Smoked Turkey Brine

You are guaranteed to cook up a juicy, flavorful turkey if you use this brine recipe before grilling or smoking it.

• Water
• Kosher Salt: It’s very important you use kosher salt and not table salt. I explain why below.
• Granulated Sugar: This will help to brown the skin.
• Turkey Rub
• Ice: It’s important that you don’t put cold turkey into a pot of hot water. The ice will help bring the temperature down.

Equipment

• Large pot: You’ll need a pot that is large enough to hold 32 cups of water.
• Brining bag: This will help keep raw poultry water from cross contaminating anything else.
• Large container: A 5-gallon bucket works great.

Water-to-Salt Ratio

There are many recipes out there for turkey brine. I’m going to be honest. There is no need to get fancy with citrus and herbs or additions like star anise. Save your money. 

Instead, you just need water, salt and sugar.

Looking through my cookbooks that are more than 100 years old, the ratio for a brine was 1 pound of salt per 1 gallon of water. That’s a lot of salt. But remember, that was 100 years ago. Today, meat is usually pre-treated before it even hits the grocery store, so we don’t need to be that heavy handed. 

The salt you use is important

With that old recipe, a pound of table salt would be about 2 cups; whereas a pound of kosher salt would equal about 4 cups. 

My recipe below uses 1 1/2 cups of kosher salt (significantly less), but it’s really important that you use kosher salt. If you choose to use table salt, reduce the amount by half. 

There are a couple types of kosher salt, too. Personally, I like Diamond Crystal salt. It’s flakier than Morton’s, so I like how it dissolves. 

In addition to the kosher salt, the brine includes my turkey rub, which contains salt, as well.

Sugar

The only other ingredient I add to my turkey brine is granulated white sugar. You can use brown sugar, but it costs twice as a much as white sugar, and I don’t really notice much difference. 

Adding sugar to your brine helps brown the turkey, but it’s completely optional.

How much brine do I need

The amount of smoked turkey brine you need will vary, depending on the size of the turkey and the container you’re going to brine it in. A narrow container, like a 5-gallon bucket will require less brine than a large cooler. 

You need about 2 1/2 cups of brine for every pound of turkey you have. So a 12-pound whole turkey would need about 1 gallon of brine while a 20-pound turkey would need about 3 gallons.

The recipe below makes 2 gallons or 32 cups, which is perfect for a 16-pound bird brined in a 5-gallon bucket. If you’re making a smaller or larger turkey, follow the chart above. 

Do I need to add other ingredients to my brine

The short answer is no. The purpose of the smoked turkey brine is not to flavor the bird, it’s to help ensure moistness of the meat. 

But if you feel you can taste the difference, go for it. Toss in those fresh herbs, bay leaves and citrus slices. Personally, I get the essence of lemon and thyme by just mixing in some of my turkey rub.

Temperature matters

For the brine to properly work, you need to dissolve the sugar and salt. That requires heating it on the stove. The problem is in order to keep your turkey in the safe zone, you need to cool the water to room temperature (68F degrees) before soaking the bird. I don’t like waiting for that.

How to place the turkey in the brine

It’s best to use a tall, narrow bucket or pot, so long as it will fit in your fridge. The closer in size the container is to your turkey, the less brine you will need. 

If you have to use a horizontal container due to your fridge dimensions, place the turkey breast side down. That’s where the majority of the white meat is. White meat has less natural moisture than dark meat, so that’s predominately why we’re using a brine in the first place. 

Can I brine in a cooler?

If you don’t have enough room in your refrigerator for a 5-gallon bucket, you can use a cooler. I recommend still using the bucket and bag method though. Otherwise, you’ll need a ton of brine. 

Follow the same steps. Place the bag in the bucket. Add the turkey and top with brine. Tie the bag at the top and place the bucket in the cooler. Surround the bucket with ice, and add ice on top, especially if you can’t close the lid. 

Check the ice periodically to make sure that the brine temperature is staying below 40F degrees. 

How long should I brine my turkey?

If you brine your turkey for about 45 minutes per pound you’ll hit the sweet spot, and the meat will end up nice and juicy. I’ve created a handy chart above that includes the different times for different weights. 

Rinse the turkey

Because your turkey has been in a salt solution for several hours, you’ll want to rinse the bird to remove the excess salt. This is the only time I recommend rinsing poultry.