Comments on: PW’s Homemade Turkey Brine

By: novakgirls

novakgirls — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:32:07 +0000

Yep, no disrespect to Ree but I have brined frozen turkeys for the last 8 years with no problem. The recipe I use is very similar, it just has half the salt of this one. I don’t normally use orange peel though, gonna try that this year. I think it will wake up the brine a bit.

By: luminescenteyez

luminescenteyez — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:54:40 +0000

I used this recipe last Thanksgiving. We had a 30-lb turkey so I had to tweak it a little bit.

I must say that Turkey was the best I have EVER had! Absolutely delicious =)

By: flourgirl

flourgirl — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:19:59 +0000

I challenged conventional wisdom & used this on a frozen turkey. I cut the salt in half & it was fine! I also added Juniper Berries since I was low on peppercorns. I also increased the amount of apple juice (doubled).

Also…don’t go the “easy” route and grate/zest the orange rind instead of slicing it off the orange & chopping it. The little zest pieces tend to stick to any exposed turkey flesh. I didn’t notice a difference in flavor but it’s best to be safe rather than sorry!

I poured in some reserved chicken broth (that I cooked my potatoes in) and added that to the pan about 1/2 way through cooking. Made it MUCH easier to get the pan drippings into the gravy.

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:48:47 +0000

I loved how easy this was. This was the first time I had brined anything & our whole family LOVED the turkey! I did cut the salt to 1 cup so that I could use the “crusties” for the gravy. It was so good & so simple, it made ALL the difference!

By: lovetocook

lovetocook — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:02:32 +0000

Thanks, PW. I used this for my Thanksgiving turkey and got lots of compliments on how moist and yummy it was.