Mean Chef's Maple Brine

From: 2Bleu (Bird&Buddha)

On Nov 30, 2008

This was our first time ever brining. We normally have a stuffed turkey for the holidays, but this year it was just 3 of us so we purchased a whole bone-in turkey breast and made Mama Mac's Very Moist Sage Dressing on the side. The brine is very easy to do, and we placed it with the turkey breast into a 2.5 gallon ziploc bag and then into a pot to marinade for 2 days, then dried as directed for about 8 hours. While the brine made for a nice, moist turkey, it was too sweet for us, and the left overs were a bit firm and rubbery. Thank you for sharing Mean's recipe, but we feel we will revert to the old fashioned 'stuffed and roasted' bird for the holidays.

From: Chef #656899

On Nov 19, 2007

I have used this recipe 3 years running for thanksgiving and plan on using it again this year. It is the best I have ever used!

From: luvmybge

On Nov 17, 2002

Wow.. Mean Chef.. This was awesome! I used an oven stuffer roaster chicken. I put the brine and the chicken in a 2-gallon Zip Lock bag and then set it all in a soup pot to hold it in the refrigerator. I halved the recipe for the brine since I used a chicken instead of a turkey. This was the most moist chicken I've ever had. It didn't taste like I thought it would. I expected it to taste like teriyaki because of the ingredients in the marinade.. but IT DIDN'T! It was just so beautifully browned and delicious. I left it in the brine for 2 1/2 days and then let it sit in the refrigerator to dry for 1/2 day. I am certainly going to do this again. I think I'll even do my chicken pieces this way too. Thanks Mean Chef.

From: *Shelly*

On Nov 26, 2004

Makes for an excellent Thanksgiving turkey. It was moist and flavorful though didn't have a sweet flavor to it as some may fear due to the brown sugar and maple syrup (I for one don't want my turkey sweet). Also browns to a gorgeous mahogany color that belongs in a magazine.