Apple Cranberry and Brown Sugar Turkey Brine

4.5 from 2 votes

Course dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword brown sugar turkey brine

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

brining/marinating time 18 hours

Total Time 18 hours 10 minutes

Servings

Calories 67cal

Author Joanne Schweitzer

In a medium/large sauce pan, squeeze juice from orange (or use orange peels) and add rind, cranberries, cinnamon, apple cider vinegar and cook for five minutes. Let cool.
Meanwhile, add two gallons of luke warm water to a 3-4 gallon cooler or 5 gallon bucket with brine bag. Add remaining ingredients and stir until the salt and sugar melts into the water.
Add cooled orange/cranberry mixture to the salt mixture and stir.
Submerge the turkey into the container until it is covered by the liquid. If there's no room for all of the liquid, that's fine as long as the turkey is completely covered in the liquid.
Put the container containing the turkey in a refrigerator overnight. Brine up to 24 hours with a minimum of 8 hours.
When the brining process is complete, remove the turkey from the brine and any seasonings. Do not rinse turkey. Pat it dry with a paper towel and you may roast it immediately.

NOTE: Nutrition label is estimated and may vary.

You should brine your turkey in a refrigerator or outside if it's cold enough but, not freezing which is 32F or below.
This recipe makes enough brine for a 20 lb. turkey. Discard the brine after it's been in the raw turkey. It's not safe to be consumed.
The general rule for kosher salt substitution is: 1 part table salt = 2 parts Kosher salt
Therefore, for this recipe which calls for 1 1/2 cups of Kosher salt, you can use about 3/4 cup of table salt instead. However, if you're measuring by weight, you may use the same amount.

I put a whole peeled onion in the turkey cavity. The onion steams and give the turkey more even more flavor.
Rub butter on the breast area to give it a nice brown color.
I sprinkle freshly ground pepper on top of the turkey before roasting.
You may use a turkey roasting bag if you wish. Follow the bag instructions as it usually required two tables spoons of flour to be added.
Place the turkey with the thermometer facing the oven window so you can see when it's done.
If you cook a 20 lb unstuffed, brined turkey in the oven in a covered roasting pan, it will be done in 3 hours, if you don't baste it. Open the oven at 2.5 hour mark and remove the lid so you can see if the thermometer indicates its ready. Opening the oven every 15-30 minutes to baste it lets a lot of heat out and it will take much longer to roast.