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Brine - Traditional with a twist

Good Eats Turkey

The best and easiest way to take your turkey and amp it up from tasty to epically wonderful is a good brine. If you're new to the world or brining, follow Alton Brown's technique below. If you're not big on the flavors of ginger and allspice, try something like a Simon and Garfunkel flavor combination.

Alton's Good Eats Brine for a 14-16 pound turkey:

* 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

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.

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

Continue on for roasting instructions.

Backward Turkey icon . Forward turkey icon

Filed Under: Ingredients, Holidays, How To
Tags: Alton Brown, AltonBrown, brine, brining, fall, poultry, Thanksgiving, traditional Thanksgiving, traditional with a twist, TraditionalThanksgiving, TraditionalWithATwist, turkey

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

kevin

11-13-2008 @12:16PM kevin said... Simply because there are only one or two of you sharing Thanksgiving is no reason to skip the holiday - or settle for Chinese food. Here's a traditional T'day dinner for two: http://cookingfortwo.about.com/od/menuplanning/tp/tday42.htm
Reply

Monika

11-13-2008 @12:10PM Monika said... Kevin - What? There's a difference when you're cooking for two? I always cook twenty-pounders for 2!
Reply

Astin

11-18-2008 @12:09AM Astin said... Before last year, I'd never brined a turkey. I use slight variation of another Alton recipe, and I can't imagine doing a turkey without brining now. Personally, I like adding savory herbs to the brine.
Reply

3 Comments / 1 Pages

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