Thanksgiving Turkey Brine

We love this brine recipe.  The turkey comes out moist and flavored wonderfully.  When we lived in Hawaii, everyone cooked their turkeys in the underground imus….and while it was fun, we much prefer the taste of a traditionally cooked turkey.  We made the mistake of buying two turkeys around Thanksgiving time and one is taking up the entire bottom of our freezer.  So its turkey in February for our family this week :)  

1 gallon vegetable broth (we usually use chicken broth)

1 cup sea salt

1 TBS crushed dried rosemary

1 TBS dried sage

1 TBS dried savory

1 TBS dried thyme

1 gallon ice water

Directions:

1. 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.
2. When the broth mixture is cool, pour it into a clean 5 gallon bucket. Stir in the ice water.
3. 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.
4. Remove the turkey carefully draining off the excess brine and pat dry. Discard excess brine.
5. 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.
   
   • Tip:
   • Aluminum foil can be used to keep food moist, cook it evenly, and make clean-up easier.
   
   
   Recipe and Photo Source: All Recipes