How to Brine a Turkey
Author: Heather Scholten | Published: Oct 27, 2024 | Updated: Jan 30, 2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy for more info.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
You’ll love it because wet brining is simple and is the best way to get a juicy bird whether you’re roasting, smoking, or grilling it. The herbs can be swapped around (see variations below for suggestions) depending on what you have on hand or prefer.
If you’re gearing up for Thanksgiving like I am, you’ll want to add some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes like: my Classic Cranberry Sauce that’s scented with orange and spices and make a fantastic Puff Pastry Twists appetizer the next day, or my easy recipe for Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes, or an Asian inspired Spiral Ham with Apricot that’s so incredibly flavorful you’ll want to make it year round.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This wet brine recipe requires a few fresh ingredients, lots of cold water, and the turkey of course.
- Turkey: use either a raw turkey or defrost a frozen turkey
- Apple Cider or Apple Juice: adds a wonderful flavor to the turkey
- Fresh Herbs: fresh rosemary, fresh sage, fresh Italian parsley, fresh thyme
- Oranges: use a mixture of orange slices and orange peel for the best flavor.
- Brown Sugar: light or dark brown sugar works.
- Kosher Salt: 1 cup of kosher salt is used so make sure you have a fresh box. You can also use sea salt or table salt.
- Black Peppercorns: use whole peppercorns to add flavor.
- Bay Leaves: if you can find them, use fresh bay leaves for the most optimal flavor, but dried bay leaves also work just fine.
- Cold Water: start with using cold water to make the saline solution.
Find the printable recipe card with exact measurements and detailed instructions below.
Substitutes & Variations
- For Fresh Herbs: you can use just thyme, or just rosemary, or a mixture of several fresh herbs. Most grocery stores also sell a fresh herb blend during the holidays. Just make sure you use fresh for the best flavors.
- Premade Turkey Brine Blend: feeling like you’d rather just buy a blend of salt and seasonings that are premade? This one is a good option.
Special Equipment Needed
- Turkey Brine Bag: brining bag as easy to come by on Amazon, the grocery store, or Williams-Sonoma
- Large Stock Pot: if you don’t want to purchase a brine bag, you can use a large stock pot with a tight fitting lid. Make sure it’s large enough to full submerge a large turkey.
- Roasting Pan: to roast the turkey.
- Large Cooler: using a large cooler will alleviate refrigerator space which during the holiday season is hot real estate. If using a cooler, make sure to add ice to the wet brine to keep it cold.
- Plastic Bucket or other large container: lastly, you can use a plastic bucket with a lid to brine the turkey. Either keep it chilled in a cooler or the refrigerator.
How to Make this Simple Brine Recipe
This recipe takes only a few minutes to assemble and makes enough to brine a 18-20 lb turkey.
Step 1: Make the Brine Solution
- In a large pot, add the cold water, apple juice, kosher salt, brown sugar, herbs, spices, and citrus. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and stir until sugar and salt have dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Step 2: Brine the Turkey
- Put the fresh turkey in whatever brining vessel you’ve chosen and pour the salt solution over the turkey. Make sure the turkey is submerged and it’s brine time.
- For best results, refrigerate for 1 hour per pound of turkey.
Step 3: Rinse the Turkey
- Before roasting, smoking, or grilling the turkey, make sure to rinse the water solution off the turkey under cold water well. Dry with paper towels before seasoning and cooking.
FAQs
As a general rule of thumb: about one hour per pound of turkey, but for best results, 24 hours or less. The longer you brine, the more the muscle fibers are broken down which can result in an overly salty turkey.
Here’s a breakdown of brine times to help you:
12–14-lb. turkey: 16–18 hours.
14–16-lb. turkey: 18–20 hours.
16–18-lb. turkey: 20–22 hours.
18–20-lb. turkey: 22–24 hours.
YES! Do a test run with your turkey before brining by placing your brine bag, container, or bucket in the fridge to make sure you have room. If using a cooler, be sure to add ice to keep the turkey chilled during the brining process.
Refrigerating the turkey after rinsing a brined turkey will help dry the entire turkey inside and out resulting in a crisper skin when roasting. You should refrigerate it uncovered at least 2 hours but overnight is best. Place the turkey on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet for easy removal and no messy fridge clean-up later.
YES! Always make sure you rinse the turkey under cool running water inside and out to remove the brine solution. Dry well with paper towels before seasoning.
Not rinsing a salt brine off the turkey before cooking it will likely result in a very salty bird that will be unpleasant to consume.
More Recipes We Love
Here are some of my favorite Thanksgiving Dinner recipes to serve alongside a moist turkey.
How to Brine a Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 gallon water
- 1 gallon apple cider, or apple juice
- 2 cups Kosher salt, or sea salt
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 3 oranges, sliced
- 1 head garlic, whole cloves
- 3 tbsp black peppercorns
- 4 bay leaves
- 6 sprigs rosemary, fresh
- 3 sprigs thyme, fresh
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large stockpot. Bring to a boil. Stir occasionally until salt and sugar are dissolved, about 10 minutes. Remove and cool to room temperature.
- Place turkey breast side down into brining vessel (brine bag, bucket, or large pot with lid). Cover with cooled brining solution. Cover and refrigerate according to brine times in notes.
- Remove the turkey from the brine solution and rinse well inside and out with cool running water. Pat dry with paper towels and either season and roast or place on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate overnight (uncovered) to dry it out further.
Notes
- 12–14 lb. turkey: 16–18 hours
- 14–16 lb. turkey: 18–20 hours
- 16–18 lb. turkey: 20–22 hours
- 18–20 lb. turkey: 22–24 hours
Recipe By:
Co-Founder at Spiceology | More About Heather…
Heather is a recipe developer and content creator living in Vancouver, Washington. She started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006, almost 20 years ago, as a way to share recipes with friends and family. Heather is also the co-founder of Spiceology , a unique spice company, which she started in 2013. She shares family friendly recipes for easy everyday meals with a gourmet twist.
a simple recipe that I hope you’ll love
I was expecting to see a citrus Brine with the orange slices in the preview photo. If you have not done so, Orange Juice and slices roasted under the skin is a fantastic citrus burst of flavour 😊