Thanksgiving Turkey Brine

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The best turkey ever!!! It's even great as leftovers! Need I say more?

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My family has always used a cooked Turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners (yuk! I know. I have watched so many FN shows for cooking a raw bird so this year I purchased my own Turkey to brine and make alone. It was amazing. The moistness is unbelievable. Now, my family wants no other and I have been handed down the turkey preparation duty. Can't wait to make it again!

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Thanksgiving 2009 was the first time that I had ever brined a turkey and I am sure glad that I chose this recipe. I followed the recipe and the turkey turned out fabulous and moist....best turkey that I have ever cooked! My family loved it! I used this recipe again for Christmas but tweaked it by using half the amount of butter which turned out ok but not that great. It was not that moist. Make sure that you use a rack due to the amount of butter!!!

My suggestions..... crush the garlic cloves, add 1 tbsp of Italian Seasoning and 1 tbsp of onion powder to the butter mixture, and stuff the turkey cavity with the thyme plus half the amount of garlic cloves from the brine and one lemon.

Awesome recipe!!!!

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Loved this!!!!!!!! I didn't use the molasses 'cause I didn't have any on hand - and I used 1/2 the amount of honey - again - just didn't have it. But even with these omissions, the bird was spectacular- I'll use this recipe every time from now on!!! Didn't miss the added sweetness at all.

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I have using brine for my poultry for years and for the first time I thought I would try a different recipe. I was intrigued by the ingredients when I saw this on TV and got the recipe for Thanksgiving. I know, not the time to try something different but I felt brave. Besides the ingredients I was intrigued by the method of using salt pork and cheese cloth. Well, my family has a new tradition with this recipe! It was absolutly awesome. My kids were concerned becasue it was dark but while it sat we realized it was the molasses that made it that way. I've always been the skin eater and it was so much better using the salt pork instead of bacon. Everyone is still talking about it. We are all converts to this recipe

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To Susan from Morro Bay, CA: Don't blame the recipe for turning out inedible when you don't follow it. What makes you think you should brine your bird for 48 hours when the recipe called for 12? Marinating is not the same thing as brining, and quoting Bobby Flay's timetable for marinating when you're using another chef's recipe for brining obviously got you garbage. Don't give a negative review when you don't follow the recipe!

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I've never prepared a whole turkey or Thanksgiving dinner myself....but this year I tried & it was a success! I'm sure it was all thanks to the brine. I brined the turkey overnight, so the liquid really permeated the meat. You can also adjust the recipe to your liking. I subtracted the red pepper flakes and I added some brown sugar on my own and it still came out quite delicious. I even left the turkey in the oven a little longer than I had anticipated, so I was concerned that it would be dry. But to my pleasant surprise, the turkey was still quite moist! I definitely will continue to brine my Thanksgiving turkeys for our future holiday dinners! I encourage brining even if you don't like this particular recipe.

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Easy to do, and my guests (my grown children thought it was delicious. But I have 2 questions, since I didn't watch the whole video - it seemed like a pound of butter was so much! I really tried, kept stuffing it under the skin, but in the end could not get the whole 4 sticks in - it still came out delicious. 2nd question - when you just throw in the cloves of garlic - whole - I wonder if you are getting much flavor out of them? I was so tempted to crush them a little before adding them - but refrained, wanted to try the recipe without altering in any way. Next time I might crush them a little - or maybe it is the salt in the brine that draws flavor out of the cloves. Thanks Alex!

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Thanks ever so much, Alex, for the wonderful brine recipe. I have brined chicken but did not get nearly a fraction of flavor as this turkey brine. I was lucky to use this recipe for my first Thanksgiving at home with my husband and small children and it was a HUGE hit! My children will grow up knowing delicious, succulent Thanksgiving turkeys in my house all because I tuned into Food Network and saw you and Aaron work some magic. BTW, don't pay any attention to negative reports on this brine; some people just can not follow a recipe...yeesh! Your faithful fan, Dee in Texas :

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I have never taken the opportunity to write a review but I had to take the time to do this one. This was the best turkey that I have ever eaten. It was so moist!!! My turkey was the star at the Thanksgiving table!!! I can't wait for an encore performance at Christmas. Thanks, Alex.