Traditional Brine For Smoked Turkey

As well as adding moisture to the turkey, brining also adds a salty flavor and concentration-wise this is a relatively weak brine which that has two advantages:-

1. If you're new to brining then the chances are that you're not going to overdo it.
2. It gives you a better to opportunity to understand what level of brining best suits your taste

What I mean here is that it's always best to start off with a weak brine and taste the difference. If that's perfect then fine, if you want a bit more salt in yours then you can add a little more when you next cook a turkey.

The usual rules apply with this brine for smoked turkey and if you're not familiar with these then use this link for more information about how to brine a turkey.

Some will say that you should brine a turkey for upto 48hrs, it is a matter of personal taste and I prefer just to go for overnight or 24 hrs as a maximum. What's important is to ensure that your turkey is fully immersed in the brine and that there's no air pockets in the cavity of the bird so that the brine can get to work on every part of the surface area.

Just to complete the point about timing, after brining a turkey you still need to give it 24 hours to dry before smoking it so remember to factor this into your plan.

Yield:- 2 US gallons

Preparation Time:- 30 minutes
Brining Time:- overnight

Ingredients:-

• 1 gallon vegetable broth
• 1 gallon water
• 1 cup non iodized salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon peppercorns
• ½ tablespoon allspice berries
• 1 inch cube fresh ginger roughly chopped

Method:-

Take a large pan and mix up the salt and sugar with the water, bring to the boil and stir to ensure that all the solutes have fully dissolved. Once cool pour the mix into your brining bin and add the rest of the ingredients.

Place your turkey in breast side down and place a weight on top to ensure that the turkey remains fully immersed. Refrigerate overnight and agitate the mix occasionally. All that's left to do is pick a smoked turkey recipe and you're nearly ready to go ready to go.

When the brining time is up, remove your turkey from the brine and drain over the sink. Place it on a board and pat dry with kitchen towel.

Place the turkey in the refrigerator and allow to dry for a further 24 hours. Now it's time to go smoking!

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