How long can I keep the brine before using?

[Smokeville]

Hi all,

I made a concentrated brine yesterday (1 gallon of water, 3 cups kosher salt and 3 cups sugar) which I planed to dilute and use today for 2 turkeys. It has been outside where it is almost bang on 32F if not colder.

Instead of brining tonight and smoking tomorrow, I want to brine tomorrow and smoke on Saturday.

I'm pretty sure the brine will be fine, since the concentrate of salt and sugar plus the cold should keep it safe.

Any thoughts?

Regards, Rich

[Smoker John]

Can't answer your question for sure but I would suspect keeping it refrigerated below 40 degrees would be fine especially only for a couple days.

[tskeeter]

Can't answer your question for sure but I would suspect keeping it refrigerated below 40 degrees would be fine especially only for a couple days.

I agree with Smoker John.  I can't imagine that a couple of days would be a problem for a high salt solution kept below 40F.  Especially since the solution is only water, salt, and sugar.  None of which is likely to carry significant amounts of bacteria.  However, I assume that the brine is stored in a nonreactive container, such as glass or plastic.  Not aluminum.  If you stored the brine in an aluminum pot, I understand the brine might cause an unpleasant metallic taste from the salt reacting with the aluminum.

[Smokeville]

Thanks!

The pot is stainless steel, which should be fine.

Rich

[scubadoo97]

No risk with an unused brine