Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love getting together with family. And I especially love the food. I’ve always loved Turkey, but usually it was paired with a healthy dose of gravy. That is until last year when we spent Thanksgiving with my husband’s side of the family. My sister-in-law brined two turkeys for dinner that night. They smoked one and roasted the other. It was the most amazing turkey I had ever eaten! Even the breast meat was flavorful and juicy. I didn’t even put a drop of gravy on it. I know that this isn’t something some may consider a life-changing moment, but I decided that from that moment on I would always brine my turkeys. My wonderful sister-in-law was kind enough to share her recipe with me after dinner that night. I used it for Christmas last year and the turkey was a huge hit.
If you have never brined a turkey before, it really isn’t hard. The hardest part is making room in your fridge for the big bucket-o-turkey. You also have to do some pre-planning. You’ll want to defrost your turkey in time to brine for two days and then sit with the dry rub for another 24 hours. We use a Homer bucket from Home Depot to brine the turkey. We just cover the top with plastic wrap and then seal it with painter’s tape. If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! If it is a life-changing moment for you too, I’d love to hear that as well!
- 2 gallons of water
- 1 1/2 cups kosher salt
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbs ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a 5 gallon bucket and brine for 48 hours.
- 25 crushed bay leaves
- 3 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 3 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp creole seasoning
- Remove turkey from brine and set in roasting pan. Mix together dry rub ingredients and rub over entire turkey, inside and out. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours before cooking.
does the drippings from this style turkey make a good “tradidtional” gravey?
Yes and no. The drippings are very salty because of the brine. What I do is use chicken broth as my base and then add the drippings from the turkey until I feel like the flavor is right, then thicken it with a slurry of cornstarch and water. By adding the drippings to the broth, you really don’t need to add any other seasonings to the gravy unless you really want to:)
This recipe sounds perfect. Will the sugar make your meat carry a sweet taste or is that strictly for flavor?
No, it doesn’t have a sweet taste to it. Everything just balances out and leaves a great taste. The drippings will be very salty, but the meat will be perfect.
Can you use this same brine recipe for a dry brine and leave out the water?
I’ve never used a dry brine before, but you can certainly try it. I’m not certain the flavors will be as pronounced as a wet brine. If you went that route, I would probably brine it overnight, rinse it off, then apply the rub for 24 hours prior to cooking it. You’ve got me curious though, so I’d love to hear your results if you chose to dry brine it with this recipe:)
Katie
this might be silly, but does the size of the turkey change recipe for this brine? what size turkey did you use?
I used a 16 pound turkey this time. I don’t think it would change the recipe amount for the brine. Maybe just the rub.
How big of a turkey is this recipe for? I just cook up a turkey breast and was wondering how to cut the recipe?
It isn’t for a specific size. This year I am roasting a 16lb turkey. Last year was 20+ lbs. You could cut the recipe in half for a turkey breast.
I’ve seen many different cooking times for brined turkeys, what do you recommend?
I cook mine in a turkey roaster at 325. I roast it like I normally would an unbrined turkey, so for my 16 pound turkey, I’m going to roast it for 4-5 hours.
Just about to stuff this and put in the oven. My husband accidentally did the dry rub with tablespoons and not teaspoons…let’s hope it’s still good!its a 22 pound turkey. I’m excited to see how this comes out. Happy thanksgiving!
Oh no! Lol! It will probably be just a little more flavorful. My husband stuck our rub in the blender and turned it into a fine powder. We’re curious how it will turn out too;)
My family and I just enjoyed the BEST turkey ever! This was my very first attempt at a turkey and it was amazing! I was late at finding the recipe so I had to cut the brine and rub time in half but it still turned out fabulous! And the gravy was the best I’ve ever had! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with all of us!!! We look forward to making this a yearly tradition!
That’s great! I love hearing things like that! Hope you have a wonderful rest of your evening:)
For the record, the turkey was excellent! We got a lot of compliments.
Great! So happy you liked it!
Could You Mix The Dry Rub With butter And Then Rub On Turkey?
You could do that. Or you could rub the turkey with butter, then the dry rub.
Followed this recipe for our Christmas turkey, but only used 1/2 cup regular table salt.. This was THE BEST turkey I have ever eaten in my whole life. I had issues getting it out of the pan because all the bones came right out! Didn’t even need to carve it because the breast just fell away from the bone and the drumsticks came right off and onto my husbands plate =) I WILL NEVER make my turkey any other way again! I am trying this out today on a whole chicken, just half the recipe and half the brine time ( I brined my turkey 24 hours)mmmm…Thank you for this awesomeness!!
I’m so glad you liked it! I am totally with you. I’ll never make turkey another way again. I bet your chicken will be awesome too!
Did you put ice around the Homer Bucket?
No, I just stick it in the refrigerator. I move some shelves aside and it works great:)
This will be our 1st thanksgiving we’ll be hosting and having extended family come over. We’re going to give this recipe a try…. can’t wait!
Hi!!!
Do you rinse off the brine first then rub or go straight to the rub?
Just go straight to the rub:)
Hi! My turkey is all rubbed up and in plastic wrap in the fridge! I’m so excited! One question, does the creole seasoning make the turkey super spicy?
Not at all. I cant wait to hear how you like it!
Does this need to be covered or basted? Or just toss it in and let it cook… I know just like me to wait till the last minute to think about this yikes. I’m about to put it in the oven n it just hit me
If you put it in the oven, i would cover it. I
Cook mine in an electric roaster. I dont baste it. It’s super juicy either way:)
Oh my gosh thank you for getting back so quickly! I’m such a pea brain I can’t believe I didn’t think about this before! Covering it now and popping it in…. hoping it turns out as amazing as everyone else’s!! Thanks again
This looks like a great recipe and I’m stoked to try it! We typically do ham for Christmas as well but this year it may have just turned into turkey…..or both. Have a Merry Christmas!
We always do both!
Was wondering if when I put it in the oven, should I put the turkey on a roasting rack, or just sit it inside the pan to cook? And also any recommendations on what temp to set my oven and how long to cook or to what internal temp. Literally making my first turkey for my in-laws!!
I put mine on a roasting rack when I make it. As far as the oven temp goes, follow this link and it will tell you all you need to know about oven temp and roasting time:)
http://www.butterball.com/how-tos/roast-a-turkey
I just wanted to pop by to say I tried this over Christmas (on my very first turkey!) and it turned out amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe! Hope you had a great holiday 🙂
I’m so glad you liked it!
Thanks for sharing, do you need to rinse the dry rub off before cooking? Can’t wait to try it.
Nope! Just leave it on and roast it:)