15 Reviews of Basic All Purpose Brine for Meats, Chicken, and Turkey

From: CaribbeanQueen

On Oct 4, 2005

I have been brining for a very long time ~ using different variations of ingredients. This is the best brine ever. Brined some chicken breasts yesterday and then made Fried Chicken (#79723). So moist and flavorful.

From: atlfitgirl

On Apr 11, 2008

We love this brine!!! It's easy to put together and uses ingredients almost anyone would have in their pantry. I cut back a little on the salt since the first time I made it, my BF said it was a little salty. And he loves to salt everything on his plate!!! I love the thyme in this brine... really enhances the chicken, without overpowering it, like rosemary does in some brines. Making sure the chicken is completely dry is the key to nice crispy golden skin when baking... I like to brush a little olive oil on top and it always comes out golden and so delicious!!! Thanks for a keeper!!!

From: Sharon123

On Dec 26, 2004

I doubled the recipe, using a pinch of dried thyme because I had no fresh. I also added a thick slice of orange. The turkey(Christmas day) came out tender, flavorful and got nice comments from the recipients. Thanks you so much Sue!

From: ieatfoOod.

On May 23, 2006

Our chicken turned out wonderful!!! We did not find it too salty at all but I might add that you have to use Kosher salt because it is less salty than most other salts and will not completely infuse the chicken with the flavor of salt. Thanks so much for the excellent all purpose brine recipe, we will surely be making this again!

From: mariabrown

On Nov 25, 2005

This was a great brine. Not too strong or mild in my opinion. I doubled the recipe for a 13 lb turkey and soaked in the brine 20 hours using a roasting bag. I did add a couple of slices of lemon and a touch of OJ. Excellent!

From: Japanese Delight

On Jul 10, 2007

I used this to brine chicken breasts to make a chicken dip sandwich. This is the first time I have used a brine and it is wonderful! It makes the meat so tender and flavorful. WAAY better than just salt and peppering the meat before cooking. I will use this often. THANKS!!!

From: bananaf1sh

On Nov 25, 2005

I'm sorry, but we found this brine way too salty. I found out after my turkey had been sitting in the brine for about a day that while most brine recipes call for 1/2 cup of salt for about a gallon of water, this one calls for 1/2 cup of salt for only a quart of water. I have to admit that our turkey did come out very juicy and tender, but the saltiness nearly ruined it.

From: mommyoffour

On Nov 9, 2009

TO DIE FOR!!!! I used this for my chickens yesterday. I made up the brine the night before and they sat in the refridgerator overnight and then I roasted them in the morning for our early Thanksgiving dinner for my son home from the service. This meat is so juicy and flavorful that I will NEVER not brine again. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, its delicious!!!

From: Chef #394057

On Nov 25, 2006

I don't like turkey. Every year, I wish that turkey wasn't a Thanksgiving tradion. But I used this brine (no peppercorns, because I hate pepper) and LOVED this year's turkey! It was moist and flavorful - for the first time I wanted the turkey leftovers! I got great compliments from everyone in attendance. I used kosher salt, and you could taste the salt, but it didn't taste really salty.

From: Chef #1331828

On Nov 13, 2009

Works beautifully! I did substitute dried thyme for the fresh sprigs, as that was all I had on hand. The other ingredients were not a problem. Thanks for such a universal and very useful brine recipe!