Serve warm with butter and maple syrup as a very simple orange cornbread Johnny cake. It tastes great when paired with bacon or ham, and leftovers are tasty when chilled.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 25 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 cup honey
- 1 large red apple, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 medium onion, quartered
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 large bay leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 8 cups apple cider
- 4 cups ice
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Pour water into a large stockpot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add salt and honey and stir to dissolve. Remove pot from the heat and stir in apple slices, onion, garlic, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, sage, and peppercorns. Let brine cool to room temperature. You can set the pot in a sink full of ice water to speed up the cooling process.
- Stir in apple cider, ice, and apple cider vinegar. Allow brine to fully chill to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees C), or colder, before using.
- Once brine is cool enough, submerge turkey and brine for 1 hour per pound, preferably overnight. For prebrined frozen turkeys, you may wish to reduce the salt by half.
- For ease of brining, I like to use jumbo-sized brining bags set inside a small cooler. Place turkey and brine into the bag, squeeze the air out and seal, then surround the bag with ice.
- Keep in mind that brined turkeys cook faster, so keep an eye on the thermometer.
- Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of brine ingredients. The actual amount of brine consumed will vary.