Brining a turkey is relatively easy, but figuring out how much brine you need can be challenging, and this can leave you with a lot of leftover brine that you don’t want to throw out. So, what can you do with the leftover turkey brine other than making another turkey?
There are several things you can use your leftover turkey brine for, and these include:
- Enhancing the Flavor of Chicken
- Use The Brine For Pork
- As A Vegetable Pickle
- Makes A Great Condiment
- Use The Leftover Brine In Beverages
- Makes Great Marinades
Some of these suggestions might sound odd, but they work well with turkey brine if you know how to mix them all correctly.
This article will discuss how to use your leftover turkey brine to ensure other foods have added flavor.
Can you Reuse Turkey Brine?
Brining your turkey is one of the best ways to ensure it is moist and delicious after it’s cooked. There are several methods to flavor the brine to ensure the turkey comes out the way you want it to.
A brined turkey can be cooked in many different ways too, which means brining a turkey will not affect the meat’s versatility.
However, it can be difficult to judge the amount of brine you need for your turkey, especially if you have more than one turkey to brine.
It can seem logical to some to reuse the brine from one turkey with the other, but should you?
Unfortunately, this is not an option. You cannot reuse turkey brine once it is used for cooking a turkey.
This is because the turkey will contaminate the brine with blood and other particles that should not be mixed with other food or another turkey.
The turkey will also soak up most of the salt in the brine, diluting it and making it less likely to brine something else successfully.
What Can You Do With Leftover Turkey Brine?
When making homemade brine for your turkey or buying some from the store, it can be challenging to figure out how much brine you will need.
This can lead you to make or buy more turkey brine than you need.
If you have a large excess of brine, it can be frustrating as you don’t want to waste it by throwing it away as it hasn’t been used for anything yet.
So, what can you do with the leftover turkey brine other than freeze it?
There are many different things you can use this leftover turkey brine for.
Let’s go through them, so you don’t waste perfectly good brine.
#1 Use The Brine For Chicken
The good news is, if you plan on eating chicken anytime soon after the turkey, you can use the turkey brine with your chicken. This will work for any chicken, whether whole chicken, breasts, or dark meat.
You can brine the chicken the same way you brined the turkey but leave it in the brine for a shorter time, especially if it’s chicken pieces.
This will ensure your chicken stays moist and flavorful throughout the cooking process, making it even more enjoyable to eat.
#2 Use The Brine For Pork
Another excellent use for leftover turkey brine is to use it with pork. Pork has a similar texture to turkey, and it also goes well with the same spices and sauces that go well with turkey.
You can also add some extra spices to the turkey brine to help flavor the pork to your liking.
So, if you plan on having pork anytime soon after preparing your turkey, you can store the leftover turkey brine in an airtight container until you are ready to prepare the pork.
#3 Use The Brine As A Vegetable Pickle
If you are looking for a more creative way to use the leftover turkey brine you have, or you don’t have enough leftover to brine other meat, then a good way to use it up is to use the brine as a vegetable pickle.
Turkey brine is an excellent brine for pickling vegetables, and you don’t need to add anything to it if you love the flavor of the brine the way it is. All you need to do is wash some vegetables and cut them to a size that can fit in a jar.
After 48 hours, you can finally enjoy your homemade pickled vegetables.
Here’s how to make them: put the veggies in the jar and pour turkey brine over them until they’re all covered, then close the airtight lid tightly.
Finally, place the jar in the fridge for two days before consumption.
#4 Use The Brine As A Condiment
If you enjoy your turkey brine’s flavor and are tired of your usual salad dressing or condiment, then you can use your turkey brine for this.
You can use turkey brine as a substitute for vinegar in salad dressing recipes.
If you want to take your potato salad to the next level, heat the brine in your microwave or on the stove and add it to your dish.
This will enhance the flavor of your potato salad so much that people will be asking for your recipe.
#5 Use The Leftover Brine In Beverages
An unusual way to use turkey brine is by adding it to various drinks. For example, instead of lemon juice, you can enhance the flavor of bloody marys with some turkey brine.
You can also use your leftover turkey brine in dry martinis to add an extra kick to the drink. Finally, if you enjoy drinking hard liquor like bourbon, you can try to add some of your turkey brine into a shot of the liquor; this way, you won’t require a chaser.
#6 Use The Brine As Part Of A Marinade
When you are flavoring something with BBQ sauce, you can add some of your leftover turkey brine into the BBQ sauce as a substitute for regular vinegar to ensure your BBQ sauce has that lovely sweet and sour flavor.
You can also use the turkey brine to marinate certain cheeses to give them a unique but delicious flavor. The cheese you can marinate with your leftover turkey brine is goat cheese, mozzarella, or other soft cheeses.
Final Word
If you have excess turkey brine, there is no need to throw the leftover brine away as there are different ways you can use the turkey brine.
A few of the ideas in this article may sound slightly odd, but they work exceptionally well with the flavors in the turkey brine.
You can try all these other uses for leftover turkey brine until you find the one you enjoy the most. Good luck using all your leftover turkey brine with just one, though!
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Sources
https://www.nigella.com/ask/re-using-turkey-brine
https://www.bradleysmoker.com/blog/2021/02/22/is-it-safe-to-reuse-brine/