Brine for Turkey or Chicken

1/2 gallon water (8 cups)

1/2 cup apple juice

1/2 cup salt

1 clove garlic chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar

1-2 bay leafs

3/4 tablespoons black pepper

orange peel from one orange

You will probably need to double this recipe for a turkey.

I have often heard TV chefs talking about brining turkeys and about how wonderful and juicy it makes the turkey.  Brining basically means soaking in a salt water solution.  I've never brined a turkey before.  My hubby is not a turkey lover, my kids only like the white meat, we rarely host thanksgiving or Christmas day, so I usually just cook a large turkey breast on the rare occasion that turkey is cooked in our house.

But on a trip to Trader Joe's we found some really nice fresh organic turkey breast and since I love Turkey I decided to get some.  I thought I would try brining it and used this recipe that I adapted from a recipe that The Pioneer Woman uses.  Since it was just a breast, I prepared mine mid morning and only left it in the fridge till evening when we cooked dinner - not overnight as you would if you cooked a large turkey.

Basically, I just took all the above ingredients, combined them in a large pot, and brought them to a boil.  (Make sure to give it a stir once in a while to dissolve the salt and sugar)  I allowed it to boil for a few minutes.  Turn off the heat and let it cool.  Once cooled I put the turkey breast into a large ziplock and poured in the brine and just let it sit in the fridge till I was ready to cook it.

When ready to cook, remove from the brine and rinse under cold water, pat dry and then prepare as your normally would.  When I served the finished dinner, the first words out of Chris's mouth were "Wow, this turkey is really juicy!"

I will definitely try this again, maybe even when roasting a chicken.