# Turkey Brine Recipe



## 78camaro

Hello...I'm going to smoke a couple of 13lb birds with apple wood this Thanksgiving in an MES 40" and was looking for a good brine recipe. I have to steer clear of any Cajun brines...(parents not into turkey with a kick). Anyway post em up if ya don't mind...thanks guys!


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## fpnmf

Here ya go!!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/tips-slaughterhouse-recipes-for-poultry

Craig


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## SmokinAl

I use a real simple one:

1/2 cu sugar

1/4 cu salt

1/2 cu Montreal Chicken seasoning

6 cu water

Soak it overnight.


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## hoser45

SmokinAl said:


> I use a real simple one:
> 
> 1/2 cu sugar
> 
> 1/4 cu salt
> 
> 1/2 cu Montreal Chicken seasoning
> 
> 6 cu water
> 
> Soak it overnight.


I was going to try my first turkey this Thanksgiving. Seems like the Slaughterhouse recipe seems VERY popular, but my "gut" was thinking the brine was too overly spiced for turkey...but I'm a newbie so what do  it know! Would this simple brine combined with the Slaughterhouse injection recipe work well?

Do most of you use some sort of injection for your turkey or do any of you keep it pure and simple with no injection?

Lastly, I was thinking about using Oak and Apple chips (50/50), but I'm wide open for any other suggestions! Thanks.


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## teeznuts

I inject with a simple mix of lawrys seasoning and EVOO or sweet mesquite seasoning from costco mixed with EVOO for my non-spicy turkey eaters. I even did one with a mix of red wine, EVOO and garlic powder that was delicious.


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## hoser45

OK, newbie stupid question: What is EVOO?


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## africanmeat

SmokinAl said:


> I use a real simple one:
> 
> 1/2 cu sugar
> 
> 1/4 cu salt
> 
> 1/2 cu Montreal Chicken seasoning
> 
> 6 cu water
> 
> Soak it overnight.


X2


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## africanmeat

hoser45 said:


> OK, newbie stupid question: What is EVOO?


extra virgin olive oil


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## 78camaro

SmokinAl.....I noticed you stated to soak overnight. I've read most places to brine for 24hrs. Is that too long for a 13lb bird? Thanks.


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## hoser45

78camaro said:


> SmokinAl.....I noticed you stated to soak overnight. I've read most places to brine for 24hrs. Is that too long for a 13lb bird? Thanks.


Ooooh, good question. Mine is only 10 lbs. I was going to do 24 hours. Does it matter?


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## figjam

SmokinAl said:


> I use a real simple one:
> 
> 1/2 cu sugar
> 
> 1/4 cu salt
> 
> 1/2 cu Montreal Chicken seasoning
> 
> 6 cu water
> 
> Soak it overnight.




This seems like less salt than most brine recipes that I've seen.  Is this because of the Montreal Chicken seasoning added which has salt in it itself?


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## biteme7951

hoser45 said:


> I was going to try my first turkey this Thanksgiving. Seems like the Slaughterhouse recipe seems VERY popular, but my "gut" was thinking the brine was too overly spiced for turkey...but I'm a newbie so what do  it know! Would this simple brine combined with the Slaughterhouse injection recipe work well?
> 
> Do most of you use some sort of injection for your turkey or do any of you keep it pure and simple with no injection?
> 
> Lastly, I was thinking about using Oak and Apple chips (50/50), but I'm wide open for any other suggestions! Thanks.


The Slaughterhouse brine does not make the bird spicy at all.....but does add flavors.  Fed it to a bunch of pre-shoolers and their parents and not one complaint.


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## rowdyrawhide

78camaro said:


> SmokinAl.....I noticed you stated to soak overnight. I've read most places to brine for 24hrs. Is that too long for a 13lb bird? Thanks.




I have a 14 lb bird brining since last night, by the time it goes on the smoker it will have been in for almost 36 hrs.  This my first brined turkey, but I have done chickens for over 48 and they were fine.  Hope this helps


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## SmokinAl

78camaro said:


> SmokinAl.....I noticed you stated to soak overnight. I've read most places to brine for 24hrs. Is that too long for a 13lb bird? Thanks.




I use 1 hour per pound as a guide. You can leave it in longer, but 13 hours for a 13 lb. bird is plenty.


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## SmokinAl

FIGJAM said:


> This seems like less salt than most brine recipes that I've seen.  Is this because of the Montreal Chicken seasoning added which has salt in it itself?




Yes if you use equal parts salt & sugar, I think it makes it too salty.


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## a hooligan

This is an awesome brine for the holiday turkey:

*Good Eats Roast Turkey*

Ingredients

* 1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

* 1 cup kosher salt

* 1/2 cup light brown sugar

* 1 gallon vegetable stock

* 1 tablespoon black peppercorns

* 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries

* 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger

* 1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:

* 1 red apple, sliced

* 1/2 onion, sliced

* 1 cinnamon stick

* 1 cup water

* 4 sprigs rosemary

* 6 leaves sage

* Canola oil

Directions

2 to 3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.


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## shawnmaloney01

For the brings with spices like slaughter's do you make the bride over heat To dissolve?


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## BandCollector

I used Chef Jimmy J's  Brine recipe over Christmas and I must say...It was a hit with everyone at the table...Thanks Jimmy J!


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## miaoreo

Say for Thanksgiving I used Jeff's Maple Turkey recipe,  got tons of compliments.  This was the brine.

1 gallons water
1 cup of kosher salt (coarse)
12 oz of real maple syrup
2 TBS of Jeff's Rub
But I was thinking of using some orange marmalade in the brine and as a glaze for the turkey for Christmas.   Anyone use marmalade in a brine or as a glaze on smoked turkey before?...  common for Ham.


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## smokedout13

I'll have to keep that mind with the brine thank you. On the other hand I have used orange marmalade in my finishing sauce for my pulled pork and it's amazing


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## ralphed

Can I brine chicken legs overnight in smokinals brine?

I did turkey legs once and they got too salty, I screwed up somewhere, so I'd like to try some with chicken legs to learn on.

Anyone ad apple cider to their brine? Will juice substitutions alone affect the saltiness?

Thanks all,

Ed


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## jim williams

JALAPENO CHICKEN/TURKEY BRINE


6-7  lbs. chicken/turkey

2-GALLON WATER CHICKEN/2GALLON 1QUART FOR TURKEY (ENOUGH TO COVER BIRD)

2 ¼ CUPS SEA SALT

1 CUP WHITE SUGAR                  

2 CUPS JALAPENOS                      ( 1 Quart jar for peppers and juice from store)

2 CUPS JALAPENO JUICE                                   “cheaper by the gallon”          

2 TBSP. RED PEPPER FLAKES       (Boil ingredients only, no bird)
BRING TO A BOIL, THEN APPROXIAMTLY COOL TO 70*-80*.   FRIDGE, OUTSIDE ETC.

THEN SUBMERGE WHOLE BIRD IN POT/BUCKET FOR DETERMINED AMOUNT OF TIME BELOW.

AFTER BRINE TIME, YOU NOW WANT TO DISCARD ALL PEPPERS AND RINSE BIRD.

INJECT RAW BIRD WITH APPLE JUICE, MOUNTAIN DEW, SPRITE ETC. SODAS IF DESIRED; IT WILL HAVE _JUICY MEAT EITHER WAY, COMPLETELY DRY OFF BIRD._

RUB OLIVE OIL ON BIRD THEN START/SET ON SMOKER, THROW BIRD ON   AT 200 – 225* {235* tops}

BIRD NEEDS TO COOK TO 165* or (160* wrap and set 10 minutes and it will cook to 165*) INTERNAL BREAST AND THIGH, DONE ABOUT 3-3 ½ HOURS (CHICKEN only with this time) - (TURKEY is as below)       –works every time with charcoal smoker…

***THIS IS NOT SPICY BUT HAS LOTS OF FLAVOR***

                       EXAMPLE: MY 13.47 LB. BIRD (7A.M. – 2P.M.)   6 HOURS AND 45 MINUTES AT 250*

 BRINE WAS 26.94 hours                             Turkey times on smoker              Cold grill to finish

*  According to whatscookingamerica.net *

BRINE TIME; -DOUBLE THE HOURS PER POUNDS                                                          SMOKER TIME;

6lbs.-12 hours                                                         INTERNAL TEMPERATURE -    156* on grill, let set until 160*

12 lbs. – 24 hours                                                                                                           {235*- 30 minutes per pound

18 lbs. – 36 hours                                              PRIME GRILL TEMPERATURE…        {250* -25 minutes per pound

24 lbs. – 48 hours                                                                                                           {270* -20 minutes per pound

Trial and error to taste don’t get too salty it’s irreversible, reduce your brine time. 

SMOKED TURKEY SCHEDULE EXAMPLE

**SHORTCUT** FOR COOLING DOWN, INSTEAD OF BOILING ALL THE WATER.

Boil 1 gallon water with other all other ingredients, mix remaining 1 gallon & 1 quart cold tap water. Cool down for an hour... Then submerge bird(s) ASAP without being too warm, stick in Refrigerator.   

*MAKE BRINE: 8:00 A.M. Saturday Morning                   

*BRINE TIME:   9:00 A.M. - 9:00 A.M….    (15LB. BIRD)............SATURDAY –thru- SUNDAY MORNING

                                                                  +++PREP BIRD+++

*SMOKER TIME:   10:00 A.M. – 5:30 P.M. ………………………...SUNDAY (Cold to fully cooked) pull at 160*                 

*DINNER IS SERVED AT 6:00 P.M……………………………………..ENJOY!! J

*****DONE TOO EARLY?     -Maintain heat at 140* with a cordless or manual thermometer.

*Brine times can differ with our schedules and it is fine to pull Poultry out to drain, rinse and pat dry.

Then you need to wrap with plastic wrap, grocery bag or trash bag to keep the surface moist and back in the fridge so you can smoke/bake within a day or two.

-SMOKE FOR 3-4 HOURS AS DESIRED, SEALED WITH TIN FOIL (LITERAL BODY BAG FOR STEAM) AND ADD ½ CAN OF BEVERAGE NEARBY (SODA, BEER) AND FINISH COOKING WITH CORDLESS THERMOMETER.

-OR,

PUT IN ROAST PAN OR OVEN, SEALED WITH TIN FOIL AND NEARBY ½ CAN OF YOUR FAVORITE BEVERAGE.

_*YOU CAN SKIP THE SPICES AND HAVE THE SAME JUICY RESULTS!!!*_


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## jim williams

I have this guide for brine.

-Rule of thumb is:   Brine twice the amount of time as weight of the poultry (whole).   It depends on depth of the meat tissue is that you are brining also. (breast is great, leg and wing can be a taste of salt but not over powering)

-example :  2lb. drum stick is 4 hours, even if you have a dozen sitting in a vat. also depends on how crowded your vat is. (move them around)

-depends on how much sea salt you use per gallon.

-above says 1/4 cup sea salt per quart/or 1 cup per gallon. (boiled/cooled for better dissolving)

Most times I make a brine the day before. try a family pack of chicken legs with this, to much, then cut back an hour brine time.

hope some of this jibber helps.


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## czechboy95

SmokinAl,

 Only Six cu of water to brine a 13lb bird? Just wonderin'


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## jim williams

look above in this post. it says 2 gallon. have a good one!


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## czechboy95

Was talking about SmokinAl's recipe-Says * 6 CU. I always took that as Cups?*


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