So I've been pondering for weeks how I would go about brining our turkey for Thanksgiving. After doing a bit of research online, I found that a lot of people recommend using a 5 gallon bucket to soak the turkey in the brine. After reading that I knew immediately that a 5 gallon bucket was not going to fit inside my refrigerator for several reasons - the shelves go straight across, I can't see putting that heavy an item on these shelves as they are made of plastic, and we can't just pop a shelf out because I still need room to put my other foods.
With that being said, I began my mission to find a plausible solution that would still allow me to brine a turkey. I'm sure I'm not the only person out there thinking, really a 5 gallon bucket in my refrigerator? I know right away that none of my stockpots are large enough to hold a turkey and brine so that wasn't even an option.
My first idea was to use some jumbo size bags I had left over from another project this summer; however, I discovered the bag wasn't big enough. Without losing hope, I thought there had to be an even larger bag. My mom was visiting and she had to make a trip over to the store and I asked her to see if they made any bags larger than the one I already had and I showed it to her. She returned with these XL Big Bags by Ziplock. I opened the box and I was positive this would work. My next problem was still where is this turkey going to live in the refrigerator because this thing is going to be heavy. Again, our new refrigerator's layout does not provide an easy solution. The shelf with the most height is at the top; however, again the shelf is plastic and there is nothing to support it. I was seriously concerned about the weight of the bird and water might actually break the shelf. So my husband and I begin to examine our options and I recommend he pull the shelf out of the bottom. Sure enough, the vegetable crisper fit on the top shelf (and weighs nowhere near what a turkey in brine weighs) and Mr. Turkey Bird fit nicely in the open space created at the bottom of the refrigerator. Brining problem solved!
Brine Solution
1 cup salt
1 Tbsp Savory
1 Tbsp Thyme
1 Tbsp Rosemary
Enough water to cover the turkey
To make sure the water remained covering the entire turkey, we sealed the bag, then used some kitchen twine to tie the bag up so the bag could not just "flop" off to the sides.
Mr. Turkey Bird is currently sitting in the bottom of our refrigerator waiting to be roasted tomorrow.
With that being said, I began my mission to find a plausible solution that would still allow me to brine a turkey. I'm sure I'm not the only person out there thinking, really a 5 gallon bucket in my refrigerator? I know right away that none of my stockpots are large enough to hold a turkey and brine so that wasn't even an option.
My first idea was to use some jumbo size bags I had left over from another project this summer; however, I discovered the bag wasn't big enough. Without losing hope, I thought there had to be an even larger bag. My mom was visiting and she had to make a trip over to the store and I asked her to see if they made any bags larger than the one I already had and I showed it to her. She returned with these XL Big Bags by Ziplock. I opened the box and I was positive this would work. My next problem was still where is this turkey going to live in the refrigerator because this thing is going to be heavy. Again, our new refrigerator's layout does not provide an easy solution. The shelf with the most height is at the top; however, again the shelf is plastic and there is nothing to support it. I was seriously concerned about the weight of the bird and water might actually break the shelf. So my husband and I begin to examine our options and I recommend he pull the shelf out of the bottom. Sure enough, the vegetable crisper fit on the top shelf (and weighs nowhere near what a turkey in brine weighs) and Mr. Turkey Bird fit nicely in the open space created at the bottom of the refrigerator. Brining problem solved!
Brine Solution
1 cup salt
1 Tbsp Savory
1 Tbsp Thyme
1 Tbsp Rosemary
Enough water to cover the turkey
To make sure the water remained covering the entire turkey, we sealed the bag, then used some kitchen twine to tie the bag up so the bag could not just "flop" off to the sides.
Mr. Turkey Bird is currently sitting in the bottom of our refrigerator waiting to be roasted tomorrow.
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