Thanksgiving Tip #4

It's 4 days until Thanksgiving! For the next few days I will be posting a quick tip to make your holiday a little easier. Here's the fourth one:



At lunch today a friend told me how to soak your turkey ahead of time in a salt & sugar brine to make it come out golden brown and taste delicious.



Make the brine with 1 1/2 gallons of water to cover the turkey in the bucket, stockpot, or whatever is large enough to hole the bird. A larger container may require more water. Just remember the ratio -- 1 cup kosher salt (and 2/3 cup sugar) per gallon of water -- and increase accordingly. Don't worry if a bit of the turkey is not submerged. Just place the turkey, breast down, in the water, and let part of the back sit above the water. Sugar is optional, but she said it helps the bird brown beautifully.


Mix salt, optional sugar and 1 1/2 gallons of cold water in a clean bucket or stockpot large enough to hold the turkey. Add turkey; refrigerate 12-15 hours. Remove turkey from brine, rinse thoroughly under cool running water and pat dry.


Roast your turkey as you normally would. Let rest 30 minutes after taking out of the oven and slicing.

Thanksgiving Tip #1

It's one week until Thanksgiving!  For the next week I will be posting a quick tip to make your holiday a little easier.  Here's the first one:

Prepare your favorite stuffing and bake it in your crockpot while the turkey occupies the oven. You can prep this the day before and refrigerate, it is so much easier than stuffing it into the turkey, the turkey will cook faster, food poisoning risk is decreased and the stuffing doesn't absorb all the extra fat dripping from the turkey.