Here is delicious apple brine for turkey, chicken, or pork. If you have never tried brining before, it may be time to start. This brine helps to keep the meat from becoming overcooked. This brine will make the turkey or chicken very moist and not so easy to overcook. This brine also gives the meat a nice and slightly sweet flavor. Don’t worry though; this is a very mild brine. This is enough brine for a 14lb turkey. Give this a try for the holidays or for a fantastic home dinner. Enjoy.
Turkey Brine Recipe
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 quarts apple juice
- 1lb brown sugar
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 3 quarts water
- 3 oranges (sliced into quarters)
- 4 ounces fresh ginger (thinly sliced)
- 6 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 15 whole cloves
- 6 bay leaves
Instructions
- Bring apple juice, salt, and sugar to a boil over high heat. Stir well. Skim the foam. Turn off heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Add water, oranges, ginger, garlic, cloves, and bay leaves. Mix well.
Pour brine over turkey to cover and brine for 24 hours.
amateur cook
Sunday 26th of August 2012
There are articles that question whether or not brining is worth all the trouble as far as improving taste. Some say that brining waters down and overwhelms the natural turkey flavor.
You should do a test study and see which one produces the best results and let us know. Personally, my mother has gone through all the trouble of brining with a salt, whiskey and sherry mixture with good results. However, I'm no expert and we never did a side by side study to know if we are able to credit the brining process for making any big difference.
Kevin Camon
Thursday 1st of March 2012
Great article on Turkey Brine. I am always looking for new recipes to try out and add to my website. I tried my firt brine recipe a few years ago and now I've have tried quite a few. This one with the apples looks good.
One thing that I like to do is also inject my turkey with a homemade marinade and then soak it in the brine for 24 hours. And then I deep fry my turkey. OMG! Talk about delicious...
Thanks again for sharing.
Kevin
Barbara
Tuesday 10th of August 2010
I have grilled, smoked, and fried brined turkeys. They all turn out delicious. I wouldn't cook a turkey that hadn't been brined anymore. They are just so much better with little effort. Chef, your recipe is almost exactly the same as mine which I adapted over time through experimenting. Guess I must be doing something right!
Bobby
Friday 30th of April 2010
arleen - Yes, you could rinse the salt off, if you are worried about it being overly salty. Either way, make sure to pat dry the bird before baking.
arleen
Thursday 29th of April 2010
some brines tell u to rinse first to get rid of the salt. would u do that in this case as well? i did a half turkey on the grill before, and it was delish, a whole turkey would be tricky (depending on the size). would use alot of gas too.
but am making turkey for mothers day and would like to give this one a whirl. i luv the spices and oranges. my other brine only had salt, sugar & water.