survival-kitchen

Best Turkey Brine Recipe

Have a look at this turkey brine recipe and consider making a turkey brine for the upcoming Thanksgiving Day holiday, where in the US most of us traditionally eat a Turkey dinner.

For those of you who haven’t tried a turkey brine, consider giving it a chance. I was very surprised at the difference in flavor from a typical basted turkey. The turkey was so moist and tender, I couldn’t believe it. We’ve been using this method and turkey brine recipe ever since.


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For those who are interested, here is a delicious turkey brine recipe that we have put together and have been using for the last several years here at the MSB homestead. It will work just as well with chicken too, just less quantities.

OK, so the best turkey brine recipe is subjective, but this one tastes pretty good!

TURKEY BRINE RECIPE

Turkey Brine Recipe Ingredients

• 1 Turkey
• handful fresh thyme branches (3/4 oz package works well)
• handful fresh sage leaves (3/4 oz package works well)
• 5 bay leaves
• 2 heads roughly chopped garlic cloves
• 3 cups kosher salt (“kosher” has bigger crystals that absorb more water)
• 2 cups dark brown sugar
• 1 cup honey
• 6 lemons, cut into 8ths
• 4 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 jiggers dark rum (optional)
• 1 – 2 gallons apple cider (approximate – see instructions)

Turkey Brine Recipe Instructions

1. In a large pot or large saucepan big enough to hold all of the ingredients, add salt, sugar, and honey.
2. Add 1 gallon apple cider. Slowly heat up the mixture to the point until the salt, sugar, and honey are dissolved. Stir occasionally during the process. The heated mixture typically will become dissolved well before simmer – when it is good and warm. Add more apple cider if the salt is not dissolving enough (so use a bigger pan to allow for additional cider).
3. Let cool to room temperature. It is important NOT to add hot or warm brine with a fresh raw Turkey to avoid beginning the cooking process.
4. Add the rest of the turkey brine ingredients and stir well. Squeeze the lemons into the mixture while adding them.
5. Clean and prepare turkey as you normally would.
6. Double bag two trash bags.
7. If you will brine your turkey in a refrigerator, line a large pot or bucket (be sure that it fits in the fridge!) with the trash bags and place your turkey inside, cavity side up. A 5-gallon bucket works well, if you have a cool enough place to keep it during the brine process.
8. If you will be keeping the turkey in an ice chest (sprinkle adequate ice cubes into the cooler afterward), tie the bottom two corners of the bags together to reduce bottom size of the bags and ensure maximum turkey brine interaction. The point is to find and use a container that will hold the turkey snug and tight enough so all the brine will cover the turkey.
9. Pour the turkey brine into the bags with the turkey, making sure that some of the good stuff gets inside and around the turkey. Tie up the bags, making sure to press out as much air as possible. The idea is for the turkey to be completely immersed in the brine solution, so add more cider if you have enough left over. If not, then flip the turkey part way through the soak for even coverage and soaking.
10. Brine for about 24 hours. If it is cool enough outside (above freezing but below 50 degrees F), then no need to worry about the ice. Keep out of sun.
11. Afterward, remove the turkey, discard the brine ingredients, and cook the turkey as you normally would until internal thigh temperature reaches 165 F.
12. Final step, savor the incredible flavor from this turkey brine recipe!

This Presto Pressure Cooker-Canner makes a perfect pot to fit 2 gallons of turkey brine with a 22 pound turkey as shown in this picture. Afterward, it barely fit at the bottom of our refrigerator. Otherwise I would have used the bag method and cooler, or fit the pot in an ice bucket of sorts, or if cold enough outside (above freezing but below 50 F) I would leave the pot outside in the shade – but covered.

Here is a Turkey Cooking Time chart that may be helpful.


On a side note, this is a great turkey roaster for the price, using it for several years now.
Circulon 16-Inch Rectangular Nonstick Roaster.

This stainless steel roaster looks even better, costs a bit more
Calphalon Stainless 16-Inch Roaster


Here is a recipe book that includes Brine Recipes
Marinades, Rubs, Brines, Cures and Glazes

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Prepping Without a Green Thumb

Guest Post: by Davis Mauldin

Many folks will agree… an economic crash is not “if” but “when.” I believe that we are living in the eye of the storm and any number of happenings could be the spark for a crash. Choose your poison: super high inflation, a derivatives fiasco, a too big to fail failure, 1859-esque solar flares, terrorist attack, a huge quake in California or SE Missouri (New Madrid). The list goes on and on. But the truth is the occurrence will likely catch us completely off guard with a disaster no one expects… something we never in our wildest dreams expected like the 9.2 quake and tidal wave in Japan. Who could have foreseen that nightmare?

My spouse and I have been preparing since our wedding six years ago. We’ve been moving forward by the numbers: food, shelter, water… food, shelter, water. When it comes to storing food, most of those concerned about the future usually have 50 pound sacks of various dried beans and white rice and maybe an assortment of dried something or other. That bland combo of beans and rice, rice and beans might work for a follower of the Dave Ramsey Show while they’re working their way out of being in debt but what about fresh produce a month or two after the collapse?

Put in a garden? that’s easy to say. That’s a prudent idea but it’s easier said than done to provide your loved ones with all they’ll need month after month. My wife and I have tried to grow a garden now for three seasons and will continue to sharpen our green thumb skills next year and the year after. But after three seasons of trying, all we have succeeded in doing is lowering our price per tomato from $48.98 each to under $9 (our tomatoes really tasted good!). That’s making progress but sadly, this level of success and puny production won’t feed your family for very long. What’s a lover of fresh vegetables to do?

Several months ago, I had one of those “ah-ha” moments. Sprouts! We could grow sprouts twelve months a year and there are so many kinds from which to choose (broccoli, radish, alfalfa, clover, garlic, mung bean, etc., etc.). In the past I have grown some alfalfa sprouts in those plastic layered trays but somehow my plastic gismo had disappeared. I went online and did some google searches looking for the lowest prices on seeds and suggested methods for growing these little veggies.

Finding the best bulk prices was pretty easy – google “buy bulk sprouting seeds” and compare – and I decided to use the mason jar method of sprouting (a wide mouth mason jar fitted with a plastic ring and stainless steel or plastic screen insert). With 2 months of non-stop kitchen mini-farming experience, I have declared myself to be an expert and want to explain exactly how you can grow and harvest fresh vegetables every few days year round.You can either use pint or quart wide mouth mason jars for your countertop mini-farm. For a one day ration for 2 people of these yummy and extremely healthy little plants, I have found that the pint-size jar is just perfect (broccoli sprouts, for example, are more than 10 times more nutritious than the full-grown broccoli plant).

If you use the smaller jar, measure a level tablespoon of sprout seeds and dump them into the jar (use two tablespoons of seeds if you use a 32 ounce jar). Next, cover the seeds with an inch or so of water and let the seeds soak for 8-12 hours. My “south forty” sprout farm is located next to our kitchen sink so it acts as an in your face reminder for me to religiously carryout the twice daily rinses. NOTE: The sprouting jars should not be in direct sun light.

After the 8-12 hour soak – with the plastic ring and screen screwed on to the jar – shake the water out of the jar and refill it. Rinse (shake) this seed-filled fresh water for three or four seconds before emptying the water (I set the jars upside down on our toaster oven’s broiling rack to catch any excess water drainage). You’ll find that when you think all the water has been shaken out, if you will rotate the jar about forty-five degrees even more water will drip out. Repeat this rinsing regimen every 12 hours placing the jars upside down on the broiler rack so air can circulate a little bit.

Voila, in three or four days your mason jars will be filled with fresh sprouts. I have a glass container that I shake my crop of fresh veggies into for storage in the refrigerator. Now I’m ready to start another crop. Actually, I have 3-5 jars growing continuously that I have started a day apart. This gives me a non-stop supply of sprouts.

With or without a green thumb and with just minimal effort, you can provide your family with healthy greens all year round… even Mikey will like ‘em… and they’re really good for you!

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Davis Mauldin is a self-declared guru in the area of sprout cultivation. Feeling that economic collapse is inevitable, he and his better half have been prepping for 6 years. Having had little success to date in growing a garden that would sustain them, they discovered that growing sprouts year round is a simple way to provide their loved ones with fresh and healthy veggies. Other important items related to prepping can be found at this web site, http://survivalgearchecklist.net

Davis Mauldin
“I march to a different accordion”

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Review: Freeze Dried 25-Year Storage Food

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Four Factors That Effect Food Storage

Food Storage Life Factor:
Temperature

It is remarkable the difference in food storage life depending upon the temperature of the environment it is stored in. This has a huge impact. The USDA states, “Each 5.6°C (10°F) drop in temperature doubles the storage life…”! You could also say that each 5.6°C (10°F) rise in temperature halves the storage life.

An example of the relationship of food storage with temperature:
(this does not represent any particular food)

50°F (30 years)
60°F (20 years)
70°F (10 years)
80°F (5 years)
90°F (2.5 years)
100°F (1.25 years)

The ideal place for most people is to store your food in your basement, where average temperatures are often around 60°F.

Food Storage Life Factor:
Product Moisture Content

For long term storage, grains should have a moisture content of 10% or less. Commercially dried foods easily achieve these levels. Typical home dehydrated foods are not this dry however, and will not last as long. Dried foods with 10% or less moisture will snap easily and are very brittle.

Regarding other stored dry foods (rice, beans, grains, etc.) the food itself should not be subject to the elements for long (such as leaving them in their original bag, etc.) but instead moved to sealed containers.

Food Storage Life Factor:
Product Atmosphere

Oxygen oxidizes many of the compounds in food. Bacteria, one of several agents which make food go rancid also needs oxygen to grow. Foods should be stored in an oxygen free environment.

Air contains about 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. O2 (oxygen) absorbers dropped into a sealed container or a sealed Mylar bag are a common solution. If the oxygen within the sealed container is absorbed, what remains is 99% pure nitrogen in a partial vacuum. It is important that the container you are using must be able to hold an air-tight seal.

Food Storage Life Factor:
Container

To get the best storage life, the product must have a hermetic (air tight) seal. Common solutions are ‘cans’, sealable food storage buckets, and sealable Mylar bags.

If using plastic buckets or barrels, be sure that they are rated ‘food grade’. Remember that just because a bucket is HDPE #2 does not mean that it is food grade. Safe Plastics for Food and Drink

(some information sourced from LDS Preparedness)

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Freezer Food Storage Times

The most popular food preserving method is freezing. Except for the risk of power loss and the resultant spoilage (if more than ~24 hours), freezing food is simple, easy and convenient. A common question about freezing food is how long will foods last in the freezer?

First, be sure that your freezer is at least 0 degrees F (-18°C), preferably -5 degrees F (-21°C). Check this by getting yourself a freezer thermometer for this purpose (available at your grocery store or most other general merchandise shops), and leave it in your freezer for several hours before measuring.

Even though food will freeze below 32 degrees F, you must (or better said… you ‘really should’) keep your freezer at 0°F or less. The reason is that low temperature microbes will still develop below 32°F, but are very much stalled at 0°F or below. I have read that the life of your food is cut in half when comparing 0°F to 20°F !

Another tip is to keep your freezer fairly full. This will serve a number of positive factors. You will have more food (duh). It takes lots less energy to keep foods at freezing temperatures than it does keeping air at freezing temperatures. If your power goes out, the frozen foods will help maintain freezing temperatures for a time (an air filled freezer will warm rapidly).

Foods will eventually spoil in the freezer. Some microbes will still grow at low temperatures, albeit very slowly (the colder it is, the slower they reproduce).

Most freezer food charts that I have seen are related to food quality and/or nutrition. Most recommendations generally consensus that freezer foods should be consumed within a year. This is a good rule of thumb. Most foods frozen beyond one year will have lost much of their quality, and although they may not be entirely spoiled, the nutritional value and taste may be quite less than appealing.

Freezer Storage Times For Good Quality

(data source: foodsafety.gov, Encyclopedia of Country Living)

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