Beer Brined Turkey Recipe (2024)

Beer Brined Turkey. Brining your turkey in beer is a stellar idea. Not only does the beer tenderize the turkey but it makes for delicious subtle flavor addition. We smother it in herb butter for added flavor and that perfect crispy skin.

We love this amazing beer brined turkey recipe!

Turkey!!!!!

Oh my gosh let’s talk about this. Turkey=So. intimidating.

I was nervous and excited to finally tackle this project (and super glad no one was coming over to my house that night to eat).

Let’s start off with the basics: We need a defrosted bird. A tender juicy bird. Nice yummy crispy skin. And a fully cooked bird.

One at a time:

#1 A fully defrosted bird

You need to fully defrost your turkey. Be sure to give enough time for this. I did a cold water bath for several hours (changing the water every 30 minutes) and then put mine in the fridge for 24 hours the first time. The second time I just left it in the fridge for 3 full days. This was for a 12 pound turkey (A SMALL TURKEY) so be sure to calculate here how long yours will take. Cause a beer brined turkey is worth the wait.

#2 A tender juicy fully cooked bird.

The secret to this in my humble opinion is brining. With beer, if you can.

Brining forces the meat to absorb water and salt into itself which allows you to cook the turkey until the dark meat is cooked without drying out the white meat. Adding beer to the mixture is perfect because alcohol is a natural tenderizer.

Just to be curious and see if this really did make a difference we roasted two turkeys, one brined with our beer/salt/sugar solution and one straight out of the fridge. We treated them exactly the same and hands down the brined turkey won in terms of flavor and moisture content. Yay for beer!

You will need a bucket to submerge your turkey in and enough fridge space to handle the bucket. We used one of our large brewing buckets (available at a homebrew shop) which was overkill in terms of space for our turkey. These brining bags look super handy. Or you can totally use an ice chest with a frozen gallon of water in it to keep it at a cool enough temperature (40 degrees or cooler). I had read that using a metal container was not advisable but see lots of photos of folks doing it in their giant stockpots. Icannot comment to the advisability of that route (I read it could leach metal).

For my 12 pound turkey it took 2 gallons of water plus 4 (12 ounces) Worthy Brewing Lights Out Stoutsto submerge it.

#3 Crispy skin.

My secrets forthis are:

A) BoilingWater

A little known trick from food stylists involves pouring boiling water over poultry to help tighten the skin. This makes them prettier to look at and….turns out it makes them pretty darn delicious too!

It’s also ridiculously fun to watch the skin tighten right up as you do this so be sure to grab the kids/hubby/friends before you start.

I put the roasting rack right in the sink so the water just drains away (be sure to scrub your sink good afterwards!)

B) Herb butter

What isn’t better with butter? Fresh herbs and a stick of butter get slathered all over this baby.

#4 A fully cooked bird.

My secrets are:

A) Don’t Stuff It

Emotions have a way of coming out even when you repress them. Stuffing gets cooked separately. It just makes this whole thing work better. It slows the cooking of your turkey down and can harbor bacteria if it is not all the way cooked. Instead….drizzle some of the turkey drippings on top of the stuffing when it is finished.

B) Stop Opening The Oven!

The first time we cooked the turkey I hovered over it. I checked it. I prodded it. I tented it with foil. I worried. I KEPT OPENING THE DOOR. It took FOREVER.

Nowwe put it in and ignore it for WAY less time. It’s really that easy.

I do not baste as I see no reason to continually open the oven door and bring down the temperature.

C) Don’t Overcook It

Please….buy a digital thermometer. They are $10. You need one.

The food safety guidelines call for a temperature of 165 degrees. Not 180 degrees! Stick that turkey in the thigh with the thermometer and don’t touch the bone, easy paesy. You can aim for a few degrees under too since it will continue to rise some as it rests.

D) Let It Rest

20 minutes minimum covered loosely in foil up to 40 minutes for a big turkey (don’t tighten the foil or you will steam the skin). Use this time to get all your other dishes piping hot in the oven and any last minute tasks (like making gravy with all those delicious buttery drippings).

There you have it. All my tips and tricks to make this years turkey a knock out of the park.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Beer Brined Turkey Recipe (6)

Beer Brined Turkey Recipe

Brining your turkey in beer is a stellar idea. Not only does the beer tenderize the turkey but it makes for delicious subtle flavor addition. We smother it in herb butter for added flavor and that perfect crispy skin.

Prep Time 3 days days

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Total Time 3 days days 3 hours hours

Servings 1 Turkey

Print Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 12 pound Turkey
  • For 2 Gallons of Brine:
  • 2 gallons water
  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 4 12 ounce cans stout, I used Worthy's Lights Out Stout
  • For Herb Butter:
  • 1 stick 1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary minced
  • 4-6 leaves fresh sage minced
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme minced
  • 4 sprigs fresh oregano minced

Instructions

Brining

  • 1. Thaw turkey completely in the fridge or with a cold water bath, changing the water every 30 minutes.

  • 2. Combine salt and brown sugar with several cups of water from the 2 gallons into a saucepan. Heat, stirring continually until salt & sugar are completely dissolved into water.3. Pour the solution into the brining bucket and add the remaining water (if using a bag be sure to cool solution first so you don't melt it). Add beers.4. Remove giblet bag from the neck cavity of the turkey (often tucked up under a flap of skin) and the neck from the carcass cavity (reserve all for gravy).5. Submerge turkey in brine and soak, chilled, for 12-24 hours. (Turkey must be completely submerged. Increase brine if needed.)Cooking

  • 1. Boil teapot of water.2. Rinse turkey thoroughly and place it on a roasting rack in the sink. Truss legs if desired.3. Pour hot water all over turkey evenly. Dry thoroughly with a paper towel.4. Mix herbs and butter together. Using hands rub herb butter all over turkey skin evenly.5. Cook turkey at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, reduce heat to 325 degrees and cook until turkey reaches 165 degrees in the deepest part of the meat (see turkey bag for approximate times for bird size). My 12-pound bird took 2 hours 45 minutes total. If you notice excessive browning on legs or wings they can be tented with foil.6. Remove turkey from oven and tent with foil (do not seal or you will steam skin to rubbery). Allow resting for 20-40 minutes (depending on size).Reserve drippings for turkey gravy.

Author: Dani Meyer

Course : *Easy Entertaining Dishes

Cuisine : American

herb butter, crispy skin, holiday cooking, turkey, easy brined recipe, beer brined turkey, Thanksgiving meal, beer

D

By Dani Meyer on November 23rd, 2014

Beer Brined Turkey Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What does beer do in a brine? ›

With brining, the salt moves into the raw, lower-salt meat and tak es a few piggybacking water, beer, and seasoning molecules with it to create a juicier, deep-salted meat. And, in a brine made with beer and salt, a lot of that beer will be infused into that meat through this osmotic movement.

What kind of beer to use for turkey? ›

The Best Beer for Thanksgiving Roasted Turkey:

A light lager or pilsner is a great option, as the refreshing carbonation will cut through the meat's richness. Alternatively, a malty amber or brown ale can be a good choice. These fuller-bodied beers will pair nicely with traditional stuffing and gravy.

How long should you soak a turkey in brine? ›

As a general rule of thumb, you'll want to let the turkey brine for at least 1 hour per pound of turkey. Here's a breakdown of how long to brine a turkey based on size:
  1. 12–14-lb. turkey: 16–18 hours.
  2. 14–16-lb. turkey: 18–20 hours.
  3. 16–18-lb. turkey: 20–22 hours.
  4. 18–20-lb. turkey: 22–24 hours.
Oct 23, 2023

Can you brine a turkey too long? ›

Brining for too long can result in meat that tastes overly-salty and has a spongy texture. If you're not ready to roast the bird after 18 hours, remove it from the brine, rinse it, pat it dry, and refrigerate for up to two days.

What beer is best for brining? ›

Best Beer Styles for Beer Brine

Porters and stouts - for hearty roasts or turkey meat. German lagers - the golden ones like pilsner are perfect for chicken, the darker like Dunkel, Bock or Marzen for pork. Wheat ales - especially Belgian wit and Hefeweizen.

What does soaking meat in beer do? ›

Most importantly, ignore what cookbooks say about marinating with beer. Beer doesn't tenderize meat any more than lemonade (nor does wine or vinegar-based marinades). And be careful: If meat is left in the liquid too long, it will take on the grayish hue of a government-issue metal desk.

Why do people put beer on turkey? ›

Essentially, you're taking all of the necessary steps needed to create the best bird and simply using a butter-infused beer for basting. This will create a great flavor on the bird and add to its natural juices, ensuring your turkey comes out nice and moist.

What is the most popular beer in Turkey? ›

The best—and best-selling Turkish beer (80% of the market) is Efes Pilsen, brewed in İzmir. The same company brews Becks, Miller, Warstiener and Fosters under licence. Tuborg is also brewed in Turkey under license. Heineken is imported.

What alcohol is good in Turkey? ›

Raki is Turkey's national drink. Made with twice-distilled grapes and flavoured with aniseed, the taste can be compared to Greek ouzo or sambuca. The traditional way of drinking it is in a special glass filled just under halfway with raki, and the rest with water and ice.

Do I rinse turkey after brining? ›

And if you're wondering, no—you don't need to rinse the bird, whether it's been dry-brined or wet-brined, before adding more seasoning and roasting. Again, the bird needs to be dry, and Youngman also notes "it's not particularly sanitary to wash meat in the sink."

Is brining a turkey worth it? ›

Both the bird soaked in brine and the bird soaked in water gained a significant amount of weight prior to roasting, but while the watered bird lost nearly all of that weight as it cooked, the brined bird retained a good deal more. This corresponded to a juicier texture on eating.

Do you have to season a turkey after brining? ›

Do you season turkey after brining? Brine is very salt-rich, so there's no reason to add salt to a brined turkey. You can add your favorite dry rub, herbs or spices to the turkey after it brines, or you can add flavor to the turkey later by serving it with a compound butter.

Do you need to baste a brined turkey? ›

Do Not Baste. Basting the skin is not necessary to flavor the meat. You'll flavor the skin, but you'll also let heat out of the oven each time you open it to baste. "That means the bird is going to be in there for a longer time cooking, which means it's going to dry out more," Brown says.

Can I brine butterball turkey? ›

Brine the turkey for 8-12 hours or overnight. Since brining does not preserve meat, the turkey and the brine solution must be kept below 40°F throughout the entire brining process.

Does brining turkey make it salty? ›

If you brine it any longer than 24 hours the turkey will be too salty. Do you have to refrigerate a turkey while brining it? Yes!

What does alcohol do in a brine? ›

Sugar-infused brines work especially well with pork, like grilled pork chops. Use some alcohol. Alcohol can help carry the brine's flavors, allowing them to penetrate more deeply into the meat. Add as little as a tablespoon of strong, neutral alcohols like vodka or 1/4 cup of flavorful alcohols like rum or gin.

Why do people put beer in salt? ›

Reduced Bitterness

For super bitter beer, like a double IPA, salt will cut that bitterness down, making the beer taste a bit sweeter. So if you're trying your hand at IPA, Gose, or Lambic, sprinkle a little salt in there, and you might find yourself acquiring the beer taste more quickly.

What does soaking in beer do? ›

A beer bath is a type of spa treatment where you soak in a tub filled with warm water and beer. The beer is believed to have beneficial properties for the skin and is said to help with relaxation and rejuvenation.

Why put beer in marinade? ›

They can also accentuate alcohol-soluble flavor compounds in foods like tomatoes. One of the most effective ways to cook with beer, however, is to use it as a tenderizing marinade. Beer contains enzymes that help break down tough fibers in meat, making it more tender and flavorful at the same time.

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