Teresa in MO Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Okay, I have never brined a turkey and have some questions. I have Alton Brown's recipe. 1. Can any turkey be brined? I have a Honeysuckle turkey. 2. I bought a brining bag to put the turkey in. After I put the turkey and the brining solution in the bag, can I put it in a cooler? Should I put lots of ice in with it? 3. How long do you usually brine the turkey for. Alton Brown's recipe says anywhere from 8-24 hours. ( or maybe I read this somewhere else.) 4. Alton Brown's recipes calls for allspice berries and candied ginger. I have looked and can't find these, any substitutes or point be in the right direction to find them. 5. Is this really worth it?!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 I have brined turkeys before, with a different recipe that called for oranges. And yes, it was definitely worth it. If you can't find candied ginger, which they should have at a nicer grocery store, I'd just put a small amount of grated fresh ginger in the brine. Allspice berries are just the "unground" form of allspice. I'd substitute with a couple shakes of ground allspice. ETA: I always brined the turkey overnight in the fridge. I imagine it would be fine in a cooler with lots of ice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Okay, I have never brined a turkey and have some questions. I have Alton Brown's recipe. 1. Can any turkey be brined? I have a Honeysuckle turkey. In our experience, they can all be brined. Some come a little brined already, though. 2. I bought a brining bag to put the turkey in. After I put the turkey and the brining solution in the bag, can I put it in a cooler? Should I put lots of ice in with it? Yes. We usually put ours in a plastic tote and put it in the fridge, but a cooler should work fine. 3. How long do you usually brine the turkey for. Alton Brown's recipe says anywhere from 8-24 hours. ( or maybe I read this somewhere else.) I think if you look it up, there are recommendations for how many hours depending on the weight of your turkey. Just google it and you should find it pretty easily. 4. Alton Brown's recipes calls for allspice berries and candied ginger. I have looked and can't find these, any substitutes or point be in the right direction to find them. In our experience, the most important part of the brine is the salt. The seasonings don't matter so much, although they are nice. So don't sweat it. Just put whatever seasonings you would usually use on your turkey in the brine. 5. Is this really worth it?!!!! Yes! We were first introduced to brining through Alton as well, and we have never gone back. We do dry brining now, which we think is easier and gets just as good results. You might try looking into that if you want, but definitely brine it. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 We use Alton's brining method for his fried turkey, and I think it works well for roasted/baked turkey as well.... I follow his directions t a 'T' and it works out wonderfully: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/deep-fried-turkey-recipe/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Okay, I have never brined a turkey and have some questions. I have Alton Brown's recipe. 1. Can any turkey be brined? I have a Honeysuckle turkey. 2. I bought a brining bag to put the turkey in. After I put the turkey and the brining solution in the bag, can I put it in a cooler? Should I put lots of ice in with it? 3. How long do you usually brine the turkey for. Alton Brown's recipe says anywhere from 8-24 hours. ( or maybe I read this somewhere else.) 4. Alton Brown's recipes calls for allspice berries and candied ginger. I have looked and can't find these, any substitutes or point be in the right direction to find them. 5. Is this really worth it?!!!! I'm not expert, but here's what I can tell you. Yes, it is definitely worth it. Prevents dry turkey - the whole cooking business is a lot less tricky when the meat is guarateed moist! Just skip the stuff you can't find. Truly, the kosher salt & liquid are the only vital things. Every year, I just empty the bottom drawer of my fridge & clean really well, and just brine in that. Put the turkey in first, pour the brine on top, then jiggle/"burp" the turkey to get the liquid in the middle. 8 hours is for a smaller bird - 24 hours is for one of those mongo big ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa in MO Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 :001_smile: Can you explain dry brining to me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimtaxi234 Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 We have used a brine for the past 5 years and everyone raves how moist and tender the turkey when we eat. We use a variation of Alton Brown's brine. I'm not an expert, but based on my experience, I think it is probably the technique vs the ingredients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Can you explain dry brining to me? Sure. This is really my husband's area of expertise, but he sent me the links to explain it. Here's one that explains the generals of it and the theory and this link is the recipe we use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 (edited) Can you explain dry brining to me? Salt the bird inside and out. Bag. Leave in fridge for two or three days. Rinse. Cook. Google for bird weight to salt ratio. :001_smile: ETA : I used the recipe posted above. :001_smile: Edited November 17, 2011 by nmoira Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.