| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 day 25 min |
| Active: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 18 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 cups apple cider
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons tricolor peppercorns
- 5 whole bay leaves
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 sprigs rosemary, leaves stripped off
- Peel of three large oranges, removed in large strips
- 1 turkey
Instructions
- Combine 2 gallons cold water with the apple cider, brown sugar, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic, rosemary and orange peels in a large pot. Stir until the salt and sugar dissolve. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and cover.
- Allow to cool completely, then place into the fridge to chill. Place uncooked turkey in the chilled brine solution, then refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours.
- When ready to roast the turkey, remove from the brine. Submerge the turkey in a pot or sink of fresh, cold water. Allow to sit in clean water for 15 minutes to remove excess salt from the outside.
- Discard the brine. Remove the turkey from the clean water, pat dry, and cook according to your normal roasting method.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 18 servings |
| Calories | 484 |
| Total Fat | 16 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 22 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 20 g |
| Protein | 60 g |
| Cholesterol | 200 mg |
| Sodium | 787 mg |
Reviews
This recipe is easy and amazing. My sister in law has made it for years and now it is my turn. Love it and its now saved in my recipe section
Last year, we tried another brine recipe we found on the internet. It was horrible. This year we had lost confidence and went searching again. Found this one, and with all the rave reviews, it looked worth a try. With friends and family coming over for the Thanksgiving meal at our place, the stakes were high to get it right with our turkey. We followed the recipe, substituting lemons for oranges (didn’t have any on hand) – we zested both the lemon rinds into the brine, and then quartered the lemons and put them in. Everything else was just as Ree listed here. We put our 13.5 lb fresh turkey into a large Reynolds oven bag, poured in the brine, and placed the bag into a small cooler. We put ziplock bags of ice in the cooler to keep everything well-chilled for the 16-hour brine-a-thon. Then we pulled it out, gave the brined bird a good rinse, let it soak for 20 mins as called for, and then put the bird into another oven bag for the first 275 degree F roast for 3 hours. Pulled that out, then made up the wonderful rosemary & orange butter rub and cooked the (uncovered) bird for about 100 minutes more at 375 degrees until the thigh hit 170 degrees. We sealed up the bird in its el-cheapo aluminum baking pan and let it rest for 2 hours before we served it. Boy oh boy are we ever pleased with the results! The bird tasted fantastic! Moist and tender, no funky wild turkey smell or taste, just wonderful classic turkey flavor complemented with hints of citrus and rosemary. Fantastic! Can’t thank you enough for sharing this recipe, Ree!!
This is a no fail brine that I have used for ever and highly recommend. Easy, good flavor for poultry.
Have use this brine for years. Everyone who eats the turkey loves it and comments on how moist it is. It is easy and simple to do.
Followed exactly on ingredients and brined for 18 hours. My bird cooked for about 30 minutes too long but the meat was very tender and juicy thanks to this brine.
Absolutely amazing! I’ll never cook another turkey without brining with this recipe first! I brined for abt 30 hrs. What a difference!
Found this recipe 5 years ago and it is my All-Time GO TO! Hands down, most flavor and moist turkey!
I made this recipe for our Thanksgiving Turkey. Best Turkey we have ever eaten! Very flavorful and moist. My new go to.
I tried this recipe this year and the result is wonderful !!! The meat is juicy and full of flavor. Make sure to watch the video, the last part shows how to make butter mixture to go over the bird. The only different I did is adding most the butter mixture under the skin of turkey (and some over the skin) BEFORE putting it in the oven. Cook turkey in 500 degrees for 30 minutes, remove from oven cover whole bird with heavy foil, lower oven to 350 degrees, and cook (with thermometer inserted) until done. There’s no need to basting while cooking. The result is fantastic, moisture & full of flavor.
We are just trying this recipe this year. When it’s cooked and you start carving, do you place in a roaster pan with any kind of liquid?