How to brine a turkey: tips and video

Steps on how to brine a turkey:

• For a 5kg free-range turkey, you’ll need a large clean plastic container filled with 8 litres of water.
• To create your brine, add 200g of table salt, some black peppercorns, a cinnamon stick, a nob of thinly sliced fresh ginger, 250g of light Muscovado sugar, one whole orange (halved and squeezed) and 8 tablespoons of maple syrup.
• Stir the mixture until all the salt has dissolved.
• Carefully lower your turkey into the brining solution.
• It should be fully submerged, so do add more water if you have to.
• Cover the container with foil or a lid and leave overnight in a cool place.
• Lift the turkey from the brine and dry with a paper towel an hour or two before it’s due to go in the oven.

Or, check out our roast turkey recipes.