Brining Your Thanksgiving Day Turkey

You will never cook it without brining it again!

Extremely moist and flavorful!

1 Turkey (16-22 lb.)

3 C Kosher salt or 2C table salt (Kosher preferred)

3 C brown sugar

3 lemons quartered

3 oranges quartered

2 bay leaves

10 sprigs of thyme

8 sprigs of rosemary

1 C of white wine

Mix the brining mixture into 3 gallons of cold water and place the turkey and brining liquid into a garbage bag in a cooler so that the water just about completely covers the bird. Put a 5-7 pound bag of ice around the bag.  Leave in cooler for 8 to 12 hours. The deck is good place to keep it overnight.  When you take out the turkey, rinse it slightly, and pat it dry and let it sit for 30 minutes before it goes into the oven.  Use your favorite turkey recipe for cooking the bird.  This “marination” will only enhance the dish!

Why should you brine the bird?

It is all about the science of cooking!  Brining works with the principles of diffusion and osmosis. When brining a turkey, there is a greater concentration of salt and sugar outside of the turkey (in the brine) than inside the turkey (in the cells that make up its flesh). The law of diffusion states that the salt and sugar will naturally flow from an area of greater concentration (the brine) to lesser concentrations (the turkey flesh cells).  Water also moves from a higher concentration to a lower concentration and it is called osmosis.  It makes sense, then, that the water bringing the moisture and seasonings into the resting turkey is like a natural marinade.

So what happens inside the bird?

Once inside the cells, the salt, and to a lesser extent, the sugar, cause the cells proteins to react with one another to produce the formation of a sticky matrix that captures and holds moisture.  Once exposed to the heat, the matrix gels and forms a barrier that keeps much of the water from leaking out as the meat cooks.  Thus, you have turkey that is seasoned well and much more moist than the “average bird”!