The Best Turkey Brine

Step 1

Place salt, sugar, and vegetable and fruit scraps in a large stock pan.

Step 2

Cover with cold, filtered water or chicken/turkey stock.

Step 3

Bring brine to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, or until sugar and salt have dissolved in water.

Step 4

Remove from heat and cool for 30 minutes, before storing in the refrigerator to cool the remaining way.

Step 5

At this point, you can strain off the solids from your brine. I typically leave them in the brine and then discard with the brining bag in the morning after removing the turkey from the brine.

Step 6

On the night before you plan to roast your turkey, place your thawed and cleaned out turkey into the large Ziploc Bag or brining bag.

Step 7

Pour the brining liquid over the into the bag.

Step 8

Pour cold water in to cover the bird completely in liquid–this is about 1 gallon of cold water.

Step 9

Seal the brining bag and refrigerate the turkey in the brine overnight.

Step 10

Before roasting the turkey, remove the turkey from the brine and rinse off the excess salt on the turkey. Blot the turkey dry with paper towels.

Step 11

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.

Step 12

Roast the turkey on the lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees for 30 minutes.

Step 13

Insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16-pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting.

Step 14

Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil for 15 minutes before carving.