Turkey Brining Solution
Simple instructions for brining your turkey with flavor options.
Ingredients
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 10 pound bag of ice
- 2 gallons cold water
Optional Flavor Additions
- 1 cup sugar, granulated or brown
- 2 lemons quartered
- handful herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage
- 3 bay leaves
- 5 garlic cloves peeled and smashed
Instructions
- In a large container, combine the kosher salt and water.
- Stir until the kosher salt is dissolved.
- If adding sugar, combine it with 2 cups of water in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. (Drop in a few ice cubes if you want to speed up the cooling process.) Stir the sugar water into the brine mixture.
- Add the brine to the turkey in the trash bag set in the ice chest. Be sure that the turkey is completely covered. You can double the brining solution or add additional water.
- Tightly tie the trash bag closed and cover completely with ice. Close the ice chest and place it in a cool place. Periodically check the ice chest that it is still cold and add more ice, if necessary. You can turn the turkey over once or twice. Allow turkey to brine overnight.
- Remove the turkey from the brine solution and rinse thoroughly. Discard brine solution and trash bag and thoroughly sanitize the ice chest.
- Pat turkey dry with paper towels. Sit on a platter in the refrigerator uncovered (This will help make the turkey skin crisper.) until ready to cook.