Alton Brown's Turkey Brine Includes An Unexpectedly Sweet Ingredient

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a holiday devoted to gratitude with just a touch of triptophane-aided overindulgence, but it's also become synonymous with not-so-great debates. Not just the ones that take place around the table, but the ones that occur before, like what's the best way to prepare a turkey? Some say that the best Thanksgiving turkey (or simplest, at least) is a dry-brined one, while others advocate for wet brines such as pickle juice. Alton Brown is firmly in Team Wet Brine's camp, but he eschews pickle byproducts for a sweet and salty brine flavored with candied ginger.

Brown's brine is also made with brown sugar, black pepper, and allspice, as well as a generous amount of salt (without which, it wouldn't be a brine but simply a wet soak). He then roasts the brined bird with additional aromatics including cinnamon, onion, rosemary, sage, and an apple. With all of these flavors working together, the ginger adds a slight kick, but nothing too overwhelming. One Redditor who always cooks their turkey using Brown's recipe says they don't want their turkey to taste either sweet or gingery. When the candied ginger combines with the other ingredients, however, it creates a brine they describe as "amazing."

What if you don't have candied ginger on hand when it comes time to brine your turkey — does it mean you'll have to make a last-minute grocery run? Not necessarily. While there isn't a great substitute for candied ginger eaten straight — nor is there an easy way to replace it in baked goods such as candied ginger scones or ginger cookies, where it plays a prominent role — in Alton Brown's recipe it's mainly there as an accent, and don't forget, will get dissolved in the brine. This means you can simply swap it out for an equal amount of fresh ginger, which can be peeled with a spoon, or a smaller amount of the more concentrated powdered ginger (between ¼ and ½ teaspoon should work).

If you're worried about replacing the candied ginger with an unsweetened substitute, there's really no need. As cooks familiar with Brown's brine have pointed out, it's plenty sweet already with all the brown sugar it contains. Still, if you don't want to lose one iota of sugar, you could add an extra tablespoon (white or brown, it won't matter much) or, for a slightly more unconventional substitute, replace some of the water in the brine with a bottle of ginger beer or ginger ale.