Basic Brine For Juicy Tender Chicken Or Turkey Recipes

ULTIMATE TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• Bring water to a boil in a large stockpot. Stir salt and sugar into the water until dissolved; bring water again to a boil. Add cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, rosemary, and thyme to the water, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook mixture at a simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Refrigerate brine until completely cooled.

BASIC BRINE FOR JUICY, TENDER CHICKEN OR TURKEY

Steps:

• Mix brine together well with a whisk.
• Place 1 whole chicken (thawed or frozen- you may also use chicken parts.) in brine for 2 hours up to over night. Cover and store in the refrigerator.
• Remove chicken from brine and rinse chicken well. You are now ready to make a tender juicy chicken dish of your choosing.
• NOTES: You can do this with turkey, as well. Also, you will notice that your leftovers, even after refrigerated overnight, are so tender and juicy whether eaten cold or reheated. The moisture retention really helps to make a chicken meal morph into a second meal when it holds its moisture. If doing a whole turkey, use the recipe servings changer to up the servings to 6-10. Put your turkey in an insulated cooler with enough water to cover and add in a 5 pound bag of ice. Brine overnight.

QUICK CHICKEN BRINE

Steps:

• Combine water, salt, and aromatics (garlic, herbs, etc.) in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand for 10 minutes.
• Place ice (or ice water) in a large bowl (or very large measuring cup) and pour brine over ice. Stir until ice is melted.
• Place chicken in a large plastic bag and pour brine over chicken. Seal and let sit at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, or refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours. Drain chicken and pat dry. Use in any recipe, but make sure to only lightly salt the chicken surface once you've brined it.

SIMPLE CHICKEN BRINE

Steps:

• Pour the warm water into a container that is twice the volume of the water. Pour in the salt, sugar, soy sauce, and olive oil. Stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved, then allow the brine to cool to room temperature.
• To use, place chicken in the brine, cover, and refrigerate two hours for skinless breasts, 4 hours for bone-in pieces, and 4 hours to overnight for whole chickens. Drain and pat the chicken dry before cooking. One gallon of brine is enough for 6 pounds of whole chicken or bone-in chicken pieces, and up to 10 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• In a large stock pot, combine the vegetable broth, sea salt, rosemary, sage, thyme, and savory. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to be sure salt is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.
• When the broth mixture is cool, pour it into a clean 5 gallon bucket. Stir in the ice water.
• Wash and dry your turkey. Make sure you have removed the innards. Place the turkey, breast down, into the brine. Make sure that the cavity gets filled. Place the bucket in the refrigerator overnight.
• Remove the turkey carefully draining off the excess brine and pat dry. Discard excess brine.
• Cook the turkey as desired reserving the drippings for gravy. Keep in mind that brined turkeys cook 20 to 30 minutes faster so watch the temperature gauge.

BASIC ALL PURPOSE BRINE FOR MEATS, CHICKEN, AND TURKEY

Steps:

• Makes 1 quart- make up additional amounts of brine if needed until meat is submerged.
• Stir ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Continue stirring until sugar is dissolved.
• Allow to cool.
• Place meat or poultry in a food safe plastic bag inside another container for support and leakage control (oven roasting bags are a fine choice- NOT garbage bags).
• Pour cooled brine into bag, and squeeze out as much air as possible and seal with a twistie tie.
• Refrigerate for 3-4 hours for 3 pounds meat (such as pork ribs), 5-6 hours for a nice roasting hen, or 12-24 hours for a turkey, 12 hours being for a small one and the longer time for those turkeys around 20+ pounds.
• Discard brine before using and pat meat dry.
• If using poultry, you may want to add citrus fruit such as oranges or lemons, additional fresh herbs, or cloves of garlic into the cavity.
• Prepare meat as desired- roast, bbq, etc.