Recipe By Devin Welch
Rating
Published Mar 5th
Prep 25m Cook 16m Additional - Ready In 41m
Servings 31 cups Calories 101.5

I mixed and matched and finally found the best way to brine a turkey. It adds flavor but not enough to overpower what you will use when you roast the turkey. It will literally leak when you cut it… that is how juicy this bird gets. You can also use this brine for other types of poultry.

Recipe Ingredients

  • 5 cups water, divided
  • 1 cup salt
  • 1 gallon water
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 quarts apple juice (not from concentrate)
  • 1 pint whiskey (such as Jack Daniel's®)
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 large Gala apple, quartered and chopped
  • 1 navel orange, quartered, or more to taste

Cooking Directions

  1. 1 Combine 2 1/2 cups water and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until salt is dissolved, about 3 minutes.
  2. 2 Pour water and salt mixture into a 5-gallon bucket. Add 1 gallon of water.
  3. 3 Combine 2 1/2 cups water and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Pour into the bucket.
  4. 4 Stir apple juice, whiskey, and lemon juice into the bucket. Add chopped apple. Squeeze in orange juice and add in rinds.

Nutrition Facts

  • Calories 101.5
  • Carbohydrate 16.3 g
  • Fat 0.1 g
  • Fiber 0.5 g
  • Protein 0.1 g
  • Sodium 8.9 mg
  • Sugar 14.9 g

Chef's Notes

Substitute 1/4 cup lemon extract for the lemon juice if desired; To Brine: Crush 1 to 2 jumbo-sized cloves of garlic and rub over a 12 to 18-pound turkey. You can also mince fresh herbs and mix in with the garlic. Stuff turkey with 1 quartered and chopped apple. Brine for 12 to 16 hours, depending on the size of the turkey. You could add a bottle of dry white wine to the brine about 6 hours in. Pat turkey dry with paper towels before roasting; Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of brine ingredients. The actual amount of brine consumed will vary.

Reviews

  1. The turkey was very moist and had a great flavor. Will definitely be used again!!!!!!!
  2. This was the best smoked turkey I have ever made. The brine made it super juicy tender and full of flavor. I scaled down the recipe because I was just doing a whole turkey breast and it still came out perfect. I injected some seasoned salt but that is the only change I made. Perfect - Read more ...
  3. It was very delicious and flavorful! The turkey was very juicy and moist. This is a keeper.

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