Brine

By JenHall

This was really good - used it for the first time Thanksgiving 2012 - our turkey was really moist

Ingredients

• 1 gallon vegetable broth (I used 1/2 gallon broth, 1/2 gallon apple juice)
• 1 cup sea salt (I used kosher salt)
• 1 Tablespoon dried crushed rosemary
• 1 Tablespoon dried sage
• 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 Tablespoon dried savory
• 1 gallon ice water

Preparation

Step 1

In a large stock pot, combine all ingredients except ice water. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to be sure salt is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.

When broth is cool, pour it into a clean 5 gallon bucket. Stir in the ice water. Line 5 gallon bucket with plastic garbage bag or large ziploc storage bag so bucket can easier be reused.

Wash your turkey. Make sure to remove the innards. Place the turkey, breast down, into the brine. Make sure that the cavity gets filled. Place the bucket in the fridge overnight. This kept fine overnight in the garage - there were still some ice cubes in the morning.

Remove turkey from brine & rinse well, massaging turkey.

NOTE: for the rosemary, sage & thyme - I use 1/2 of the fresh herb bunches for the turkey itself so I can use the other 1/2 of the bunch here instead of the dry herbs.