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A must-do for the most tasty and juicy turkey utilizing traditional ingredients which compliment a roasting bird. The roasting pan juices make for the worlds best gravy. Do not add salt to your gravy; the brine juices have done that for you. Enjoy a prairie favorite!
Ingredients
- 2 cups kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons poultry seasoning
- 3 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 4 quarts vegetable broth
- 2 quarts water
- 3 cups cranberry juice
Directions
Step 1
Stir the salt, poultry seasoning, onion powder, and black pepper together in a large stockpot. Pour in the vegetable stock, water, and cranberry juice; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Step 2
To use, submerge a turkey into the cooled brine and refrigerate 12 to 16 hours to brine. Drain the turkey and pat dry before roasting according to your recipe's directions.
Editor’s Note
The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the brine ingredients. The actual amount of the brine consumed will vary.
source by allrecipe
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Absolutely fabulous… do you remember your Grandma or Mom’s turkey dinners? They were scrumptious but usually a little on the dry side until Grandma began brining. Beautifully moist and tender while maintaining those traditional flavours where turkey tastes like turkey rather than a bird with a foreign taste which can happen with some brine recipes. The gravy is so tasty but be careful with the salt as the brine has done that for you. If you save the carcass and use it later for soups or stews, the flavours are tremendous as well because when you brine, it penetrates the bones right through. If you try it once, it will become a must do every time you roast a turkey. Yummmmmmmy
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I had very high hopes for this recipe because the brine smelled ridiculously good. It smelled like thanksgiving the day before thanksgiving. However, i don’t think any of the actual seasonings penetrated the flesh at all. It just tasted like turkey, not a brined turkey.
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This was my first turkey and I knew my best chance of it being great was to brine it. It turned out perfectly! So juicy, I’m definitely keeping this recipe!
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I am looking forward to using this again this year. Tried it last year. It was great. My husband said the white meat was the juiciest he had ever had in his life. And he’s had alot of turkey dinners!!!
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Love this recipe. I have used it for several years now. My family insists that I used this brine when cooking Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys. It is easy, inexpensive and definitely makes the turkey more moist, flavorful and delicious. I especially love the gravy that it makes…sorta salty, but I love salty things. I follow the recipe exactly, but sometimes I use chicken stock/broth instead of vegetable if it is what I have on-hand or is less expensive. Also, I always double the recipe to ensure that there is enough to cover the turkey. I use a new 5-gallon bucket to brine the turkey. Great recipe!!
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Just wanted to say that this is the best brine I have ever used! I tried this year and everyone could not stop talking about how good this was. I had a 25 lb turkey, had to feed 15 people and I had put my turkey in a cooler filled with ice and I had to add more water to cover the turkey but it still worked. Cooked my turkey the Michiganer way as I always do and what a moist, tender, juicy, great tasting turkey. Thank you very much for this recipe. Will be my traditional recipe all the time.
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Add fressh herbs – rosemary, thyme & tarragan. Tie them together and boil it in the half water, half chicken broth. Add Copped garlic and poutry seasoning. Add 2 cups of sugar along with the salt makes it even juicier. After brining pat dry & inject melted butter and copped tarragan throughout meat than bake.
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excellent brine. I didn’t change a thing – except I added more water to cover the turkey. We grilled the turkey and it was done so much faster than a non-brined turkey – so watch out for that.
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Awesome!
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This was the juciest turkey that I have ever had…simply amazing. Careful with your pan drippings, though, as they are VERY salty and could ruin your gravy.
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This brine was a bit salty for my taste. I don’t think I would use it again.
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This brine helped produce the moistest turkey I’ve ever eaten. I did rinse my turkey before roasting. I stuffed the cavity with celery tops and fresh herbs, then rubbed the skin with a bit of canola oil and sprinkled on freshly ground black pepper. Temperature-wise, my turkey tested done long before I expected it to. I chose to roast it minutes longer and it was still moist, juicy, and perfectly roasted. I did find a few bites of meat to be a bit on the salty side, but no one else seemed to notice. I might cut back on the salt the next time as I feel there was more than enough. This is not a pretty brine – it’s a murky brownish color. The finished bird is much more appealing.
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Came out great using this recipe! Juicy and tasty!
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I used this brine recipe last year for Thanksgiving. I have never received as many compliments on a Turkey as I did when I used this recipe. It has now become a yearly tradition and I will not make a turkey any other way. Thank you!
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For the past three years I have used this recipe and LOVED it! The only thing I had to changed was the amount. Brine was not enough for my twenty five pound turkey so I added more water,cranberry juice, stock and poultry seasoning. And yes it does cook faster! Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe.
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Everyone loved it! It was so juicy and flavorful. I have to admit that I was abit nervous about adding so much salt. But to my delight, it was the best tasting turkey ever. Prior to baking the bird, I took the time to wash the inner/ exterior of the turkey. Lastly, I made a mixture of olive oil with more spices/ herbs(savory, rosemary and thyme) and lathered it on the bird. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
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everyone loved the turkey made with grandmas farmhouse brine.
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I’ve used this brine the last two years, the only thing different, is I use chicken broth instead of vegetable. Even my 88 year old grandmother said it was the best turkey she ever had!.
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My turkey turned out extra juicy! My complaint is that the poultry seasoning was too much.I would recommend cutting the poultry seasoning back to one tablespoon. I think it would still taste great without the weird flavor.
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I would give this recipe 10 stars if I could. Absolutely delicious. I didn’t have a pot large enough to boil all the ingredients so just mixed them and put into a brining bag. Turned out yummy. Will try the boiling step next time though. Also, I would recommend brining over 2 days. While I didn’t, the side of the turkey in the brine was delicious and the other side wasn’t as flavorful. Two days will give each side enough time to marinate. Definitely a MUST try.
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I used the brine as is and even let it soak a few hours longer than the recommended time due to family schedules, etc… and it still turned out to be a family favorite. Very moist and tasty – the best turkey ever, my family proclaimed!
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this is so so so FABULOUS…we did this last year and from now on this is the only way for us to prep a turkey…..my family LOVES how the turkey is so tender, moist and just melt in your mouth wonderful…. the best recipe in my box hands down!!!
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This is wonderful! So easy and just the right amount of spices for me (not a big fan of Rosemary or thyme). I made a few substitutes because I didn’t have exactly what I needed – used 2 quarts veg stock and 2 quarts chicken stock and cran-pomegranate juice. Wrote this one in my recipe book. It also made awesome gravy! Do not need added salt in the gravy – I used turkey broth instead of water and it was perfect. The turkey is extremely moist. Will use again.
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Great recipe!! I combined this with a grilling recipe and the result was amazing.
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This makes such a fabulously tasty and tender turkey with gravy that is so divine… its my go to recipe for the holidays. I keep the turkey in longer and I also double up the spices.
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fabulous brine. I reduced the salt to 1 1/4 cups from 2. I will use this recipe again..
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I always make a little turkey then use the brine to see how it tastes before thanksgiving…. this one was WAY over salty and it had no flavor at ALL! I was very exited to try this but my expectations fell as soon as I tasted it, the meat was cooked but tasted bland, and only the skin had any flavor! I am so glad I tasted this BEFORE thanksgiving. I am never making this recipe again, EVER!
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Not to tell you my life story, but my Granny always Brined a turkey. I thought it was alwaays tough. But I wanted to try it again, and came aacross this recipe.IT IS THE BOMB, or dope as the kids today say. It is just so moist, the taste with the maple syrup and wiskey is so balanced and wonderful. I did not have maple syrup I put 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 stick of butter and 1T of vanilla, (if you have maple syrup extract use it but the vanilla was great. brought it to a boil, aand added it to the brine. I used a home depot bucket with a lid and I froze orange juice bottles filled with water to keep it cold. I did merinade it for 24 hours and i put it in the oven at 500 degress for 30 minutes BREAST DOWN, then turn it over. to roast the remainder of the time. I did baste it with the breast side down with 1 stick of butter and 2T maple syrup. After 30 min, flipped it over and basted the top side and never opened the oven again. If you go to butterball, you will see that basting is not good because everytime you open the door, temp drops. I only opened the door after 30 min to flip it to the breast side up. My Granny also raised the turkey up in he roaster pan so heat would get through out. I used 2 apples cut in half to raise the turkey up so heat could get throughout
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Awesome brine!! I brined 2 turkeys this Thanksgiving and they were a hit. Meat was nice and juicy and not overly salty. Will defitalty use again
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I will use this recipe again. I used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth. I also added a little crushed garlic and a fresh poultry herb blend (rosemary, sage, and thyme). I one-and-a-halved the recipe for my ~20-pound turkey. There wasn’t quite enough brine to completely cover the turkey, so I added ~4 cups of water. Next time I will remember to place the turkey breast side down in the brine. I think I will also rinse the turkey before roasting it. The turkey was very moist and I got rave reviews.
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I will make it again the next time I cook a turkey.
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I tried this recipe twice and I love it! Thanks for sharing it with us…
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Best brine every. I have been brining many years and this was the best. The turkey held the moisture so well I didn?t have enough basting juice.
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I cooked my first turkey using this recipe and it got rave reviews. My husband (who usually cooks the turkeys) said it was probably the best one he’s had!
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My go to brine for the past 5 years. So juicy and flavorful you’ll wanna smack your momma!!! I use a larger Turkey and brine in a food grade 5 gallon bucket with lid and add a bag of ice and add more of the ingredients if wanted. I do! And I brine for at least 24 hours. No need for the fridge. Just add ice as needed.
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Definitely will make this again next year. All my family and friends raved over it being so tender and moist. Couple of them wanting the recipe.
Gravy is salty but fine for me. Full of flavor adding fresh chopped herbs to the pot. -
This was a great decision. I had a 20 .5 lb turkey and a pot that was not big enough to hold the amount of brine called for in this recipe. I therefore cut back on the amount of water and cranberry juice. I forgot to cut back on the salt and the broth but it didn’t make the turkey too salty. I also didn’t have enough time to brine for the full 12 to 16 hours. Instead I brined the turkey for 8 hours.
My bird cooked for 6 1/2 hours because I filled the cavity with stuffing and I got the internal temperature to 180 degrees going by the package instructions. Even at that temperature the breast meat was so flavorful and moist. I will definitely brine again.
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I followed the recipe exactly and it resulted in a moist and flavorful turkey.
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This is my very favorite brine!! Be sure and rinse turkey very well! Delicious!
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Turkey was flavorful but a bit too salty
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I use this brine every year and then use the michagander recipe to actually cook the turkey. Omg out of this world. Gets better every year
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