Wet Brine Turkey

A pot filled with sliced fruit, herbs, and peppercorns for wet brine.

Learn how to wet brine a turkey with this easy recipe that adds so much flavor! Use it for a whole turkey, turkey breast, or even a frozen turkey. Check out my tools and tips to make this process simple for the holidays!

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Soaking Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: turkey

Calories: 1510kcal

Author: Stephanie

Ingredients

2 gallons water
1 ½ cups Kosher salt see notes*
2 oranges
1 lemon
1 apple I prefer honeycrisp
2 sprigs fresh Rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups Apple Juice or Apple Cider
1 cup Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoons Peppercorn
6 cloves garlic smashed
2 cups fresh cranberries

Instructions

Combine all of the ingredients in a large pot over medium-high heat and stir to allow the sugar and salt to dissolve. Bring to a gentle boil, increasing the heat if needed.
Cover and allow it to cool completely. (See notes for my tip to help speed up the cooling process)
Pour the solution into a brining bag and add the turkey. Refrigerate for 18-24 hours.
Remove the turkey when ready to roast and carefully rinse under cool water to remove excess salt from the outside.
Pat it completely dry, discard the brine, and proceed with roasting.

Notes

Pro Tip: Decrease a few cups of water and replace with ice cubes to quicken the cooling process.

I recommend Diamond kosher salt vs. Morton kosher salt as Morton is stronger and you don’t want your turkey to be too salty.

This recipe works for chicken, turkey breast, and frozen turkey. In addition to roasting, it can be slow cooked, smoked, or fried after brining.

Nutrition

Recipe Source: TheCozyCook.com - For pro tips, step-by-step photos, storage information, and to save it to your account, visit https://framework-keystone.live/wet-brine-turkey/%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-35015":{"type":"food","name":"Wet Brine Turkey","slug":"wprm-wet-brine-turkey","image_url":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Wet-Brine-Turkey-f.jpg","rating":{"count":5,"total":25,"average":5,"type":{"comment":5,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"amount":"2","unit":"gallons","name":"water","notes":"","id":4336,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"gallons","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":0,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"gallons","unitParsed":"gallons"}}},{"amount":"1 \u00bd","unit":"cups","name":"Kosher salt","notes":"see notes*","id":4004,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1 \u00bd","unit":"cups","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":1,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1 \u00bd","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"}}},{"amount":"2","unit":"","name":"oranges","notes":"","id":12606,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":2,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"","name":"lemon","notes":"","id":6437,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":3,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"","name":"apple","notes":"I prefer honeycrisp","id":5451,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":4,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"amount":"2","unit":"sprigs","name":"fresh Rosemary","notes":"","id":5186,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"sprigs","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":5,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"sprigs","unitParsed":"sprigs"}}},{"amount":"2","unit":"sprigs","name":"fresh thyme","notes":"","id":4965,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"sprigs","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":6,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"sprigs","unitParsed":"sprigs"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"","name":"bay leaf","notes":"","id":4556,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":7,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"amount":"2","unit":"cups","name":"Apple Juice ","notes":"or Apple Cider","id":7545,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"cups","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":8,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"cup","name":"Brown Sugar","notes":"","id":4005,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"cup","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":9,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"amount":"3","unit":"Tablespoons","name":"Peppercorn","notes":"","id":12609,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"3","unit":"Tablespoons","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":10,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"3","unit":"Tablespoons","unitParsed":"Tablespoons"}}},{"amount":"6","unit":"cloves","name":"garlic","notes":"smashed","id":3669,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"6","unit":"cloves","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":11,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"6","unit":"cloves","unitParsed":"cloves"}}},{"amount":"2","unit":"cups","name":"fresh cranberries","notes":"","id":6516,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"cups","timestamp":1778514408000},"type":"ingredient","uid":12,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"}}}],"originalServings":"1","originalServingsParsed":1,"currentServings":"1","currentServingsParsed":1,"currentServingsFormatted":"1","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"favorite":false,"unitSystems":[1],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"collection":{"servingsUnit":"turkey","servingsUnitRaw":"turkey","originalServings":"1","originalServingsParsed":1,"type":"recipe","recipeId":35015,"name":"Wet Brine Turkey","image":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Wet-Brine-Turkey-f-500x500.jpg","servings":1,"parent_id":"34946","parent_url":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/wet-brine-turkey\/","cachedAt":1778514408,"modifiedAt":1649511719}}}