When to brine a turkey? (2023)

FAQs

When to brine a turkey? ›

You'll want to submerge your turkey in brine a solid day before you roast it to allow the bird enough time to become thoroughly saturated. You can make the brine itself two or three days ahead and keep it in the fridge to chill. At its most basic, a brine consists purely of salt and water.

As a general rule of thumb, you should brine the meat about one hour for every pound, but no longer than 24 hours to prevent the meat from turning mushy. This means your Thanksgiving turkey may need to brine for 8 to 18 hours!

The amount of time will depend on the type of brine you use; however, do not brine any longer than two days and always keep the turkey and brine refrigerated (at 40°F or less). Remove turkey from brine after the recommended time.

Brine your turkey for 12 to 24 hours. The longer the better, but honestly, even a quick brine does wonders for the turkey. If you only have a few hours before it needs to go in the oven, then it's still worth doing. Be sure to keep your turkey covered and refrigerated while brining.

Be sure that the brine is cold before adding the thawed turkey. Place the turkey and brine in a brining bag or non-corrosive food-safe container, making sure the turkey is fully submerged in the liquid.

For a turkey 15 pounds or under, brine for just 24 to 36 hours. For a turkey larger than 15 pounds, brine for up to 3 days. Dry – Before you roast the turkey, take it out of the brine water and place it on a rack to dry. Use paper towels to pat the turkey dry if needed.

The key to making the best turkey brine is the salt-to-liquid ratio. Too little salt won't produce an effective brine, and too much will make the turkey salty. If you'd like to add beer or juice for even more flavor, substitute it for some of the ice.

A general rule of thumb is to leave your meat in its brine for roughly one hour per pound—never brine your meat more than the prescribed amount, lest the proteins break down too far, turning it into unappetizing mush.

If you brined too far in advance, don't fret: You don't have to cook your turkey immediately after it brines. In fact, it's sometimes best to let a wet-brined turkey sit in the refrigerator, uncovered, for an additional 24 hours to let the skin dry out.

Brining for too long can result in meat that tastes overly salty and has a spongy texture. If you're not ready to roast the bird after 18 hours, remove it from the brine, rinse it, pat it dry, and refrigerate for up to two days.

Are Butterball turkeys pre brined? ›

We pre-brine directly in the breast meat ensuring you can take the turkey from the packaging to your pan without a lot of additional preparation before cooking and enjoy the most tender and juicy turkey possible.

You can leave your chicken in the wet brine for up to two days (a larger turkey can handle more without becoming overly salty), but the liquid will need at least 12 hours to work its magic. Don't want to go through the trouble of making a wet brine? Just don't add water.

But a brined turkey that is not rinsed would be too salty to eat. Brining slows down the growth of bacteria but does not kill it, said Linda Harris, a microbiologist at the University of California, Davis. She and other food scientists have been trying to get Americans to stop rinsing poultry since the late 1990's.

Keep the Turkey Cold and Let It Brine for 8 to 18 Hours

Pop the turkey into the fridge and let it brine for at least 8 hours (and up to 18 hours). Just don't leave the turkey in the brine for longer than recommended—over-brining can render the bird too salty and turn the texture spongy.

Poke holes all over the turkey, the legs, wings, breast and butt. If you're using an aluminum roasting pan, be careful not to poke a hole in it. It takes a turkey three and a half to four hours to cook. Depending on how much the turkey weighs.

After brining, rinse the turkey thoroughly under cold water for a few minutes. Take the brined turkey out of the brining bag or pot (or whatever vessel you set it in for brining), then discard the brine and set the turkey in a clean sink.

Whole turkey: Apply kosher salt (1 teaspoon per pound) evenly inside cavity and under skin of breasts and legs, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, unless your recipe calls for air-drying at the same time as salting, and let rest in refrigerator 24 to 48 hours.

The best news is that you can brine & thaw your turkey at the same time! You'll need a vessel big enough to hold your turkey in liquid (I used a cooler), and a probe thermometer with an alarm built in, so you can be sure your turkey is always within food safe temperatures.

Strong Brine:

For example, 5 liters/quarts of standard brine will require a total of 10 tablespoons of table salt (5 × 2 tablespoons/liter or quart = 10). 10 tablespoons x 15 grams = 150 grams table salt. You can substitute any type of salt for the table salt, but it will need to weigh 150 grams total.

Should I brine or pre-salt the turkey? "If you want to you can, but you don't have to," says Miller. "Most turkeys are already brined. Butterball turkeys have a solution in them that really helps to keep them moist and juicy and tender.

Do you wash salt off turkey after dry brine? ›

BRINE AT LEAST 24 HOURS: The salt needs enough time to penetrate the skin and meat and tenderize the turkey. You can dry brine your turkey up to 72 hours in advance. We typically dry brine our turkey for 32 hours. DO NOT RINSE: Do not rinse off the dry brine.

For all-purpose brine, a good rule of thumb is: ¼ cup of kosher salt and ¼ cup of sugar for every quart of water. You can also add aromatics or other flavorings to intensify the seasoning, like whole peppercorns, garlic cloves, dried herbs, whole spices, citrus or other fruit, mirepoix or fruit juices.

Tips for success

The salt solution is higher than your standard overnight brine, so you want to make sure to limit your brining time to 2-3 hours at room temperature or 4-6 hours in the fridge.

Simply put, it's just too cold for that salty substance to do any good. De-icing chemicals work by lowering the freezing point of water. But when temperatures drop to around 20 degrees, the brine loses its effectiveness.

DO NOT OVER BRINE! Remove turkey from brine, pat dry, and store in refrigerator (uncovered) until ready to cook. Your turkey can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before cooking.

Turkeys labeled as “basted”, “self-basted”, “kosher”, or “enhanced” are typically brined before you buy them and should not be brined at home.

It's not unheard-of for store bought turkeys to be injected with brine to impart moisture. If you see a label that has ingredients other than turkey, your bird may be pre-brined. If you brine a pre-brined turkey, you will end up with a very salty Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Brining Rule of Thumb

How long should you brine your turkey? As a rule of thumb, you should brine your turkey 45 to 60 minutes per pound.

Dry brines can be left on for just a short time if cooking small cuts of meat or you if are in a hurry, but for a dry brine to really work its magic, leave it on for 12 to 24 hours or up to 3 days. Wet brines should be left for at least 12 hours and up to 2 days.

Brining longer doesn't necessarily mean juicier meat. Brining meat helps it cook up juicy and well seasoned. When brining larger cuts that require a long soak, such as roasts and whole poultry, we typically suggest a time range.

Is brining for 3 hours enough? ›

Bring the chicken out from the brine some few hours before roasting. It is important the chicken dries completely before roasting or baking. The size of your chicken would determine how long you can brine for. Overnight is best for a whole chicken but a minimum of 3 to 6 hours should be fine too.

The amount of water added is the amount of brining solution needed. A 16-pound turkey requires approximately 2 gallons of solution.

Ideal brining time is about a half an hour, but I've found that even a 15-minute brine makes a difference. The meat cooks up juicier and with more flavor than it does otherwise. You can also brine for longer, but after about two hours, the meat can start to get a bit mushy.

Place the turkey in the brine, breast side down. Add more water if the turkey isn't completely submerged in the liquid. Place the bucket in the refrigerator for at least 10 to 12 hours or overnight. Two hours before you plan to roast it, remove the turkey from brine and discard the brine.

Injecting works faster than brining. You can inject the bird immediately before cooking. Fats like melted butter, duck fat, or olive oil can be delivered deep into the breast meat, increasing its succulence.

What Is the Brine Ratio? The basic ratio of salt to water for a brine is 4 tablespoons of kosher salt per 1 quart (4 cups) of water. If you are using fine table salt, reduce the amount to 3 tablespoons. Keep in mind, also, that different kosher salt brands vary in how salty they actually are.

The basic ratio for a wet turkey brine is to use 2 cups of kosher salt or coarse sea salt for every 2 gallons of water. The benefit of a wet brine is that it can work slightly quicker than a dry brine because it infuses the entire turkey in a salty solution.

Brining Rule of Thumb

As a rule of thumb, you should brine your turkey 45 to 60 minutes per pound.

As a general rule of thumb, brine meat for about one hour per pound. You can go longer, but keep in mind that it's definitely possible to over-brine your meat. Most over-brining simply makes everything a little too salty, and you can soak the meat in cold water to draw out the excess salt.

brine NH4OH | ClH7NNaO2 - PubChem.

What is the minimum hours of brining? ›

Brining meat should happen at least 12 hours in advance of when you want to cook the meat and can be done with water, salt, and sugar or a dry brine using a variety of herbs and spices. Here's why it works, and how to use our brine recipes for everything from a Thanksgiving turkey to everyday cuts of meat.

Here is a fantastic tip: to protect the turkey breast and keep it juicy: Fold a large square sheet of foil into a triangle. Rub one side of your triangle with olive oil and shape the foil (oil-side-down) over the turkey breast, then remove foil; it will shield your turkey breast and keep it from getting dry.

Just don't leave the turkey in the brine for longer than recommended—over-brining can render the bird too salty and turn the texture spongy.

You need about 1 gallon for every 10 pounds of turkey. This turkey brine is for a 12 pound bird, but then you also need to take into account the size of the vessel you'll be using to let it sit- a large cooler needs a lot more space than a stock pot. Aim for the whole bird to be covered in the saltwater solution.

Along with salt, sugar (either brown or white granulated) is a dry-brine must-have, essential both for its browning capabilities and flavor-enhancing properties. Breaking out the sugar is my favorite way to ensure that my turkey comes out perfectly tender and golden brown every November.

Add water to the roasting pan to keep the turkey from drying out. Grandma always added water or chicken broth to the bottom of the roasting pan, at the start of the cooking. This keeps the bird from drying out.

If you brined too far in advance, don't fret: You don't have to cook your turkey immediately after it brines. In fact, it's sometimes best to let a wet-brined turkey sit in the refrigerator, uncovered, for an additional 24 hours to let the skin dry out.

Don't roast a cold turkey. Take your bird out of the refrigerator (and out of the brine, if you're brining) an hour before you put it in the oven to ensure even cooking and a moist bird.

NOTE: A brined turkey cooks slightly faster than an unbrined turkey, so check the internal temperature frequently. Remove turkey from the oven and allow to stand for 20 minutes before carving.