Couple of things:
you can scratch any worries about dirt in any container if you line it with a heavy trash bag. and you can also pull up the trash bag, filled with wet brine, around/surrounding the bird so as to simulate a zip loc bag.this way, if you are doing this in a non-winter season, you can put a bag of ice right next to the bird bag, and when the ice melts it won't dilute the brine.
I'm sure everyone is different about this, but after messing with some VERY complex brines (long list of spices, herbs, etc) we have found that we really prefer the most simple brine of kosher salt, white sugar and water. And I don't know WHY brine recipe writers tell you to "boil __ gal. of water, add salt and sugar til dissolved. cool down and pour over bird". dumb dumb dumb. Just boil enough water to melt the sugar and salt you have, stir til dissolved, and add cold water for the remaining water. Bingo! you can use right away; no waiting to cool down! (In fact, we add enough cold water to the pot of dissolved brine- to bring it to around room temp; then we pour that over the bird and add the rest of the cold water directly to the bird. That avoids you having to carry a big pot of water to pour over the bird.)
Depends of course on the size of your turkey, but for my own purposes, I use a catering size mayo bucket.
Has a snap on lid so I can leave it out on the patio table with no worries!
I agree with the cooler solution. That's what I've always used. Just ensure it has a good seal, and if possible, leave it in your garage for safe keeping. Good rule of thumb is to buy a bag of ice and put about a quarter of the bag in. Once the ice is almost gone, add more. As long as there is ice in your brine, it's a the right temp.
An insulated cooler of the appropriate size makes a good vessel for brining. Obviously it needs to be thoroughly cleaned both before and after. The advantage of using a cooler is that, if you can leave it outdoors and the weather is cold, you don't need to have a big bucket/bag of bird & brine hogging fridge space when it's at a premium. (It works indoors or outdoors in warm weather too, but you need to keep the temperature of the bird & brine below 40F using sealed ice bags or something.)
I used to do this when I wet-brined turkeys, but I switched to dry-brining a few years ago and have never looked back. Much less trouble, and I prefer the texture of dry-brined meat.
Ha ha! Bribe it to brine well! Well, I think some of those Whole Foods turkeys must have been sent to finishing school, they're so expensive...Anyway, if we're talking brining, we used to go buy a big bucket every year and wash it thoroughly and brine the bird in that in the fridge. It was hell. Now, we discovered brining bags that solve the giant, sloshing bucket issues. It's just a giant version of marinating meat in a ziplock bag. You could also try a dry brine if the thought doesn't appeal.
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you can scratch any worries about dirt in any container if you line it with a heavy trash bag. and you can also pull up the trash bag, filled with wet brine, around/surrounding the bird so as to simulate a zip loc bag.this way, if you are doing this in a non-winter season, you can put a bag of ice right next to the bird bag, and when the ice melts it won't dilute the brine.
I'm sure everyone is different about this, but after messing with some VERY complex brines (long list of spices, herbs, etc) we have found that we really prefer the most simple brine of kosher salt, white sugar and water. And I don't know WHY brine recipe writers tell you to "boil __ gal. of water, add salt and sugar til dissolved. cool down and pour over bird". dumb dumb dumb. Just boil enough water to melt the sugar and salt you have, stir til dissolved, and add cold water for the remaining water. Bingo! you can use right away; no waiting to cool down! (In fact, we add enough cold water to the pot of dissolved brine- to bring it to around room temp; then we pour that over the bird and add the rest of the cold water directly to the bird. That avoids you having to carry a big pot of water to pour over the bird.)
Has a snap on lid so I can leave it out on the patio table with no worries!
I used to do this when I wet-brined turkeys, but I switched to dry-brining a few years ago and have never looked back. Much less trouble, and I prefer the texture of dry-brined meat.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/452/poultry-slam-2011
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