Honey Brine Recipes

Steps:

• Combine the hot water and the salt in a 54-quart cooler. Stir until the salt dissolves. Stir in the vegetable broth and the honey. Add the ice and stir. Place the turkey in the brine, breast side up, and cover with cooler lid.. Brine overnight, up to 12 hours.
• Remove the turkey from the brine and dry thoroughly. Rub the bird thoroughly with the vegetable oil.
• Heat the grill to 400 degrees F.
• Using a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil, build a smoke bomb. Place a cup of hickory wood chips in the center of the foil and gather up the edges, making a small pouch. Leave the pouch open at the top. Set this directly on the charcoal or on the metal bar over the gas flame. Set the turkey over indirect heat, insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast meat, and set the alarm for 160 degrees F. Close the lid and cook for 1 hour.
• After 1 hour check the bird; if the skin is golden brown, cover with aluminum foil and continue cooking. Also, after 1 hour, replace wood chips with second cup.
• Once the bird reaches 160 degrees F, remove from grill, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 1 hour. Carve and serve.

Steps:

• Bring water, salt, and honey to a simmer in a medium-size saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until salt dissolves. Let cool completely.
• Place chicken or pork in a bowl, and pour cooled brine over top. Refrigerate, covered, for 2 to 3 hours. Remove meat from brine, rinse under cold water, and pat dry with a paper towel. Season with pepper before grilling.

Steps:

• Mix cold water, kosher salt, and honey in a large bowl; stir until salt dissolves. Add chicken breasts, and weigh them down with a plate to keep them completely submerged. Cover entire bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Remove bowl from refrigerator; drain and dry chicken. Pour buttermilk over chicken in a large bowl. Set aside at room temperature for 15 minutes.
• Combine flour, black pepper, garlic salt, onion salt, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl.
• Coat each chicken breast in flour mixture until well covered on all sides; place flour-coated chicken breasts on a cooling rack to dry for 15 minutes.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cook chicken breasts until browned and no longer pink in the center, about 10 to 15 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
• Transfer chicken to a cooling rack; allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Steps:

• Mix honey, salt, water, bay leaves, and garlic together. Pull skin away from chicken just enough to place sage leaves and lemon slices under skin. Truss the chicken and tie the other end of the butcher's twine to the pot handle for a quick retrieval of the brined chicken. Place chicken in liquid and let sit in cooler for 12 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Place chicken on roasting rack in oven and brush with olive oil. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes or until juices run clear.

Steps:

• Remove giblets and neck from turkey, reserve for gravy. Rinse turkey with cold running water and drain well. Blot dry with paper towels.
• Prepare brine by mixing water, honey and salt in a large bowl. Stir until honey dissolves. Add half the thyme and sage along with the garlic and black pepper. Set aside. Add chicken stock.
• Line an extra-large stock pot with a food-safe plastic bag. Place the rinsed turkey in the bag and pour brine over the turkey. Gather the bag tightly around the turkey, causing the turkey to be surrounded by the brine. Seal the bag and refrigerate the pot, bag and brined turkey for at least 12 hours.
• Pre-heat oven to 350°F Remove turkey from brine and pat dry inside and out. Discard brine. Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a large shallow (about 2 1/2" deep) roasting pan.
• Squeeze lemon juice into the main turkey cavity. Put the squeezed lemon halves into the cavity along with the rest of the thyme and sage. Coat turkey lightly with oil and sprinkle inside and out with salt, pepper.
• Insert an oven safe meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, being careful the pointed end of the thermometer does not touch the bone. Roast turkey, basting with poultry stock every half hour or so.
• Loosely cover with aluminum foil to prevent over browning, remove foil during last hour and a half of cooking time. Continue to roast until thermometer registers 180°F in the thigh, or 170°F in the breast.
• Remove turkey from the oven and allow it to cool for 15-20 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• In a large saucepot, simmer first three ingredients until solids are dissolved. Add apple juice and submerge pork belly in mixture. Place in the- refrigerator for 3 days.
• After three days have passed, remove the pork from the brine, rinse the belly, and pat dry with paper towels. Lay on a rack over a sheet pan and place in front of a fan for 1 hour to form a pellicle. Lay the pork in the protein box of a cold smoker and smoke for 4 to 6 hours. Chill the meat in the freezer for 1 hour to stiffen for easy slicing into strips of bacon. Slice what you need and keep the remainder in a freezer safe bag in the refrigerator or freezer.
• Place the strips of bacon onto a sheet pan fitted with a rack and place into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 400 degrees and cook for about 12 to 15 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your bacon. Remove from rack and drain on paper towels. Enjoy.

Steps:

• In a medium pot, bring 3 quarts of the tap water to a boil over medium heat. Put the kosher salt in a large bowl and slowly (and carefully!) pour the boiling water over the salt. Stir to blend.
• Add the molasses, honey, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, sage, thyme and garlic to the salt and water mixture. Stir to blend. Add the remaining 3 quarts of cool water. Add the ice to a cooler or bucket large enough to hold the brine and the turkey. Pour the brine over the ice and use a large whisk to blend all of the ingredients.
• Submerge the turkey, breast side down, in the brine. Make sure the cavity of the bird fills with the liquid as you are submerging it. Cover the cooler and allow the bird to sit in the brine overnight or for about 12 hours.
• Remove the bird from the brine and dry it thoroughly with thick (absorbent) kitchen towels. Take care to wipe inside the cavity as well. Discard the brine. Whisk together the butter and the lemon zest. Gently lift the skin covering 1 breast of the turkey and spread half of the butter right on the meat under the skin. Repeat with the other breast. The butter will add extra moisture and richness as the bird roasts.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Arrange the turkey in a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Put on the lower rack of the oven and roast until the internal temperature of the turkey taken from the thickest part of the thigh reads 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 3 1/2 hours. Remove the turkey from the oven to a cutting board or serving platter and tent with foil. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving and serving.

Steps:

• For brine, place first four ingredients and 4 cups cider in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until salt is dissolved. Add rosemary; remove from heat. Stir in remaining cider; cool to room temperature., Place one roasting bag inside the other. Place turkey breast inside both bags; add brine. Seal bags, pressing out as much air as possible; turn to coat turkey. Place in a baking pan. Refrigerate 6-24 hours, turning occasionally., Preheat oven to 325°. Line bottom of a roasting pan with foil. Drain turkey, discarding brine. Place on a rack in prepared pan; pat dry., Roast turkey 30 minutes. Brush with oil; roast until a thermometer reads 170°, 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hours. (Cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly.) Remove from oven; tent with foil. Let stand 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Place orange juice, water, honey, brown sugar, lemon, oranges, black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic, and bay leaf in a large pot; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved, 10 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually stir in ice to start chilling the brine.
• Pour brine into a large bucket; add more ice to finish cooling.

Steps:

• In a large stock pot, I use a 5 gallon pot, bring water, beer and chicken broth to a rolling boil. Add salt, honey and sugar, stirring until completely dissolved. Drop heat until the liquid is at a simmer, then add the cloves, bay leaves and allspice berries. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat, let stand while putting the 7 pound bag of ice into the drinking cooler. Pour the hot brine into the ice.
• When the brine is cool place turkey into the brine for no less than 16 hours, my best result was after 48 hours in the brine. Rinse the turkey, inside and out.
• Set oven to 350 degrees.
• Stick probe thermometer into breast meat of turkey, make sure not to hit the bone. Set temp alarm to go off at 160 degrees, if your thermometer has that function otherwise you'll have to keep an eye on the temperature.

Steps:

• Bring dressing just to boil in small saucepan. Add sugar and salt; cook 5 min. or until dissolved. Pour water into 2-gal. stockpot or large bowl. Stir in dressing mixture and pepper. Add chicken. Refrigerate 4 hours.
• Heat grill for indirect grilling: Light one side of grill, leaving other side unlit. Close lid; heat grill to 350ºF. Remove chicken from brine; discard brine. Rinse chicken thoroughly. Place chicken, top side down, on cutting board. Use kitchen shears to cut along one side of the backbone, then cut along the other side to remove bone. Open chicken; place, top side down, on board. Pound to even thickness.
• Mix remaining ingredients until blended.
• Place chicken on grate over unlit area; cover. Grill 40 to 50 min. or until done (165ºF), monitoring for consistent temperature and turning chicken after 20 min. and brushing with the barbecue sauce mixture for the last 15 min.

Steps:

• Combine the hot water and the salt in a 54-quart cooler. Stir until the salt dissolves. Stir in the vegetable broth and the honey. Add the ice and stir. Place the turkey in the brine, breast side up, and cover with cooler lid. Brine overnight, up to 12 hours.
• Remove the turkey from the brine and dry thoroughly. Rub the bird thoroughly with the vegetable oil.
• Heat the grill to 400 degrees F.
• Using a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil, build a smoke bomb. Place a cup of hickory wood chips in the center of the foil and gather up the edges, making a small pouch. Leave the pouch open at the top. Set this directly on the charcoal or on the metal bar over the gas flame. Set the turkey over indirect heat, insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast meat, and set the alarm for 160 degrees F. Close the lid and cook for 1 hour.
• After 1 hour check the bird; if the skin is golden brown, cover with aluminum foil and continue cooking. Also, after 1 hour, replace wood chips with second cup.
• Once the bird reaches 160 degrees F, remove from grill, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 1 hour. Carve and serve.
• Recipe Summary.
• Difficulty: Easy
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Inactive Prep Time: 13 minutes
• Cook Time: 4 hours
• Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

Steps:

• Pour water into a large stockpot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add salt and honey and stir to dissolve. Remove pot from the heat and stir in apple slices, onion, garlic, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, sage, and peppercorns. Let brine cool to room temperature. You can set the pot in a sink full of ice water to speed up the cooling process.
• Stir in apple cider, ice, and apple cider vinegar. Allow brine to fully chill to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees C), or colder, before using.

Steps:

• In a bowl combine water with 1/3 cup bourbon, 1/3 cup honey, kosher salt, lemon zest and black pepper; stir to completely dissolve the salt, then add in the garlic.
• Place the steaks in a large resealable plastic bag and set in a shallow dish.
• Pour the brine over the steaks then seal the bag.
• Toss bag to coat the steaks in the brine.
• Place in refrigerator for 6-8 hours (no more than 8 hours!) tossing the bag occasionally making certain that the meat is covered with the brine.
• About 2 hours before cooking the steaks, remove steaks and discard the marinade.
• Rinse the meat VERY well under cold water and place on a plate/s.
• Let the beef sit our on the counter for about 2 hours or until almost room temperature (THIS IS IMPORTANT! the steaks must come down to room temperature before cooking!).
• Season the steaks with only black pepper (salt the steaks after cooking).
• Place the steaks on the grill and grill to desired doneness (or steaks can be oven-broiled).

Steps:

• Combine the hot water and the salt (brine ingredients) in a 54-quart cooler. Stir until the salt dissolves. Stir in the vegetable broth and the honey. Add the ice and stir. Place the pork in the brine, fat cap up, and cover with cooler lid. Brine overnight, up to 12 hours.
• Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry thoroughly. Rub the butt(s) with the vegetable oil. Then add your favorite rub mixture (I included recipe for mine above). Wrap in plastic wrap and allow to sit in fridge at least 3 more hours. Then remove and rest at room temperature for 1 more hour while you pre-heat the grill to 250 degrees F.
• Using a smoker, place pork over indirect heat in smoker with hickory wood, (if you have one, insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the pork, and set the alarm for 165 degrees F. If you don't have one, you will have to use a stick thermometer every hour after about 10 hours.) Close the lid and cook for at least 4 hours.
• After 4 hours check the pork; if the surface is golden brown, cover with aluminum foil tent and continue cooking. Once the butt(s) reach 165 degrees F (about 14 hours), remove from grill, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 1 hour. Shred then add favorite bbq sauce. (The best brand is Sven's Sizzlin Sauce, but if you can't find that Famous Dave's Sweet and Zesty will work as well.).
• For my homemade Carolina Style bbq sauce (also good as a marinade):.
• 5 cups cider vinegar 5 tbl kosher salt 2 ½ tsp cayenne pepper 1 tbl + 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes ¾ cup brown sugar.
• Combine and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 6 hours to let flavors blend before using. I usually make it just before I load the meat into the smoker. Then add this sauce to moisten the shredded meat about 1 cup at a time until meat is wet enough to your liking. (About 3½ to 4 cups per 10 pounds of meat for me, you may not like as much or more, here's a hint: taste often until it's the way you like it.) Then you can add some of the store brand sauce of your choice, to "kick it up a notch", if you wish.
• Then, I usually finish it by adding a little more of the dry rub. Feel free to experiment with this one, you may or may not want to add any more once the sauce is applied.

Steps:

• For turkey:
• Line extra-large stockpot with heavy large plastic bag (about 30-gallon capacity). Rinse turkey; place in plastic bag. Stir 8 quarts water, 2 cups coarse salt and 1 cup honey in large pot until salt and honey dissolve. Add 1 bunch fresh thyme, peeled garlic cloves and black pepper. Pour brine over turkey. Gather plastic bag tightly around turkey so that bird is covered with brine; seal plastic bag. Refrigerate pot with turkey in brine at least 12 hours and up to 18 hours.
• Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 350°F. Drain turkey well; discard brine. Pat turkey dry inside and out. Squeeze juice from lemon halves into main cavity. Add lemon rinds and remaining 1 bunch fresh thyme to main cavity. Tuck wings under turkey; tie legs together loosely to hold shape. Place turkey on rack set in large roasting pan. Rub turkey all over with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
• Roast turkey 1 hour. Baste turkey with 1 cup chicken broth. Continue to roast until turkey is deep brown and thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 180°F, basting with 1 cup chicken broth every 30 minutes and covering loosely with foil if turkey is browning too quickly, about 2 1/2 hours longer. Transfer turkey to platter. Tent turkey loosely with foil and let stand 30 minutes. Pour pan juices into large glass measuring cup. Spoon off fat; reserve juices.
• For gravy:
• While turkey cooks, place reserved turkey neck, heart and gizzard into large saucepan. Add 6 cups water, 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, carrots, onion, celery and bay leaf. Simmer over medium heat until turkey stock is reduced to 3 cups, about 2 hours. Strain turkey stock into bowl; reserve turkey neck and giblets. Pull meat off neck. Chop neck meat and giblets.
• Melt 5 tablespoons butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add 5 tablespoons all purpose flour and whisk 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in turkey stock, cream and up to 1 cup reserved turkey pan juices (juices are salty, so add according to taste). Simmer gravy until thickened to desired consistency, whisking occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add chopped turkey neck meat and giblets; season to taste with pepper.
• Serve turkey with gravy.