Kittencal's Best Brown Sugar Turkey Brine

We used this brine on a 7 pound bone in turkey breast for Thanksgiving. We rubbed the turkey with butter, stuffed the cavity with fresh thyme, onion, and celery, and brushed it with pure maple syrup during the last hour.The skin cas crisp and golden, and the meat was moist and tender. The maple really highlighted the brown sugar in the brine. Thank you for such a delicious start for our holiday dinner!

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Wow, this is great. We cut the recipe in half, and used it on a turkey breast rather than a whole turkey. We also did it on the rotissere on the gas grill. Browned up nice; and the 7-8 pound breast took about 1 1/2 hours with medium heat. So juicy! Thanks

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This worked out very well for us. I liked that I had all the brine ingredients in the house as I decided to brine at the last hour and didn't have such things as apple juice or maple in the house. I didn't have a large container, so I just used one of my crisper drawers and then flipped the turkey. Our turkey was moist and delicious, thanks for the recipe.

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I never used Brine before, this made the best Turkey ever, so moist and tender. I also used your Turkey recipe with this. It turned out to be the best Turkey I ever made. Thank you for posting this recipe.

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This was my first time using a brine to go along with my first time roasting our holiday turkey. This plus "Kittencal's Perfect Roasted Whole Turkey (Great for Beginners)" Kittencal's Perfect Roasted Whole Turkey (Great for Beginners), made for one of the tastiest birds and successful meals I think we have experienced.

You are now my most favouritist :-) chef on this site. Thank you!

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We used this brine with a few additions on an 18 pound turkey and it came out marvelous! We added a couple of tablespoons of chopped fresh ginger and 2 bayleaves. We cook our turkeys a day ahead, slice, and reheat in the crockpot on Thanksgiving day for ease in serving. My DH just finished slicing it, and I can't stop nibbling on it; it's so moist and flavorful. One word of warning, however. We failed to rinse the turkey after removing from the brine and you can really taste the salt. So don't omit this step if you're concerned about the salt intake. We will be sure to use a brine from now on for a moist, flavorful turkey.

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We used this brine on a 15 lb turkey. It worked out OK but I really couldn't distinguish the taste of the brown sugar and garlic. I cut the recipe in half and placed the turkey in a cooking bag to sit for 2 days. I also found that when using a brine, the turkey cooked alot faster...so next time, I will cut my cooking time down by at least 30 minutes. Sorry Kitten...but I think I will go back to your buttermilk brine next time...that is my all time favorite!!!

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I used Kittencal's brining recipe and her roasted turkey recipe for Thanksgiving and it was an absolute hit! It was hand's down the BEST turkey I've ever cooked or eaten!!! I've never cared for white meat until now - it was always too dry. Not so with these two recipes! My Christmas Eve turkey is in Kittencal's brining recipe right now. I'm so thrilled that you shared your turkey recipes and personally want to thank you Kittencal! P.S. I'm now a dedicated follower!

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I made my turkey this way for Thanksgiving this year and it was the best we have ever had. Very moist and wonderful flavor. I will not make a turkey again without using this brine. Thank you.

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Wow! One of THE BEST, juiciest, most-flavorful turkeys we have ever had! We deep-fried ours for even better results! Thanks!

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This turned out a juicy, moist, and flavorful turkey. I did use my large crisper drawer in the fridge to brine the turkey overnight, like another reviewer suggested. It worked great! Thanks for a great recipe. This recipe is a keeper.

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Brined my bird for 48 hours, then used a mild injectable marinade... The turkey was falling part juicy, full of flavour, and earned rave reviews. Luckily, I live in the frozen tundra of the UP of Michigan, so my only issue with leaving the bucket on the porch is that it got cold enough to freeze the brine to slush!!

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Brined our 14 pounder for about 20 hours and it was amazing!!! I continued with Kittencal's Perfect Roasted Whole Turkey (Great for Beginners) for roasting the turkey. This turkey was the juiciest turkey we have every had. My husband who swears by frying was also impressed and said we can skip frying next year for this method. We were impressed further when we ate leftovers today and they were still juicy cold right out of the fridge!

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Amazing, amazing, amazing! Would give this six stars if I could! Have used this recipe for the last 3 years and wouldn't change a thing! Thanks so much for sharing this AMAZING recipe!

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I tried this brine recipe this year and it turned out great. I only used half of the brine because I was only cooking an 8 # turkey. I'm holding on to the other gallon for the next time I cook a whole chicken.

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Sea salt is a good substitute for kosher salt. Still has no impurities, like kosher. Definitely don't use table salt.

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I've used this brine a few years now--I love how simple and delicious the turkey tastes! I've used it on turkeys I've cooked on the rotisserie and on this year's turkey, which I roasted in the oven using Kittencal's 2-hour quick turkey roast recipe. Mmmmm....

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I have been known for my turkeys but I will say this brine is the best I have used and the guests could wait for it to hit the table they thought they could just get a taste while I was carving. By the time I put it on the table 2 of them had no room for dinner!!

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This was our first time brining a turkey and we are total converts. It created the most amazing, moist turkey.

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This was a fantastic brine and we will be using this every time !!! I included 1 1/2 bottles of white wine and topped up with water to the 2 gallon mark. My 12 lb turkey went into a 5 gallon bucket and covered it with brine. I then put the 5 gallon bucket into a picnic cooler and surrounded the bucket with ice. Worked fabulously. There were too many flavours happening in the dinner to properly appreciate the turkey. Had some cold turkey the next day and the flavours were definitely there. Absolutely fabulous !!! Thanks for sharing.

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