Description
Want to learn how to make an Apple Cider Turkey Brine to bring that extra flavour to your favourite bird? It's easier than you think.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2L/quarts apple cider
- 110g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
- 432g (1 1/2 cups) kosher salt
- 7g (1 tbsp) black peppercorns
- 20 juniper berries
- 10 fresh thyme sprigs
- 2 garlic bulbs, halved
- 5L/quarts cold water
- 2L/quarts ice
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients except the water and ice into a large pot.
- Bring the mixture to a boil.
- When the sugar and salt have dissolved, remove from the heat and let it cool down. Keep covered and set aside.
- When you are ready to start the brining process, add the water and ice to the mix.
- You can brine the meat for 1-2 hours per 450g (1lb), which means this can be done overnight.
- Proceed to cook to your preference. Enjoy!
Notes
- This low-salt solution brine was prepared for an 11kg (24lbs) turkey, which is on the large side. It all depends on what size container you will be using to brine the turkey in. If there is going to be plenty of space around it, you will need more brine, because covering the whole turkey is paramount. We first made one batch of the brine and then realised it’s not enough, so two batches were needed.
- For an average whole chicken, weighing around 1.8kg (4lbs), you can quarter the above amounts. The same goes for a 1.8kg (4lbs) pork loin. Whatever you do, make sure the meat is completely submerged.
- You can substitute the brown sugar with maple syrup or honey.
- If you can’t get hold of kosher salt, you can substitute it with half the amount of table salt, i.e. 410g (1½ cups).
- Flavour-wise, feel free to experiment with different herbs and spices, such as 4 sprigs of rosemary or 6g (3 tbsp) dried sage.
- Whenever you use sugar in a brine, you need to remain alert during the cooking process. This is because the skin will brown faster when being cooked. The risk being that the skin is brown but the meat is not actually fully cooked. The best way to navigate around this is to cover the turkey with foil halfway through cooking so that the skin doesn’t get too dark.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Brine
- Method: Brining
- Cuisine: American