How to Brine a Turkey

Brining a Turkey is a game changer when it comes to producing a juicy, flavorful turkey. This turkey brine recipe is the EASIEST method for producing the most flavorful Roasted Turkey you have ever had! With these step by step directions for how to brine a turkey, you will be a rock star this at your holiday meal with very little effort on your part.

Serve this Brined Turkey with Mashed Potatoes, Classic Stuffing, Sweet Potato Casserole, and Cranberry Sauce for a Thanksgiving feast everyone will rave about.

I don't believe we can talk about Thanksgiving or Roasted Turkey without talking about Alton Brown.

That man is a genius. I mean seriously, is there any recipe he has not mastered?!

When I am looking for a hands down winner, I turn to Alton's techniques.

So therefore, when I was faced to cook a turkey the first time on my own, I turned to Alton Brown's method to brine a turkey before roasting.

Why Brine a Turkey?

Brining is the process of soaking meat in a salt water solution before cooking.

As the meat sits in the brine, it soaks up the salt water, which flavors the meat and adds moisture to the piece of meat.

Because turkey is not a flavorful meat on it's own, and also has a reputation of being a bit on the dry side, brining a turkey is a perfect solution to produce a flavorful and moist main course for your holiday meal.

How to Brine a Turkey

Alton Brown is a genius, but his recipes tend to be complex or require special equipment.

I took his turkey brine recipe and changed it up for the average home cook. My method for preparing a turkey brine produces just as a delicious roast turkey as Alton Brown's method, but saves you tons of money.

Before you proceed with preparing your turkey brine, keep in mind that this works best on a fresh turkey. A frozen turkey has been injected with a sodium solution and the turkey will not be able to fully absorb the brine. That said, I have brined a frozen turkey before and it still tastes better than NOT brining a turkey.

What you need to Brine a Turkey

• An extra large Ziploc Big Bag (to hold turkey in brine). Some people use brining bags but they can be expensive and/or hard to find. Others use large buckets and place the turkey outside to keep cold overnight while it is in the brine. But if you live in the south, like me, it may be too warm for that bird to sit outside safely all night. Instead, I purchase an extra large ziploc bag that holds the turkey in the brine and is easy to find and inexpensive.
• Vegetable and Fruit Scraps During the fall months, I save all my scraps--carrot peels, onion peels, garlic peels, wilted herbs, rosemary, thyme, orange peels and apple cores/peels in a large freezer safe bag in the freezer. Add the herbs/peels as you have them to your bag and you will be ready to use them for the turkey brine. However, you can simply use whole vegetables instead of scraps, no problem.
• Brown Sugar Brown sugar dissolves in the brine perfectly to add a bit of sweetness to the turkey.
• Kosher salt Lots of salt--that is what flavors and tenderizes the meat. It is key!
• Water (or stock) You can use either water or stock for your turkey brine. I find the difference to be negligible so I stick with water.
• Stock Pan To prepare the turkey brine.

How to Make Turkey Brine 

• Place salt, sugar, herbs, vegetable and fruit scraps in a large stock pan.
• Cover with cold, filtered water or chicken/turkey stock.
• Bring brine to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, or until sugar and salt have dissolved in water.
• Strain brining liquid of solids (if desired--or just discard with brining bag after removing turkey from brine.)
• Remove from heat and cool for 30 minutes, before storing in refrigerator to cool the remaining way.

Steps to Brining a Turkey

1. Three to Four days before you are planning to cook your turkey, begin thawing your turkey in the refrigerator, if you are using a frozen turkey--but remember a fresh turkey is best!
2. Two days before roasting your turkey, make your turkey brine.
3. On the night before you plan to roast your turkey, place your thawed and cleaned out turkey into the large Ziploc Bag or brining bag.
4. Pour the brining liquid into the bag over the turkey.
5. Pour cold water in to cover the turkey completely in liquid--this is about 1 gallon of cold water.
6. Seal the brining bag securely.
7. Refrigerate overnight.
8. The next day, remove the turkey from the brine and rinse. Strain off the brine and discard the solids in the trash--you don't want those solids going down your kitchen drain!
9. Place the turkey onto a large roasting pan.
10. Sanitize your sink and counters with bleach to prevent food poisoning.

How to Roast Turkey

1. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.
2. Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
3. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
4. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees Fahrenheit. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 ½ hours of roasting.
5. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil for 15 minutes before carving.

Pro Tips for Brining a Turkey

• Remember it is best to use a fresh turkey for brining. A frozen turkey has been injected with a sodium solution and the turkey will not be able to fully absorb the brine. That said, I have brined a frozen turkey before and it still tastes better than NOT brining a turkey.
• I prefer to place the turkey and brining bag in an empty produce drawer in my fridge. That way in case anything leaks from the brine, everything else in your fridge is safe from raw turkey juices.
• I also recommend pouring the brine over the turkey in the fridge (place turkey in brining bag and place in the produce drawer, then pour brine and remaining water over turkey and seal.) This is much easier than carrying the brine and turkey to the fridge.
• The morning of roasting your turkey, remove the drawer the brining bag is in (you may need 2 people to carry the drawer depending on how often you lift weights!!) and place next to your sink. Ensuring that everything is removed from your sink and nearby areas (so no turkey juice is splattered on something that is meant to be eaten!!), drain the brine from the bag (leaving the large scraps in the bag to discard with ease with the bag).
• Be sure to bleach the heck out of everything around the sink and wash up!! You don't want to experience food poisoning!
• If you need to make your turkey brine the day of brining your turkey, prepare brine as directed. Place ten cups of ice in brine to cool completely and then pour over turkey.

Side Dishes to Serve with Brined Turkey

• Green Bean Casserole from Scratch
• Homemade Citrus Spiked Cranberry Sauce
• Green Beans Almondine
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Twice Baked Butternut Squash

The Best Turkey Brine

This turkey brine recipe is the EASIEST method for producing the most flavorful Roasted Turkey you have ever had. With these step by step directions for how to brine a turkey, you will be a rock star this at your holiday meal with very little effort on your part!

4.8 from 35 votes

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Cooling Time: 12 hours

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 1 brine

Calories: 419kcal

Author: Kristen Chidsey

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup kosher salt
• ▢ ½ cup brown sugar
• ▢ 1-3 sprigs rosemary
• ▢ 1-3 sprigs thyme
• ▢ 2-4 bay leaves
• ▢ 1 cup carrot peels or 2-3 carrots
• ▢ 1 cup apple peels or 1 apple sliced
• ▢ 1 cup celery pieces or 6 stalks of celery
• ▢ 2 cups onion pieces or 2 chopped onions
• ▢ 10-12 cups water

Instructions

Turkey Brine Recipe

• Place salt, sugar, and vegetable and fruit in a large stock pan.
• Cover with cold, filtered water or chicken/turkey stock.
• Bring brine to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, or until sugar and salt have dissolved in water.
• Remove from heat and cool for 30 minutes, before storing in the refrigerator to cool the remaining way. 
• At this point, you can strain off the solids from your brine. I typically leave them in the brine and then discard with the brining bag in the morning after removing the turkey from the brine. 

How to Brine Turkey

• On the night before you plan to roast your turkey, place your thawed and cleaned out turkey into the large Ziploc Bag or brining bag.
• Pour the brining liquid over the into the bag.
  
• Pour cold water in to cover the bird completely in liquid–this is about 1 gallon of cold water.
• Seal the brining bag and refrigerate the turkey in the brine overnight. 
• Before roasting the turkey, remove the turkey from the brine and rinse off the excess salt on the turkey. Blot the turkey dry with paper towels. 

Roast Turkey

•  Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.
• Roast the turkey on the lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16-pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 ½ hours of roasting.
• Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil for 15 minutes before carving.
  

Equipment Needed

• XL Ziploc Storage Bags

Notes

• This recipe is for a 10-14 pound turkey. Double for a larger turkey or cut in half for a turkey breast. 
• It is best to brine a fresh turkey that has not been injected with a sodium solution. 
• Instead of veggie and fruit scraps, you can use 2 chopped onions, 6 stalks of celery, 1 chopped apple, and 2 large carrots.
• Feel free to use more or less vegetables (the salt is the most important part of the turkey brine.)
• Use water, stock, or apple juice for the brining liquid. 

Nutrition

Calories: 419kcal | Carbohydrates: 108g | Sodium: 113329mg | Potassium: 146mg | Sugar: 106g | Vitamin C: 1.6mg | Calcium: 236mg | Iron: 1.7mg

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This post was published originally in 2017, but has been updated with new tips November 2019.