Ever wondered about the secret to flavorful, juicy turkey roast? This keto turkey brine is what you need for a super flavorful turkey every time!
❤️ Why you'll love it
I used to struggle with the taste of turkey a lot, especially the breasts and other white meat. It was always so bland and dry that I would always skip it for the darker meat. But the first time I tasted turkey that was properly brined, I was floored! It's so much more flavorful and tender. Learn how to properly brine your fresh turkey before cooking to have perfectly roasted, juicy whole Thanksgiving turkey every single time! You'll never have to eat dry turkey again!
🧂 What Is Brining?
Brine is basically salt water, and brining is simply soaking meat, a whole turkey, a whole chicken, or any cut of meat in a water and salt solution for hours, usually 12 to 24 hours. This processed, called wet brining, will help the meat absorb some water to remain juicy while being roasted or grilled.
Another option is dry brining. This is done by rubbing salt and spices all over the piece of meat and refrigerating it from 24 to 72 hours. The salt will penetrate the flesh of the meat and loosen up the proteins, which will make the meat more tender.
The salt in the water also adds flavor to the turkey and helps break down the meat proteins. This makes the meat more tender and less chewy. When you brine a turkey, the chest and wings, which are white meat, will not dry out after cooking.
Brining was designed as a way of preserving meats back in the day. Before the invention of refrigerators, people would soak their meats in heavy concentrations of salt and water.
This is the best turkey brine recipe, and it also serves to reduce cook time. Once you taste a properly brined turkey, you'll never want to eat it another way!
🦃 Is Turkey Brine Keto-Friendly?
Even though brining traditionally involved just salt in water, these days, people add brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or other sweeteners to it. They feel that the sugar causes better browning of the meat and adds to the overall flavor.
Sugar is not allowed on a keto diet, and so that type of brining is off-limits while in ketosis. There is a keto-friendly brining turkey recipe, and that is what this post is about.
🥘 Equipment Used
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For this recipe, you need a large pot to boil the water in and a brine bag. If you don't have a brine bag, that's alright. You can brine the turkey in the pot. You will need enough fridge space, so clear some room before you get started. It's also helpful to gather any other supplies you'll need for roasting, like the roasting pan and meat thermometer.
🧾 Ingredients Used
- Turkey: You can get your organic turkey from your local farmer's market. You can also buy a frozen turkey from your neighborhood grocery store. I use this brine with a 10lb turkey which feeds 10 people.
- Spices: Kosher salt, rosemary leaves, thyme leaves, black peppercorns.
- Aromatics: Bay leaves, ginger, garlic cloves.
- Lemon: The acidity will help carry more flavor to the turkey.
- Orange peels: For a citrusy flavor.
- Water: To dilute the brine mixture.
🔪 How To Make Turkey Brine
- Remove the leaves from the rosemary and thyme.
- Peel and cut the ginger and mince the garlic.
- Cut the lemon into quarters and peel the skin off the orange. We'll use only the orange skin for the brine.
- Add all the ingredients, including the kosher salt, to two gallons of water in a large pot and bring to a boil.
- Simmer for 10 minutes, then switch the heat off and let the water cool to room temperature.
- If you have a brine bag, pour the cold water into it, put the turkey in, and breast down. If you don't have a brine bag, also put the turkey into a large pot and breast down. The breast meat of the turkey is white meat and is usually the part that dries out while being roasted.
- Brine the turkey for 12 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. You can remove some of your fridge racks to create more refrigerator space so it will fit in case you have a large turkey.
🥫 Storing and Reheating
Discard the low-carb brine solution immediately after bringing your turkey. There is no further use for it. Rinse out the turkey after you brine it to keep it from tasting too salty.
You can also make the turkey brine a few days before you need to brine your turkey or chicken.
💭 Tips and Variations
- I recommend you rinse out the entire turkey after brining to get rid of excess salt on the skin.
- Pat the turkey with paper towels before roasting. This will help you get a nice crispy skin!
- Be cautious of buying a frozen turkey that has been injected with any solution because it usually contains salt. Brining it might cause the turkey to turn out too salty.
- Check the turkey cavity for giblets. Remove from the turkey before brining.
- You can also dry brine your turkey before roasting. Rub salt all over the body of the whole turkey and refrigerate for 24 to 72 hours. Then rinse off and roast. The dry brine recipe takes longer because there is no water to aid faster soaking of the solution.
- When brining your turkey, it needs to be completely submerged in the brine. You need roughly a cup of kosher salt for each gallon of water used, so adjust accordingly.
- You can use either sea salt or kosher salt for brining.
🍽️ What Can I Use This Brine With?
You can brine any meat at all to add flavor to it and tenderize it, but this recipe is particularly wonderful with a whole turkey. Turkey breasts and wings are generally white meat and are prone to drying up when roasted, so brining will ensure that they remain moist and tender.
👩🍳 Frequently asked questions
Generally speaking, brining meat takes about one hour to a pound. So, if you have a large or small Thanksgiving turkey, you should take that into consideration. You can also just brine it for 12 hours or overnight so that the turkey really soaks up enough of the flavorful water.
I recommend that you always brine your turkey before roasting. Not only will the brining process help the turkey soak up more delicious flavors, but the turkey will turn out juicier and more tender. Brining acts as insurance against dry, tasteless turkey, so always brine before roasting. It is the best way to get the most flavor out of your turkey for your Christmas dinner or Thanksgiving feast!
No, turkey brine does not have to have sugar. Salt in water is the most basic and important way to brine. The salt causes the entire turkey to become tender by breaking down the proteins of the turkey. Water allows the salt and flavors to be soaked in easily.
No, you can't brine a turkey without salt. In its most basic form, a brine is also a salt solution, so you really cannot skip the salt. A brine isn't a brine without salt; it would be a marinade instead. A cup of salt or two is the other main ingredient in a brine, other than water.
📖 Recipe
Keto Turkey Brine
Ingredients
- 2 gallons water
- 4 tablespoon peppercorn
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 lemon
- 2 orange peels
- 2 cups kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon rosemary leaves
- 2 tablespoon thyme leaves
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 thumb ginger
Instructions
- Remove the leaves from the rosemary and thyme.2 tablespoon rosemary leaves, 2 tablespoon thyme leaves
- Peel and cut the ginger and mince the garlic.4 garlic cloves, 1 thumb ginger
- Cut the lemon into quarters and peel the skin off the orange. We'll only use the orange skin for the brine.2 lemon, 2 orange peels
- In a large pot, add all the ingredients, including the kosher salt, to two gallons of water and bring to a boil.2 gallons water, 4 tablespoon peppercorn, 2 cups kosher salt, 4 bay leaves
- Simmer for 10 minutes, then let it cool down to room temperature.
- If you have a brine bag, pour the cold water into it and put the turkey in, breast down. If you don't have a brine bag, put the turkey into a large pot, breast down also.
- Brine turkey or chicken for 12 hours or overnight.
Notes
- I recommend you rinse out the entire turkey after you brine it to get rid of excess salt on the skin.
- Pat the turkey with paper towels before roasting.
- Be cautious of buying a frozen turkey that has been injected with any solution because it usually contains salt. Brining it might cause the turkey to turn out too salty.
- Check the turkey cavity for giblets. Remove from the turkey before brining.
- When brining your turkey, it needs to be completely submerged in the brine. You need roughly a cup of kosher salt for each gallon of water used, so adjust accordingly.
I used this on our Thanksgiving turkey yesterday, and it was absolutely amazing! thank you. I love your recipes!
I'm so glad to hear that, Tiffany!
Hello. Your recipe calls for 2 gallons of water and 2 cups kosher salt but your instructions before that mention putting 1 cup kosher salt to 1 gallon water. Can you clarify?
It's two gallons and two cups of kosher salt. Thanks for letting me know about it, I'll fix it in the recipe.