What would be a good substitute for juniper berries if your making a brine for a turkey? @Food52Hotline

@Kayla201018
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8 Comments

Kayla November 13, 2015
I'll just leave out that ingredient and opt for drinking the gin. Haha. Any suggestions on seasoning the turkey?
 
Susan W. November 13, 2015
Turkeys eat juniper, dogwood and other berries, so it's very appropriate to add them to wet or dry brines. I've seen gin and/or rosemary sprigs as substitutes.
 
mt G. November 13, 2015
Gin?
 

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Cav November 13, 2015
Drink the gin whilst looking at the turkey. Don't brine. Drink more gin. Look at turkey some more.
 
Exbruxelles November 13, 2015
Judy Rodgers has a brine for pork chops that calls for juniper and bay. The resulting chops are wonderful--succulent, tender and juicy, but you can't really taste either the juniper or the bay. But that doesn't answer the question, because Kayla doesn't have juniper berries to begin with. If I were doing this I'd probably just forget about them, but if I were fooling around I might try a few (not too many) cloves, maybe a few mustard seeds.
 
AntoniaJames November 13, 2015
Allspice berries might be nice, if you have them. What else is in the brine? Is this for a standard turkey?

(June, I could easily see using juniper berries with wild turkey, and perhaps certain heirloom birds.)

;o)
 
ChefJune November 13, 2015
I cannot imagine using juniper berries for anything with turkey, so I would just omit them.
 
ChefJune November 13, 2015
Juniper berries have a very astringent taste to them. I wouldn't like them with turkey. Just my 2 cents.
 
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