Holiday Food! (& a "Thank you" to KnowtheToe for Brined Turkey Recipe)

[Henry]

I just wanted to pass along my thanks to KnowtheToe for his Brined Turkey recipe from last year. I just fixed one yesterday for all of my Fellow Employees in the office, and I've had at least 15 compliments and two requests for recipes. That Bird was a hit. In fact, I'm planning on cooking another one today for my family tomorrow at Thanksgiving.

My thanks to you again for passing that one along!

For those of you who are recent newcomers to the ENWorld Forums, we shared a couple dozen recipes last year for Holiday food. If anyone wants to share some of their other holiday creations, I thought I'd open the floor, and not let a perfectly good thread go to waste. The Brined Turkey was as follows:

Brined Turkey

1 Gallon Water
1 cup kosher salt
3/4 soy sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup each of white sugar, brown sugar and honey
4-6 cloves crushed garlic
3-4 tbsp. whole pepper corn
1.5 tsp. all spice or a dash or two of nutmeg & cinnamon and 8 whole cloves

Mix all above ingredients in a suitably sized pot and heat until all sugars are dissolved; you don’t need to boil it, just make sure the mix is homogenous.

Let cool completely before putting with turkey. Using an appropriate-sized plastic boil-in bag or clean garbage bag, completely submerge turkey in brine and let soak for about 12 to 24 hours. Squeeze out as much air as possible from the bag to minimize the amount of brine required; two batches of brine solution can be mixed if you want to ensure complete submersion.

Pack with ice, or refrigerate if you have room. Do not freeze, of course. After time is up, remove turkey from brine, rinsing it if desired, and letting it drain. Cook turkey at 325 to 350 degrees, until the inside of the thigh is 180 degrees with a temperature gauge; this is preferable to cooking by time to avoid drying or burning., but it will take around 3 to 4 hours to get to this point anyway.

The brining will help the bird resist drying or burning, and will bring out natural flavor.

 

[nakia]

I downloaded some brining instructions from the Food Network that are very similar. I also bought a fancy electric thermometer at Bed, Bath, and Beyond today. I'm going to try it, so let's hope it works.

Mmmmmm. . . . briney turkey.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

This brining recipe brought to you by the Saughin For Human As The Other White Meat Society.