A stunning display with the ideal balance of chocolate and mint for Christmas.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 10 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
Ingredients
- 1 gallon water
- 1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate
- 1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen cranberry juice concentrate
- 1 cup kosher salt
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 medium lemon, cut into wedges
- 1 medium orange, cut into wedges
- 1 medium red onion, cut into wedges
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (3 inch) cinnamon stick
- 4 large bay leaves
Instructions
- Combine water, orange and cranberry juice concentrates, kosher salt, brown sugar, lemon, orange, red onion, garlic, thyme, pepper, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves in a large stockpot. Stir until salt and brown sugar have dissolved.
- Place a whole turkey into the stockpot with the brine. Cover and refrigerate for 14 to 16 hours.
- When ready to cook, remove turkey from the brine; discard used brine. Stuff turkey with a smashed garlic clove, and 2 lemons, 2 oranges, and 2 red onions — all cut into wedges. For juicier turkey meat, roast with the breast facing down.
- Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of brine ingredients. The actual amount of brine consumed will vary.
Reviews
I have used this recipe at least five times and it consistently turns out a moist turkey. I follow the recipe as is. Does to need any tweaking.
This year was my first time brining my meat. I used this as the base brine on my Christmas cornish hens. I added a few other spices, a little smoked paprika and red pepper for a kick. The hens baked and the flavor was throughout the meat. They baked evenly and we’re moist. My family loved them. I can’t wait to try it this summer with other meats and cooking methods.
I use this with Turkey breast and then I smoke them. Great!
I used this for Christmas dinner. I used some cranberry apple cider, too. I then made a cranberry injectate to add some more citrus flavor. I used my ninja and ground up fresh cranberries, 2 oranges (peeled), a lemon (peeled), 3 cloves garlic, lemon pepper and some more cranberry-apple cider. I then strained it and used the thin liquid to inject in the bird. I also kept the solid and used that as a rub for the outside. There were a lot of compliments on the flavor and moisture. This is my 2nd time brining and I won’t ever cook a turkey without it again!
I’ve never had my turkey get stained…Only thing I have ever had was praise for how good, tasty, and moist it is.
I made it for a work potluck and I am being asked for the recepie! It was a hit! It had alot of flavor. I was afraid to try something different, but now I am glad I did.
This was my first try at brining a turkey and I researched it for hours! This brine was something a little different and it turned out great. We have a new tradition for turkey!
I’m truly not sure how to rate this recipe. I’ll start by saying that the turkey tasted great but I didn’t really taste the flavors from the brine and the ingredients are too expensive to waste on something I’m not tasting. I’ve used other brines before and I don’t feel the other ingredients added anything special. The cranberry juice dyed the bird an unappetizing pink and it browned way too quickly. I covered with foil but the skin was almost black by the time it was done. So in the future I think I’ll pass on the frozen juices but use other features from this recipe.