Last thanksgiving, I chanced upon an unlikely turkey brine recipe from Blueflame Kitchen. The meat came out too salty for my liking, even after I halved the salt portion for the brine. However, saltiness aside, I liked the flavor notes so much that I decided to use the same recipe again with the sodium reduced. Here’s my adjusted version.
What I liked about the Recipe
I liked that it was a quick-brine (3-4 hours) and the flavor notes were really good.
I liked it enough to use the same recipe again with the sodium reduced. I reduced the liquid, then cut the salt to only use 1/3 of the recipe, using course Korean sea salt, and it came out really, really delicious.
Ingredients
- 8 cups filtered water
- 1/4 cup Course sea salt (or course kosher salt for lower sodium)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 medium onion
- 2 tsp black peppercorn
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 lb Turkey pieces (2 kg)
- 1 tbsp salted butter
Instructions
Brine
- Combine all the brine ingredients together. Bring contents to a boil, and simmer until all the salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from heat.
- Cool down the brine, and use a non-reactive or non-porous large container or bowl (like Pyrex).
- When the brine is cool, submerge the turkey pieces to the brine, and let brine in the fridge for 4 hours.
- Cook turkey based on these instructions.
Notes
Adjust the recipe based on the weight of the meat you’re cooking.