Turkey Brine in a jar

Turkey Brine For a Gift in a Jar

Because I have become such a brine fanatic, this is a simple way to turn a tremendous brine into a gift for the people who love cooking or hosting. This specific brine is best for a turkey anywhere from 12-16 pounds. Not only are you able to give them a handmade gift made with a lot of love, care & thoughtfulness... You also give them the gift of pride, an overflow of compliments & bragging rights for years to come. My hope is that for every person who tries cooking with a brine, it will open the door of opportunity on an abundance of different meats you’re able to brine, successful experiments that you get to boast about & the pure bliss of increasing your confidence in the kitchen, therefore raising the bar on your cooking confidence. Spread the love, spread the joy & keep encouraging people to get cooking.

Here she goes:

1 cup kosher &/or sea salt combo

1/4 cup whole peppercorns

2 TBL onion powder

2 TBL garlic powder

2 TBL dried thyme

2 TBL dried sage

2 TBL dried rosemary

2 whole nutmeg cut in half

First, layer the ingredients in salt blend first. I used kosher salt & red Hawaiian sea salt, which gives it a beautiful color, in a 16 oz. wide mouth Ball jar. Follow that with the finest grain ingredients, which was onion & garlic pow-pow. Then, layer in the herbs one at a time, in no particular order. I proceeded with the peppercorns & finished with the nutmeg. Make sure nutmeg is whole & not ground.

I also wanted to let you see the difference in appearance with it shaken up versus layered. I put the lid on & there was just enough space to allow for it to be combined with a good shake-shake-shake... shake your booty for about a minute.

I found a card that I cut up to be able to make a little bit of instructions & a little note that says, made with love. Make sure to include on your card that the whole jar is to be used with 4 quarts = to 16 cups of water & to let it steep in the fridge for 12-24 hours (24 hours is the recommended time). If you’ve got decorative paper or even a paper grocery bag you could cut it into a card, extra points for recycling in the name of gifting. Poke a hole through the card with a metal skewer, you could also use a sharp knife tip or hole punch.

Cover the jar with some cloth of choice or a decorative napkin. Then feed some craft twine that’s a little over a foot long, through the hole punched in the card, wrap it around the napkin near the top of the jar to secure tightly & tie a knot or bow. Pull snugly on the napkin/cloth ends to make it as taught as you like & be careful not to rip it.

Your little homemade gift is ready to make someone’s day, or better yet, make someone’s life more delicious. Well done you, take a bow!