I love Turkey.
Honestly, at Thanksgiving there are never enough leftovers for me, so when I got an e-mail from Kikkoman offering me a gift card to buy a Turkey and some Kikkoman products (YUM) for a pre-Thanksgiving Turkey Brining experiment… I was in for two reasons. 1) I’ve never Brined a Turkey before and 2.) if I’m going to brine my first turkey, it might as well be on someone else’s dime.. (oh wait… same reason…oops 
)
So the GIANT GALLON of soy sauce and a couple of other delicious sounding flavored sauces arrived in the mail PLUS soy milk (did not know Kikkoman made that) and um… Burgh.. what do I do with that and some Panko… I love me some Panko and an apron.
I read the directions and realized that I don’t own ANYTHING large enough to Brine a Turkey (13.5 lbs) until I went in our garage and unearthed our MASSIVE cast iron pot. It weighs 13 pounds on it’s own, even with that I had to turn the turkey halfway through the process to ensure that the breasts got proper coverage. Seriously, y’all should see this thing. The handle alone is, no kidding a foot and a half long and pure cast iron. (If you’ve brined and you have secrets, tips or INEXPENSIVE places you brine.. please share)
The Breakdown: The Turkey was amazingly moist and flavorful and delicious. This is (brace yourself) the first Turkey that I have ever cooked solo so, I can’t say that the brining was the definitive reason for it but, I kept having to smack Nathan’s hand while he was carving it because he was eating more than was making it to the plate… it was THAT good. The brining itself was easy other than the turning it halfway because half the brine spilled out, my wrist got caught between the fridge and the cast iron pot and I got soaked in brine. (once again.. there has to be an easier way … I do have a side by side fridge.. SO large items are not that easily worked into it)
If you want to try brining…. I highly recommend this recipe:
- 2 gallons COLD water
- 10 oz Kikkoman Soy Sauce ( I used Low Sodium)
- 1/2 C kosher salt
- 1/2/ C sugar
- 2 Tbsp dried sage
- 2 Tbs dried celery seed
- 1 Tbsp dried Thyme
rachel’s note.. I wanted to dive into the brine.. it smelled SOOOOOOOO good
- The night before (or at least 8 hours prior to cooking) remove the giblets and neck from the turkey cavity; rinse turkey thoroughly inside and out.
- in a LARGE stockpot or 5 gallon bucket (homer bucket from home depot maybe?) mix water, soy sauce and seasonings, blend well until salt is dissolved.
- Add Turkey
- cover with a lid and refrigerate at LEAST 8 hours ( I refrigerated about 17)
- Remove from brine, rinse well and follow your regular cooking regimen.
As a Thank You from Kikkoman I have a gift for one reader. You will receive a special Kikkoman recipe book and TWO full size bottles of sauce from Kikkoman’s special sauce line.
- To be entered to win this yumminess from Kikkoman please leave me a comment about your favorite Thanksgiving recipe or your favorite way to use Kikkoman.
- Bonus entry: What’s your biggest fear about Thanksgiving cooking, or your biggest Thanksgiving disaster.
- 2nd Bonus entry: Tweet this and leave the tweet url in the comment
*each entry must be left in it’s own separate comment
Contest ends at 11:59 PM CST on Tuesday, Nov 24th
CONGRATULATIONS! COMMENTER 13!! AMY FROM MILKBREATH AND MARGARITAS
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