Whichever one you choose; dry or wet, brining your turkey is a MUST if you are aiming for a tasty bird. I have tried roasted turkey brined and unbrined, and I cannot overemphasize just how intensely flavourful the brined turkey was.
A lot of people however believe brining your turkey is a long, complicated process, but this post hopes to debunk that notion, as I show you how to make a wet brine for your Thanksgiving turkey.
It is easily made with ingredients you can find in your pantry, fridge, or your nearest grocery store. Let’s get into it!
Have you tried some of our other sweet and savoury recipes The Secret Recipe to the Fluffiest Vanilla Cupcakes or How to Make the Fluffiest Pretzel Buns?
What is a Wet Brine?
A wet brine is a salt-infused liquid containing a host of citrus fruits, spices, and seasonings. As mentioned earlier, the key ingredient is your salt, all other ingredients are welcome but merely ancillary.
Your choice of spices and seasonings will depend largely on your taste and preferences, but you are allowed to go light or generous with them.
Have you tried out our sweet Toogbei/Wet Ghanaian Bofrot/Puff Puff you should!
Why Brine your Turkey?
The last thing you want is to end up with a roasted turkey that is dry and chewy. Immersing your turkey in a wet brine for a substantial amount of time helps to produce a tender, juicier turkey than most.
The salt (which is the key ingredient) added to the brine has been said to be responsible for this juiciness as it breaks down the muscle protein strands, which in turn allows water to penetrate the muscles.
This absorption of the salt not only flavours and tenderizes the turkey, but also helps it retain moisture during and after the roasting process.
Considering the impact of brining you have just learned about, I should add that it is not restricted to only turkey, you can brine literally any fresh meat you plan on roasting or grilling.
Looking for another snack to explore its recipe? Try out these my; Warm and Sweet Strawberry Cobbler
What Do I Need to Make a Wet Brine for Your Thanksgiving Turkey?
The first step is to purchase the turkey or the piece of meat that you plan to use. It is important to fully thaw the turkey if purchased frozen.
Aside from the star ingredient which is salt, the brine can be made with an array of aromatics- ginger, garlic, dry or fresh thyme, dry or fresh rosemary, cinnamon sticks, etc, emphasis on can because these additional ingredients are completely optional.
You can also add citruses-lemons, oranges, grapefruit, etc. You can add apples for some added sweetness.
Other ingredients range from bay leaves, peppercorns, and dry parsley to sugar, ground cumin, chicken bouillon, etc. All these ingredients are added to water or broth. Of course, you can go easy on the seasoning if using broth.
The Risk of Over-Brining
Yes, there is a possibility of over-brining your turkey which will result in an overly salty turkey. Aside from the taste, over-brining can also affect the texture of the meat, it could end up spongy or too soft.
The common cause of over-brining is brining for much longer than the recommended time frame of 8-24 hours.
Salt to Water Ratio when Brining
A good rule of thumb when it comes to measuring the salt-to-water ratio is to use a formula, this formula is based mostly on the weight and size of the turkey being used.
For a turkey that is 8-12 lbs, 2 gallons of water will require 2 full cups of salt. For a turkey that is 13-17lbs, 2 1/2 gallons of water to 3 cups of salt is needed, while 18-22lbs will require 3 gallons of water plus 3 1/2 cups of salt.
This ratio can be adapted for any other type of protein you use.
Extra Tips
- During the brining period, the turkey might enlarge in size due to the water penetration, hence you may begin to have parts of the turkey not submerged in the brine sufficiently. As a result, you must rotate the turkey (this can be done every 6 hours) so all its parts can brine equally.
- After brining, air dry the turkey by letting it sit, preferably overnight in the fridge to let it dry as a very wet turkey can take much longer to brown in the oven.
- If you have a big enough refrigerator, perfect, but if not, consider using a large cooler with lots of ice cubes to keep the meat fresh.
HOW TO MAKE A WET BRINE
How to Make a Wet Brine
Ingredients
- 8-12 lbs turkey thawed
- 2 gallons of water
- 2 cups salt
- 4 lemons
- 4 oranges
- 2 garlic bulbs
- 2 Tbsp peppercorns
- 2 Tbsp dry rosemary
- 2 Tbsp dry parsley
- 2 Tbsp dry cumin
- 2 Tbsp chicken bouillon
- 3 cinnamon sticks
Instructions
- Rinse the turkey thoroughly, remove the insides if applicable.
- In a large bowl or a deep pot, combine the salt, spices, aromatics and citruses together.
- Immerse the turkey in the mix and leave it to sit in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours. If you have limited space in your fridge, a cooler can be used with lots of ice cubes.
- Take out the turkey from the brine, pat dry and leave to air-dry in the fridge for not less than 6 hours before roasting.
