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Best Turkey Brine Recipe

5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 hours
Total Time 12 hours 10 minutes
Course Best Turkey Brine Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorn or black pepper
  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 4 - 6 cloves of garlic or 3 tablespoons
  • 6 cups of water
  • 1/2 cup of light brown sugar packed or regular sugar
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt
  • Optional: 1 tablespoon McCormicks Grill Mates Montreal Steak seasoning LOVE THIS STUFF or any of your other favorite seasonings that work well with Turkey

Instructions
 

  • Peel the rosemary off of the steam and dice a few of them to get the oils from the leaves.
  • Add all the ingredients to a large sauce pan and bring it to a boil. This allows all the sugars and salts to combine and dissolve.
  • Allow it to cool.
  • Add the defrosted turkey to a large poultry bag or cooler (like I did) and add the cooled turkey brine mixture.
  • Add a bag of ice over the turkey to allow it to stay cool for the next 12+ hours. Or put your poultry bag in the refrigerator if you have room.
  • For each pound of meat you should refrigerate it for one hour. For example, if you have a 12 lb turkey, you need to refrigerate this for 12 hours. Add ice to the cooler if needed.
  • Remove the turkey from the brine recipe and bake it as directed on the package.