Brined Turkey

I have for a long time (really, years) been wanting to brine a turkey but my chaotic home life did not really give me the time to more than just read about it. But, as it turns out, it is not anywhere near as time consuming as I had made it out to be.

The Food Network has many recipes and I chose one that uses 1 gallon of water, 1 pound of salt, 1 pound of honey, and two quarts of vegetable broth. It recommends using a cooler to place the turkey in. Since I didn't have one or felt very compelled to spend money to buy one and our weather last night was a perfect 36F degrees, I used my "outdoor refrigerator" and placed the turkey in a bucket lined with a couple of food grade plastic bags.

After a cozy night in my cool backyard, I removed the bird from the brine and dried it very well with paper towel. Then I place in on a couple of layers of tin foil, greased it with oil and seasoned the bird with sage and ....garam masala. :-)








My husband prepped the grill (with a little help from Max) and I placed the turkey on one side and the coals on the other with the vents slightly open on both sides. You need a lot of coals to keep the side with the turkey warm enough for 2-3 hours!!



On the coals, I placed a large piece of Hickory wood chip and a foil package with cinnamon bark, stark anise and a stalk of lemon grass.Then I closed the lid and patiently (hahahahaha) watched the smoked ooze out of grill. After awhile, I was no longer able to keep the temperature high enough on the side of the turkey, so I placed it over the coals where it remained a stable 350F.

After 3 hours, the turkey was done and smelled so good that I completely forgot to take a picture of it first. It was the most moist and tasteful turkey I have ever had and I will from now on always brine before grilling.

Guess a carved turkey is good evidence of a good meal :-)