Brining Your Turkey or Chicken

One of the things I love to do to poultry, a whole bird that is, whether it’s a small roaster chicken or a large turkey that’s ten pounds or more, or even a turkey breast, is to brine it.  I never really knew what the name for brining was up until a few years ago, I only knew that my uncle and my grandma, both of whom are phenomenal cooks, had told me for years that their secret to a moist, juicy turkey at Thanksgiving time was soaking it in a saltwater solution over night before they cooked it.  I tried it, and I used regular table salt only, and I think I portioned the salt and water incorrectly, because my turkey turned out too dry and tasteless.

Well, I have since found out the best way to brine your turkey, and I’m going to share it with you .Yes, it probably is not the healthiest thing you can do as it involved too big no no’s in dieting and weightloss, which is what we usually talk about here, but since it’s holiday time and you should really throw all that out the window a few days a year, including Christmas and Thanksgiving day, we’re going to really talk about one of the more important lessons you will learn in cooking, which is how to properly and deliciously cook a turkey!

Ok, here’s how it goes, and it’s super easy.  You will need a large container, like a big white bucket, or a small styrofoam cooler, that is big enough to soak a whole turkey or chicken in.  Hopefully you can fit it into your fridge so it can stay cold that way, but if not, then you will need to put it outdoors on a cold night where it will stay 30 degrees or below, so the turkey does not spoil.  I bought a brining bucket online for eight bucks, and I’ll have it for a lifetime, so I consider that a genuine bargain!

You will need kosher salt, this part I found out is important, as I do not get as good results with regular table salt, or any other sort of salt for that matter. As to why that might be, I haven’t the faintest, but this has been my experience thus far with brining poultry.  You will also need regular, good ol’ sugar.  Sugar is very important to this recipe, as it is what seals the flavor in and really makes the turkey much more flavorful, while the salt is responsible for increasing it’s juiciness and tenderness.

Here is how I portion the salt, sugar and water. I use a slightly lukewarm water to start, so that my salt and sugar dissolve easily, then the second half I make cold so that the water is not warm.  You will want to use one half cup of salt and one half cup of sugar for each eight cups of water you use.

Thats : 1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup sugar

8 cups water

You will need to figure out how much solution you need to completely submerge your turkey, so just double that or triple it or whatever you need to do to be able to submerge it.  You are supposed to soak it for about one hour for each pound of the turkey, but I’ve found that overnight simply works most of the time for me, whatever size meat I’m soaking.  Good luck, and Bon Apetit!