Mean Chef’s Apple Brine

“I’ve used this same recipe for the past two Thanksgiving dinners… it is easily the BEST turkey I have ever made. The flavor combination is incredible, not too strong, just a hint of sweetness and a lovely aroma from the citrus and ginger. I have skipped the drying-out-overnight process with no discernable difference in skin crispness… just make sure to dry the bird well. One note: The skin gets very brown because of the sugar in the brine… looks like a magazine cover! Just don’t let that fool you into thinking the bird is done too early.”

“This was fabulous!!!I brined a bone in pork loin roast this weekend and roasted it to 160 degrees (internal temperature). It was the best – no question.Moist and flavorful – no sauce or gravy required.Thanks so much for a terrific recipe.”

“There’s not much to say.This is my favorite brine, I use it on chicken and turkey and I believe it produces the best turkey you’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. Try it.If you are using it for a chicken, just cut the recipe in half.It should be noted that I believe I gave this recipe to Mean, and that it came out of Weber’s Art of the Grill cookbook, one of my favorite grilling books.”

“On November 28, 2002, I celebrated Thanksgiving for the 29th time. I have eaten 28 drier turkeys than this one. Need I say more? Mean Chef, your recipes are just about fail-safe – thank you so much for taking the time to share.”

“Finally, I know that I will never have to suffer through another dry turkey.We followed the recipe exactly, allowing our 19 pound turkey to sit in the brine for about 24 hours.We washed and dried the turkey and allowed it to sit for another 3 hours.We then cooked it in a clay pot following the cooking directions that came with the clay pot.The turkey was moist, the skin was a beautiful bronze color, and the ginger flavor was really prominent.The most astounding thing was the drippings that were in the bottom of the pot.Almost like a turkey demi-glace, it was thick and rich.We just skimmed off the fat, added a beurre manie and a bit of milk to tone down the salt.It made a terrific gravy.We’ll be using this method, perhaps this recipe for years!Thank you for sharing.”

“This was outstanding! I followed the directions exactly, and this turkey was the best I ever had or anybody else at the party ever had. I served this on Chrismas. I made the turkey the night before, because I need my oven on Christmas day for the ham and all the other stuff. I will never eat turkey without brining it ever again. It did not need salt or gravy. I made a 14 pound turkey and every bit of it was GONE…no leftovers! Usually I have a ton of leftover turkey. I regret every other turkey I have ever made. It was very easy to do, and not too expensive. This recipe was probably the best thing I’ve ever found on this site. If you are thinking about brining a turkey, stop thinking and just do it. You’ll never go back to dry, bland turkey ever again. “

“I brined a 7 lb. pork loin roast for approx. 36 hours and cooked to an internal temp of 170 (Julia Child suggests 180-185).It was perfect with juice literally gushing from the roast.Taste and appearance were also superior.”

“Let me add to the rave reviews….I brined our Thanksgiving turkey and it was wonderful.Very juicy and moist.It smelled divine as it was cooking.The meat was flavorful,as Tracy said, with just a hint of sweetness,it was perfect.”

“WOW!!This iwas my first time using a brine for our Thanksgiving turkey.The white meat was so moist and tender and everything had a wonderful flavor.I’m now a believer!!Yippee.Thanks!”

“First time briner and now a briner groupie.I followed your directions exactly and soaked our 12 pound turkey for almost 48 hours.I rinsed my turkey out and placed on a rack to dry for about 20 minutes.The end result was a golden/bronze turkey with moist, luscious, flavorful meat.The meat had a slightly sweet flavor with subtle overtones of orange, ginger, bay leaves, and garlic (difficult to pick out any one).I poured off the fat from the drippings and made a simple gravy that had a slightly sweet flavor (my oldest is very picky and still enjoyed the gravy).Thanks for a wonderful Christmas turkey!”

“Well, I just had to add my comments to everyone else’s.This was the first time I brined anything and our Christmas turkey was wonderfully moist with a delicate flavor…Since it was just the four of us for Christmas dinner, and our turkey was more like an oversized chicken, I halved the recipe, used table salt instead of kosher salt, and used less ginger. As I was carving the turkey, I couldn’t help snitching a piece here and there because it was so irresistible!My family loved it too and I know I want to brine more meats in the future!You made a brine believer out of me!Thank you, Mean Chef!:) “

“This is the same recipe I’ve used for the past two years.If you’re short on fridge space, like we always are, we fill a cooler half way with ice and place a clean and sterilized 5 gallon paint bucket inside ($5 at the hardware store) then pack any empty spaces with remaining ice.Once the brine is cooled pour it in the bucket and put the bird in.I weight the bird down with a small landscape stone that is double bagged in ziplocks then cover the bucket with aluminum foil to keep out any dust.Works like a charm everytime and everything is still very cold the next day.You will have the most beautiful, juicy bird you’ve ever had and literally tons of drippings for gravy.No more fighting over the gravy boat, promise!”

“Mean, I think after this holliday season you are going to have a TON more reviews for this recipe. And I am positive they will all be 5-stars.This was tremendous.BF and I brined a whole bone-in turkey breast (6.5 lbs) and halved the recipe.My bf also added a quartered granny smith apple, although I don’t know what diffrence that made and we used ground cloves (~1/8 tsp) and a sprinkling of other spices.We brought everything to a simmer (after brining apple juice mixture to a boil) and then brined the turkey for somewhere between 24 and 48 hours…I was worried that the extra-long brining time would mess it up, but no!This recipe seems basically no-fail.The turkey was moist and flavorful… My boyfriend was raised vegetarian so has little experience with turkeys- he always said he hated turkey until he tried this.Now he’s begging me to buy another breast at the store so we can brine another.This made a fantastic gravy and I boiled the bones and skin with veggies to make a wondeful, flavorful broth.Thanks for posting this- and for getting my BF to like poultry!”

“This was FABULOUS! I had been wanting to try brining meat, but wasn’t quite confident enough to try it on the last turkey I cooked. Following Mean Chef’s advice, I brined 2 small chickens for about 9 hours. (I made the brine the night before and put the chickens in first thing in the morning.) Everything everyone has said here is absolutely true! I don’t normally like the breast meat, but this was SO moist and delicious. The brine added a delicate, but noticeable flavour which was terrific! Thank you for the recipe, Mean Chef, and thank you for your reply to my question. I will certainly make my next turkey this way!Sue”

“Most moist turkey ever…excellent!”

“Oh, Meanie, this is great!I used it for a chicken, cutting all the amts. in half.ONly change I made was using 1/2 grapefruit instead of the orange; it still came out amazing.May try this on my Christmas crown roast!”

“I couldn’t wait till Thanksgiving to give this a try. Cut the recipe in half and did a 7 lb chicken. This was soo tender and juicy. When we cut into the bird the juices started flowing! I let it brine for about 7 hours but I think it should have gone longer. Chunked up some apple and half an orange added some ginger, garlic and a bay leaf, and stuffed this all inside at roasting time. The aroma was to die for! Can’t wait to do my turkey. “

“I have brined chops and chicken but never a turkey before.What better time to experiment than Christmas dinner using your entire extended family as Guinea Pigs?I left the bird in the brine for about 18 hours then rinsed well and left it in the fridge uncovered for a couple of hours to dry out somewhat.I was very nervous about stuffing the turkey thinking that the salt would make it inedible.I needn’t have worried.I also prepared gravy separately as I thought the dripping would be useless.Not so!I have now frozen them to use at a later date.I was really pleased with this recipe and will use it again and again.I think it would be awesome for a pork roast too.Thanks!”

“First time brining a turkey for me and it came out excellent! I didn’t have cloves. Our turkey was 22 lbs. so we used an ice cooler lined with foil and left it out on the deck for 24 hours. I doubled the brine mixture, but used 2 quarts of water instead of an additional 2 quarts of apple juice as I was afraid it was going to be too sweet. Well, the turkey was fantastic and the gravy was to die for! Just be sure to rinse very well and dry the turkey very good as well. Thanks so much for sharing this, I will use it again and again!”

“I prepared my turkey using this for our Canadian Thankgiving, then smoked the little darling (6 hours in smoker with apple wood).I have never really enjoyed turkey before, but this year I was snacking on cold turkey.The brine is perfect – none of the flavours overpowers the others and I have had several requests for the brine.We will be brining from now on.”