Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Anybody ever brine a Turkey?

Just did my first one, kosher salt, fresh rosemary, some little Cajun seasoning and apple juice. Gonna smoke er up tomorrow. Curious to see the outcome. Anybody brine? Is it worth the extra step? Thanks

I have used Alton Brown's brine several times and have been very pleased. Bird was moist and very flavorful. My all-time favorite brine is a bourbon, maple brine. But to get good maple syurp in Kansas makes it expensive. Good luck with your cook.

I have and I find it to be a worthwhile endeavor.

Definitely worth the extra step and bit of forethought

Assume you mean wet brine

Yup Alton Brown's for years. Left one in wet brine too long once and meat came out kinda mushy but tasty.

Switched over to dry brine bird couple years back.

Yes. 1 cup Morton’s Tenderquick 2 cups Brown sugar to 4 cups water. Stir until dissolved and make as many batches as it takes to cover the bird in whatever container you’re brining him in. Leave it in the reefer or an ice chest for 24 hours. Rinse several times in cold water before putting it in the smoker. About 4 to 6 hours at 185-200 with some pecan or oak splits.

PS I use the 12ish pound young turkeys with the indicator button in them. It’ll pop in the smoker just like the oven so you don’t have to poke and cut a bunch of holes in your bird checking if it’s done.

Good to hear. 👍

Yep fats, wet brine, got some food safe buckets/lids from work, got it in the beer fridge in the shop now. Smoke tomorrow mornin’.

You'll be pleased by the outcome Jud !

I brine all turkey and chicken for 1-2 days in the fridge. REALLY makes it more moist.

Yes wet brine, worth the effort

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I do a brined and spatchcocked turkey for Thanksgiving every year. It's the best dang turkey any of my family has ever had. By spatchcocking it, you can rub it inside and out with your favorite rub and grill it at 250F in 2- 3 hours with a little bit of smoking too. Use a thermometer and some foil to monitor temps and shield parts that are cooking too fast.

I used a heavy garbage bag with the liquid and turkey- and surrounded that with ice in a cooler.

For us plebs without a beer fridge!

It will blow your mind. We do a citrus brine with no sugar before smoke. It's a game changer.

Also put an herb butter under skin.

This. Did one for Christmas. Killer.

Yes, worth the effort.

We've used the Alton Brown recipe and the Maple/Brown Sugar/Bourbon recipe. I prefer the M/BS/B recipe, but my family perfers the Alton Brown recipe.

The M/BS/B recipe that we used was this:

2 quarts of distilled or reverse osmosis water
2 cups of dark brown sugar
2 cups maple syrup
1 1/2 cups bourbon
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
3/4 cup sea salt
8 cloves of peeled crushed garlic
6 bay leaves
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 teaspoons of black peppercorns

We've used good quality bourbon like Wild Turkey and just barely drinkable bourbon like Cabin Still and didn't find a noticeable difference in the flavor of the turkey.

Combine all of the above and bring to a boil, stiring so that the sugar and salt dissolves.

Remove from the heat and add 2 more quarts of distilled or reverse osmosis water. Allow ot completely cool before putting it into the brining bag with the turkey.

It’s the only way to go man!! A brined smoked turkey is going to amaze you. Once you get the color you want on your bird at least tent the breast with foil.

I never did one myself but I always helped my mom brine the Thanksgiving bird. She got her brine in a bag from somewhere. She boiled up the mix in a big pot then let it cool. She put the turkey in a big bag and set it in a cooler then poured the brine into the bag. She had me put the cooler in the garage frig overnight. Myself I would just get a five gallon food safe bucket and put everything in the bucket. That bag was a PIA.

Thanks guys. 👍 pulled er outta the fridge, dog approves. 😂

Seasoned and on the smoker

Yes! And from where the sun now stands I will never not brine.

Jman sloppen it all over the Costco mat.

Paint bucket as well.

My Man!

😂😂 it’s a food safe bucket from work bud. But ya, the Costco mat got some brine on er!! Haha

Let us know how she turns out!

Will do, 132’ in the breast right now

Yes, always.

She’s resting..

You will never not brine from here on out.

Look up Steven Raichlens recipe for a brined turkey. It's a winner too.

It doesn't need to be a turkey either. We brine everything from breasts, cornish hens, whole chicken and turkeys.

Google "spatchcock" and you can start cooking whole chickens and turkeys on the grill or smoker. It'll take it to a whole new level.

You're on your way to becoming a cooking ninja, grasshopper!!

Yup. Alton Brown recipe at this house too. Well worth it.

Unless you buy a fresh turkey, wouldn't most of the supermarket turkeys that have been injected with the seasoned brine solution qualify as brined?

Good lord why haven’t I done this sooner???… whole nuther world… and easy. 👍

Yeah, a lot of them I see say something about being injected with 12% solutions. I figure that would do the trick.

On a fresh one everyone I've talked to said brining helps a lot

Yeah!
My Son did one at Thanksgiving!
Brine, and Smoke!
Unbelievably Good!!!

Hell ya buddy!! Looks perfect!

Yes, and thats where you need to pay attention,

Pre-brined and then you brine for to long, Bird could be too salty

If it’s not a fresh turkey and already brined you can still brine it again. Just cut the amount of salt in the brine recipe by at least 1/2 even 2/3.

Also important be sure to rinse your turkey once removed from the brine under cold water, pat dry and let it sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour before roasting.

Glad it came out well. It is a game changer for roast turkey and also for fried chicken...

Looks great.

I put a pan beneath my smoking turkey with the giblets and some veggies and water/stock and then use that after run through a sieve to form thr base for my gravy. Chop up the smoked neck and giblet pieces to go in gravy.

That's the good stuff.

I usually wet brine, and spatchcock it. Works for me.

What temp do you cook it to?

Shoot I missed this thread entirely Jud. Pics of the bird in the smoker are drool worthy

yes. I brine most of my poultry. Cut back on salt and do a 2 to 1 Brown sugar/ salt brine. I do the same for fish I smoke

Garlic powder, red pepper flake, black paper. etc

CK breast and loin chops always get a brine. Even if it’s only 30 or so minutes, it makes a difference in lean cuts.

Whole birds, Turkey or chicken, do well with a brine. My favorite whole chicken gets brined for a few hours then left in the fridge overnight to dry up. Roast it in the air fryer for 40 minutes breast down at 375, flip and cook breast up for another 15-20. 🤘

I think I'm gonna try TheKid's tenderquick brine on a 5 lb chicken and see how it turns out on the smoker

This sounds pretty damn good and easy.

Will try some of the stuff I have seen here next time I smoke one.
I brined one once and then fried it. It came out black on the outside but was white and juicy on the inside. I thought it was ready for the trash when I pulled it out of the fry oil, but it as good once you got rid of the skin.

I did a chicken that was in brine for 12 hours yesterday on the smoker.

Everybody thought it was more flavorful and moist than without the brine. Glad you guys convinced me to give it a try