What do you folks use for a brining container and where is the best place to get one? Do you use a dedicated brining container or just a food grade container? How many quarts container would be needed for a 14lb turkey? Thanks for your help.
-
-
I just use anything so long as it isn’t cast iron or aluminum. Salt is corrosive. To be safe, food grade plastic, glass, ceramic, or enamel coated anything is best. Staineless steel should be tested first, not all stainless steel is actually "stainless".
But really rust just means iron. Which isn’t bad.
For a 14 pound turkey I would use a large stock pot that fits in my fridge. Or fits in my man fridge (the second fridge reserved for meats and beer) if I didn’t have a man fridge, you can use a cooler and ice water. Just keep the turkey in the cold safe zone. -
Wallymart sells giant food safe zip lock bags that hold something like 5-6 gallons. I brined a
a 28# bird in one. Just put it in a cooler with a few bags of ice. Works great, no muss no fuss.
Comment
-
I use the El Cheap-O dollar store version of the same thing, but it works fine. I believe you could get away with the XL bag for a 14lb. bird.Comment
-
In a fit of Amazon frenzy, I bought a big brining container. It's tall and somewhat narrow--perfect to set the bird up in, or so I thought. Thing is, it's so heavy when full of brine and the turkey that I'm afraid my refrigerator shelf won't hold the weight. Poor planning on my part.
I should have stuck with Troutman 's bag-in-an-ice-packed-cooler idea. The brining container is gathering dust.
KathrynComment
-
I got this one HouseHomey . It has a lid as well.
I have a side by side fridge in the kitchen and a full size refrigerator (no freezer compartment) in the pantry (along with a full size upright freezer in the pantry too). Both refrigerators seem to be full all the time. I made space on the lowest shelf for the container and bird and worried the whole time that I'd have a briny, salmonella-laden mess to clean up if that shelf ever bowed and broke.
KathrynComment
-
ahh, sounds like you need another fridge. hehehe. i have an older top freezer and bottom fridge model with adjustable shelf's. so the container fits easily above the vegetable/fruit drawers on the bottom while sitting on the strong flat surface. we have a separate chest freezer besides. my sister and niece work at the sears outlet store so the MCS is always there.
-
-
I have both 2 gallon and 5 gallon food grade buckets . . . Also good for SV.
Comment
-
Lots of options. Cambro containers, zip-lock bags, food grade pails. I also have one of these that works also:Comment
-
I have the briner pictured above as well. Comes in two sizes, and has a device inside to hold the meat submerged in the brine.Comment
-
Like SmokeyGator, I use a big stainless stockpot for wet brining as well - actually one of the same pots from the propane fryer. If it's cold enough - thanksgiving, Xmas, etc., I'll mix up some saltwater and set it outside instead a fridge.Comment
-
I use a cooler and brine with ice. I clean the cooler with dish soap to remove all grease and then follow with a solution of bleach water to sterilize.Comment
-
Cambros. Have also used a Home Depot bucket and a trash bag. Same deal with a cat litter bucket, thoroughly rinsed. Having fridge temps outside in late November makes brining in a lidded vessel easy, and doesn’t take up fridge space.Comment
-
Cambros also. I have a couple of 12 Qt and 18Qt. One of my 12qt is dedicated to SV. I also have a large SS stock pot. I like the Cambro because of the snap on lid. The 18qt should hold a 14lb turkey.Comment
-
There is a deeper question here... why wet brine a turkey? Dry brine is apparently the method of choice in these parts.Comment
Comment