Somebody else has already stated this, but you really don't need any herbs or vegetables. Salt and water is all it takes - I've tried the fancier versions and they make no difference whatsoever.

I worked in Grocery stores for years. The "Fresh" Turkeys come in solid as a rock. I always laughted when the butchers would tell me that they were just chilled to 32 degrees so they weren't really frozen.

 

[cruellababy]

Thanks to all! I really can't wait to try it! We have a turkey farm near us and tomorrow I will call to order a fresh turkey; and then to home depot for the 5 gallon bucket- OP great thread!

 

[MossMan]

I worked in Grocery stores for years. The "Fresh" Turkeys come in solid as a rock. I always laughted when the butchers would tell me that they were just chilled to 32 degrees so they weren't really frozen.

That's good to know. I suppose those "fresh" turkeys maybe weren't so fresh after all. I remember one year ordering a fresh turkey and being curious at it's seeming frozenness in the cavity.

As far as stuffing goes:

We do in fact stuff the bird, but with sliced apples and lemons and such. Then we toss it out when the turkey is done. I don't actually believe this makes much of a difference in taste. But it does help slow the cooking time down. A bird stuffed with a traditional bread stuffing takes significantly longer to cook that a bird with no stuffing.

I suppose every recipe is different. My wife stuffed a brined turkey one year and the stuffing was so salty it was inedible. So we've never done it again. We now do a stuffing in the crock pot and I have to say it's pretty good.

 

[cruellababy]

Thanks Moss man! I never thought to cook the stuffing in a crockpot; but then I have never made a brined turkey either- does it have a different taste to the stuffing not being cooked in the bird? Thanks again for all the tips/recipes everyone!

 

[java]

We brined last year and I loved it. A juicy juicy bird. You rinse the heck out of it- but gravy is your problem with the salt. So I faked it with mushrooms and another pan gravy that I made up without drippings.