Brine your Bird!

If a succulent, juicy turkey is what you are looking for tomorrow, brine your bird today. Williams Sanoma has an incredible turkey brine that you mix with liquid and soak your turkey in overnight. Believe me, Clarence does this every year and we have the juiciest, plumpest, mouth-watering turkey ever. Trust Me! Gandy

Here is a recipe you will love....

Ingredients

1 gallon vegetable broth

1 cup sea salt

1 Tbsp crushed, dried rosemary

1 Tbsp dried sage

1 Tbsp dried thyme

1 Tbsp dried savory

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp Lowers perfect blend poultry seasoning

1 gallon ice water

Directions

1.In a large stock pot, combine vegetable broth, sea salt, rosemary, sage, thyme and savory. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to be sure salt is dissolved. Remove from heat; let cool to room temperature.

2.When the broth mixture is cool pour it into a clean 5 gallon bucket. Stir in ice water.
I use a large storage container that you get at Walmart. Use something big enough yet not too big.
The brine needs to cover the whole bird.

3.Wash and dry your turkey. (This is actually very important) Make sure you have removed the innards. Place the turkey, breast down, into the brine. Make sure the cavity gets filled. Put the lid on and place bucket in the refrigerator overnight. In this weather you can get away with leaving it outside your door - but watch out for cats.

4.In the morning, carefully remove the turkey from the container, draining off excess brine; pat dry. Discard brine as enough has soaked into the bird to make your drippings for the gravy wonderful.
(Use Rocco's gravy recipe below.)

5.Cook the turkey as desired reserving the drippings for gravy. Keep in mind that brined turkeys cook 20 to 30 minutes faster, so watch the temperature gauge. This last step is very very important: cover the bird with foil while cooking. This locks in the juices. Uncover for the final 1/2 hour to crisp up the skin.