Herb Turkey Brine
I've always been a fan of brining my turkey before cooking it. You may have already seen my Smoked Turkey Brine recipe. When cooking a turkey in the oven, I found that the smoked turkey brine is too heavy and it requires something lighter. This Herb Turkey Brine is just the right mix for a lighter, herb based turkey.
Ingredients
- 2 cups kosher salt
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 5 fresh sage leaves
- 1 fresh thyme sprig
- 1 fresh rosemary sprig
- 2 quarts hot water
- 2 quarts cold water
- brining bags and/or a large container
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring the 2 quarts of water to a boil
- Add in the salt, brown sugar, sage, thyme, and rosemary
- Cook and stir until salt and sugar are dissolved completely.
- Remove from the heat. Add the 2 quarts cold water and allow to completely cool to room temperature.
- Pour the brine over your turkey in the brining bag(s) or container and let it refrigerate over night, up to 24 hours. Make sure to squeeze out any air in the brining bags.
- Remove your turkey from the brine and rinse thoroughly before cooking.
- Discard the brine.
Notes
- I like to mix this up the night before brining, so as to make sure the brine is completely cooled before pouring on the turkey. A warm brine will start cooking the turkey and that is NOT a good idea.
- Make sure to put the turkey in your bags/container first, then pour the brine over it. Otherwise, you will likely overflow your container and be cleaning up a mess.
- I had a friend who didn't like to pour to the discarded brine down the sink, so he'd throw it out back in the yard. Remember, though, the high concentration of salt is a great weed/grass killer.
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