citrus brine for turkey?

[redneck69]

has anybody ever tried using orange juice concentrate with with some limes for a brine?  i would add some brown sugar and salt also.

 

[mballi3011]

I personally haven't but I have heard of the citrus brine somewhere in here. Maybe try the Wiki section.

 

[alblancher]

The salt is what is going to move the flavor and moisture into the bird.  If you keep the salt in the proper concentration you can use any other flavoring you would like.    Citrus is a good option.  Just be careful, I had a buddy brine with Cranberry Juice and the turkey came out red.  Tasted great, just red.  Orange zest, lemon zest will add great flavor to a standard brine.

Good Luck

Al

 

[redneck69]

i have done a wiki search and not much info.  everybody refers to the slaughter house brine.  i'm going to do 2 turkeys on saturday, 1 for my dad and 1 for a buddy.  my dad picked up a brine mix off the internet that he wants me to use and the one for my buddy i wanted to try a citrus flavor.  ill keep track of what i use and qty and post the outcome.

 

[SmokinAl]

I might be wrong, but won't the acid in the citrus begin to cook the turkey, if it's in the brine too long?

 

[redneck69]

i have seen posts where citric acid help start break down tissues to make the item more tender, but i haven't seen anything on beginning to cook the turkey.  1st time trying it, ill let you know the outcome tomorrow afternoon

 

[arnie]

I haven’t done an orange brine, but I did a blueberry/pomegranate brine.

I have read that brining a turkey more than 12 hours could make it mushy.   

I did the blueberry/pomegranate brine for 48 hours as an experiment.

It was great. Turned the turkey purple, but it was great.

I would do it again

 

[smokin relaxin steve]

I have not done a Citrus Brine, but i have halved tangerines and/or oranges (whatever is on hand) and included it in my brine...

 

[redneck69]

a purple turkey, did it freak anybody out?  LOL  I bet it did taste great.  the 1st turkey i did, i soaked in a brine for 24 hours and it turned out great.  this is an experiment as well with the orange concentrate and limes.

 

[smokin relaxin steve]

a purple turkey, did it freak anybody out?  LOL  I bet it did taste great.  the 1st turkey i did, i soaked in a brine for 24 hours and it turned out great.  this is an experiment as well with the orange concentrate and limes.

Good luck and def let us know the outcome... I am curious...
 

 

[redneck69]

1st turkey in a brine mix my dad ordered, this stuff smells awesome!!

1 can of orange juice concentrate, 3 oranges squeezed and halves tossed in, 5 limes squeezed and halves tossed in.

i let the buzzards soak in the brine for 24 hours.  i fired up the MES 40 about 9:30 this morning at 250 degrees and added the AMNS with a combo of maple and hickory 

a lil over 2 hours into the smoke.

 

[porked]

Whoa..definitely lookin' good there now. NICE!

 

[redneck69]

1st one, the smaller of the 2, this one was around 13 lbs.  great color, firm skin and smells awesome, tented with foil and into the oven ( which is not on) to redistribute the juices.

 

[redneck69]

the citrus brine bird out of the smoker, let it rest for about an hour and sliced it up..tasted awesome! a lil sweet from the oranges nice skin and juicy.

1 can orange concentrate

3 oranges halved and squeezed

4 limes halved and squeezed

1 cup salt

1 cup brown sugar

about 2 gallons of water to cover the bird

brined for 24 hours and put into the smoker at 250 degrees til the internal temp of the breast hit 165

added a lil dry rub with cane sugar before it went into the smoker. 

 

[SmokinAl]

The birds look great, I'll have to try your brine it sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing.