Brining Christmas Turkey

[pipsqueek]

I want to brine my Xmas turkey this year, Turkey has always been a hit and miss affair with regards to it drying out.
I will be removing the legs and wings as non of my kids eat brown meat and will smoke them later.
I am not planning on smoking just a standard roast.
How long should I brine for and should I inject.
I was planning on using a simple 1 cup of salt per gallon water mix.

[ceeuawlsune]

If you're planning on cooking only the breast, why not buy only the breast? 

Also, brining overnight will help, but if you also inject with some kind of herb/garlic butter, you'll be considered a superhero by your guests.

Search the internet for brines.  Remember middle-school math?  1C Salt + 1 Gallon Water = Crappy Brine.  Even if you used 4-5 gallons of water.  You need more (like sugar, bay leaf, peppercorns, etc.).  But keep in mind, you're not making a marinade.

[pipsqueek]

I was going to suppliment the brine with other ingredients, I was just asking about the proportions.
I have a turkey already, its been in the freezer for the last 2 months, secondly, we do like sage and onion stuffing in the neck cavity.

What proportions of herb/garlic butter and is this done just prior to cooking?

[MallardWacker]

My plans are to do two bone-in turkey breast...and if I can find enough room in MY WIFES fridge this is what I will be doing...Do up the pickling spice and I will be adding Maple Syrup insted of Maple Sugar.

http://susan.rminor.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36

Also my suggestion with this brine IS NOT BOIL IT unless you have a whole lot of time to get it to cool down....Brining fowl in warm can be a little on buggy side and will lead you in to the ER with all the Christmas Drunks.

[Habanero Smoker]

Bringing the brine to a boil really brings out the flavors of the herbs and spices. For whole spices I bruise them. The trick with boiling is to only boil the amount of water you need to dissolve the salt and sugar, then let the brine simmer 15-20 minutes. First use a large stock pot pour in 1 gallon of water or how much brine you plan on using, mark the outside of the pot were the water level is. Empty the pot and start with one quart of water, bring it to a boil and add the spices, salt and sugar. Next keep adding small amounts of water until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from the heat, and add ice cube until the ice cubes brings the water level to where you marked the 1 gallon mark. This will cool your brine down quickly.

[MallardWacker]

HAB you are great American... I remember I think we have discussed this before...great idea.  All I know is cooling down a gallon of water takes a lot longer than one may think...I think the first time I did I filled the sink up with ice and placed my pot in it.

Either way I can't believe I am doing some sort of turkey this Christmas.

[Habanero Smoker]

I forgot where I got that tip from, but I can't claim it to be an original from me.

This is the first time in three years I'm not doing a turkey for Christmas. I've been requested to bring a smoked ham. I'm not sure what type of message my family is trying to send me. ;)

[ceeuawlsune]

Habs definitely nailed it.  The best way to make a brine (quickly) is to heat a small portion of the total liquid required - just enough to dissolve the sugars/salts/infuse with flavors - then supplement with a few gallons (I generally go about 1/3 hot:2/3 ICE COLD water...i.e., water with lots of ice in it) to ensure rapid cooling.  

MW is right pipster - do NOT put poultry (or anything else) into a brine that isn't COLD.  The bacteria that could be produced thrive (and I mean THRIVE) in that "Danger Zone" we refer to in the restaurant world (between 40-145).  

[ceeuawlsune]

PS - The most dangerous temperatures are between 70-120...little critters that make us run for the sh!tters...not on my Wish List from Santa Claus this year.

[pipsqueek]

Thanks for the tips.
I have a very deep salad crisper in my garage beer fridge that I will be using to soak the turkey. Looks like I will make up the brine a good day before I need it to get it back down in temperature.

Looks like I will be brining for 10-12 hours and then using a butter and chicken broth injected marinade another 10 hours before cooking.
Will need to make sure salt is at a minimum in the marinade though.

[smokeshack]

Quote
"Bringing the brine to a boil really brings out the flavors of the herbs and spices."
/Quote

You better believe it. Here's one application of hot-curing used for whole turkeys. As story goes, years back Paris Savoy used a method very similar to this one:

Fill the small piepan with very fine salt and heat it thoroughly in the oven. In a kettle large enough to hold the turkey, bring the water to a rapid boil and submerge the turkey. When water has returned to the boiling point, continue the boiling over a high flame for 5-7 minutes depending on the weight of a turkey (5 minutes is sufficient for a 14 pound turkey).

Remove turkey from the water, drain it quickly, and working very rapidly, rub into its skin ½ ounces of saltpeter* and as much of the very hot salt as the meat will absorb. Continue to rub salt into the bird until it has cooled to lukewarm, which should take about 15-20 minutes. This dry-rub must be done as rapidly as possible to rub in the greatest amount of salt.

Dissolve ¼ pound of salt in one pint of boiling water and inject this brine with the syringe into the wing and leg joints and along the flat part of the breastbone.

Stuff the cavity of the turkey with the large bunch of fresh herb mix (30% tarragon, 30% marjoram, 40% thyme).

Secure a loop around the legs, wrap turkey entirely in cheesecloth, and tie the ends with a cord on the legs.

Transfer bird into smoker and smoke...

Enjoy

* use of saltpeter is recommended, but one may use 1-1.5 ounces of commercial cure powder instead.

PS.

Please note that sugar is never mentioned. You guys are using much more sugar than you should.

[headgames]

Did my first turkey smoked at thanks giving ,.. it was awsome . Made myself pluck the wild one I got in October here in Wisconsin, We generaly "FILLET the breast and BURY the rest " on wild turkeys . But the 1 hour plucking was well worth the time. The legs are always too stringy to eat but the rest was AWSOME . and thanks to some previous advise I did a SALT ,BROWN SUGAR ,PINK CURE  and water brine for 24 hours ( injected brine into the thicker parts). CLEARED for about an hour changing water about 4 times. let dry and used my LEMON PEPPER seasoning as a rub from butcher& packer ( big difference in lemon pepper seasonings ) smoked at 220F damper closed til internal temp of 175F ....... then the FTC ........( foil, Towel, cooler).

pulled it out of smoker at 5 am ......  was still warm to serve out of the cooler at 1 pm ....... awsomely moist .  ;D