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n.c.iowa | First try to find a non basted bird, it’s hard to know how much baste was injected and you might end up with a salt bomb.
the typical sized bird I use a 28 quart cooler. I think I make about 3 gallons of brine, but it is best to to do a dry run with the turkey and the cooler to see how much brine it will take. Better to have more than enough brine and throw away some than not to have enough.
For a simple brine I use 1/2 cup of kosher salt and a 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon of water, boil for 5 minutes, and let cool down before dropping the turkey into the brine, what I typically do is to go 7 pints of water Then boil the mix, when it is done boiling drop in a pint equivalent of ice cubes to bring the temp down faster. Otherwise I do it the day before and refrigerate overnight.
Brine for at least 24 hours, but no more than 36, ice cubes or chilling is not required during the brining process, but make sure the brine concentration is at least what I posted, and chilled,and everything is clean.
There are all kinds of brine recipes with all kinds of seasonings, in my experience they really don’t lend a lot of flavor to the brining process, but they do smell real good. If you want to enhance the flavor of the bird I find it works better to rub some seasoning on the outside and inside after brining, before smoking. But typically here just the plain brine seems to be a favorite. | |
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Smoking a turkey.
