Basic Brine for Smoking Meat

I've been using the basic recipe for over a year now. I make a 2-3 or 4 gallon batch and use a tote bin I got from Wal-Mart. When I smoke I smoke between 4-10 turkeys and various other meats. If you get the turkies split-they brine better, they stack better to utilize the space in the brine and the smoke permeates the birds better. I've added apple juice,hot red pepper,onion soup mix,fresh onion and peppers from the garden,and seasonings like worcestershire sauce,soy,teriacki and jamican jerk to spice up the brine. I like to "pickle" my meats 2-3 days about 38-40 degrees.I also like to inject some of the brine into them. Just lay em on the racks for 8-12 hours depending how hot your smoker is, and your good to go. Slow and low-the best way to go. Share your ideas and recipes here. Keep Smokin Ron!

My dad uses this recipe for smoking ribs

It did its job! I added rosemary and cajun spices to it, and the turkey (applewood-smoked free-range) was phenomenal. Use the recipe on this site that includes cola. It was the best. This brine was very easy to prepare. Although I had to prepare the equivalent of 45 servings to cover a 12 lb turkey. And it was still difficult to cover. But I used an oven bag, which added in the process.

This was a pretty good brine - it made for a very succulent smoked pulled pork.

Brining your meat is the best way to go. That is the only way you can achieve maximum moisture to the meats. For poultry i like to use citrus fruits in there with garlic, sherry wine and soy sauce. Instead of sugar as sweetner try molasses. Wonderfully succulent!!!! It's nice to know that someone else knows how to smoke their meat. S.Vanderau

I have added liquid smoke to my Brine. It seems to enhance the flavor of the hickory smoke. Great recipe. Thanks, John

Wonderful way to brine. I tried several recipes over the holidays and my husband loved this recipe. He said the turkey was extremely juicy. Will be cooking with this one again! Thanks!

Awesome especially when used on salmon and cooked on a plank

it is real good on turkey add bourbon or apple juice bay leaves or any other spice you like

GREAT FOR TURKEY!!!

Brining your meat is the best way to go. That is the only way you can achieve maximum moisture to the meats. For poultry i like to use citrus fruits in there with garlic, sherry wine and soy sauce. Instead of sugar as sweetner try molasses. Wonderfully succulent!!!! It's nice to know that someone else knows how to smoke their meat. S.Vanderau

I scaled this up to make 4 gallons to brine a 65 pound pig to roast for the 4th of July this year. It was perfect. The meat came out very tender. The perfect base for using Western North Carolina Vinegar Barbeque Sauce from this site.

This is the only brine I will use for smoking my meat. The chicken breast were so juicy and delicious.

Good start brine, add your spices or flavors. I used for salmon and pork butt so far.

Great basic brine! You really can't go wrong, and brining is the secret to moist meats. I put a cheap pork butt in the brine overnight and slow smoked it the next day on the grill. Even after 10 hours on the grill, the meat was super moist. One suggestion: remember, when removing the meat from the brine, to rinse the meat under cold running water, pat dry with paper towels and then apply your rub.

This was a very quick and easy brine to make. I doubled the recipe and used it for a bone-in turkey breast. I brined it for about 32 hours and the end result was a very salty turkey breast. So I will most definitely try this brine again, but I will try brining for 12 hours only.

Great recipe - used for a couple of pork butts before smoking them for 10 hrs and the difference seemed noticeable. Cooking for a large group, go the extra step and use a brine!

We used this brine to smoke a whole chicken on our new smoker. This was a test chicken and boy was it GOOD! We well be using this again for our Christmas turkey, yum.

Very simple and easy. I use it often and people want to my "secret" for such juicy and tasty meats!

I tried this for the first time on a pork shoulder that I smoked. It came out very tender. I added liquid smoke, garlic, paprika, and soy sauce. Remeber to cut back on the salt if you use soy sauce. I used 1/8 cup of salt and 1/8 cup soy sauce.

uesed this today on a deer roast,a brisket and some pork chops. Put all in the smoker with no other spices just wood chips and apple juce. will never smoke again without using a birne.this one is a keeper simple yet great thank you!!!

Used on first time brine, first time boston butt, first time smoker. It was amazing. Didn't know it was possible to make pork so moist and tender. (Used spice rub)

Hey "Smokin' Ron"; your name may be hot, but your recipe is really cool! I bought my hubby a smoker for Valentines Day and because we FINALLY had a beautiful warm weekend, he decided to christian it. He smoked a salmon filet and it was abolutely wonderful! Drew took your advice and added soy sauce and various seasonings. I love fish, but salmon isn't one of my favorites, however, this fish smoked is absolutely awesome!! Thanks!

I have smoked pork spareribs on many occasions, this time I wanted to try brineing them. I used this brine in proportion (2c salt, 2 cup sugar, 2 gallons water). soak for 5 hours and slow smoked for 5 hours @ 225deg (to 165 deg.internal when done.) I used 1/2 Jack Daniels chips and 1/2 hickory. EVERYBODY loved them! ... Except me. To me they were just *OK*. I wasn't please with the outside fat, it had a weird feel that turned me off. I later thought perhaps a quick finish on the grill may be on order. The rest of the house says FIVE stars but my opinion is 4. It is simple and does season the meat well without being overly salty. (Almost forgot, I rinsed the ribs before smoking.)It keeps the meat juicy, even on a long smoke. Will try adding spices next time too.

I was in a hurry so i used the recipe as is, no additions, for a boston butt and 10lbs of chicken leg quarters. I was impressed. It came out the same as if i had used tons of ingredients. I'm not going to spend time online looking up complicated brine recipes anymore. THanks for a great go-to recipe! This one is going into my "everyday" recipe book. It will be used frequently.

Made our pork shoulder amazing!

I have never ever brined like this before. Marinading meats yes, soaking them in sugar, salt and water...no. I had been debating for years to do so and stuck to my guns and did. This was the 1st recipe I tried and decided to make 2 chickens opposite soaking methods and then smoke them...well as the voters in the family had it...the brine won. And in that I'm pleased to say I'll be brining again thank you. It was simple and yet super easy. I kept to the recipe but as I see the recipe can be built up on with layers of flavors. I'm impressed by the result of the mmm's and aww man's out of my family. TY for the great 1st experience in brining***note after brining for 2 days, I wrapped in bacon before smoking and it turned out quite well.

Perfect, basic brine.

There is no need to leave the meat in the brine for more than overnight. In a pinch 6 hours will still get enough extra moisture in the meat to do a quick smoke. I like to smoke my pork shoulder for a full 12-16 hours though so I always let it go overnight in the brine.

Great Brine. Very tender after soaking all night in the frig. Thank you.

I like to experiment with different spices, but overall this is an excellent brine. I never put a pork loin in the smoker without it!

Nothing fancy, but works well. I used this on our Thanksgiving Day turkey. It turned out perfect!

Used this for my Pork Butt that I was smoking. I let it soak overnight and rinsed it off in the morning. It turned out wonderful.

Worked great for my pork butt.

I used this for a pork roast this past weekend. It was awesome. I don't think I will smoke meat again without brining it first. I brined two turkey breast a couple of weeks ago and they too turned out fabulous.

I used this for a 7-8 pound pork shoulder. Made 2 batches of the brine and added the meat rub to the solution. WOW!!! This turned out fantastic. I will deff be using this all the time now and cannot wait for Thanksgiving to use this on my turkey. Thank you so much :)

This was my first brine to use. I didn't use the brown sugar though :) I am not into a lot of sweet on my grill. I dont use sugar in my bbq sauce or on my meats. But it was a good base and gave me a ratio of salt to water to work with. Thanks. Worked fine for me.

GREAT GREAT GREAT. We brined a 7 pound pork roast for 12 hours. We multiplied everything by 5 (20 cups water, 1 1/4 c kosher salt and 1 1/4 c brown sugar) and added 1/4 to 1/2 cup of liquid crab boil and was amazing! THANKS!

Easy & tasty! What more can you ask for?

Super simple and perfect. I used chicken thighs, and smoked them on the grill after sitting in the brine for a day and a half. They came out AMAZING.

Sometimes simple is the best!!!!

I used a similar recipe to brine 1" pork chops I got from Costco! Wow! What a difference the brining makes! You have to work at it to over cook them! Supper start..turned them often in my gas grill for browning, then into my smoker. added a molasses-mustard glaze and voila! Perfect! Pork can wind up dry without brining, but this flavors and keeps the moisture in so the chops are delectable.

I smoked a turkey breast using this recipe and it was very good and the turkey was juicy.

Used for pieces of pork brisket. I'm inexperienced with grilling pork, so probably cooked longer than neccessary; the 'crust' burnt black, and I was sure the meat would be dry & tough. However the interior was moist, and very tender due to this simple brine. It will be fun to experiment, for achieving different flavours, by adding other ingredients. Thank you for posting this recipe!

This made my chicken so juicy. I added four cups of apple juice, slices of oranges and threw in some fresh herbs wonderful smell. I grilled the chicken using the beer can chicken recipe from this site. Fantastic!!!

My family loves when i use this recipe for smoking turkeys. Just can't say enough about it.

We doubled the recipe to brine 4 chicken leg quarters overnight. We threw the legs in a pan and put the pan in the smoker the next day. A few hours later, we ate the most delectable, fall off the bone tender chicken ever made! Delicious! Can't wait to try it with a turkey this Thanksgiving!

this is a good basic brine. taste good I use it all the time even my husband likes it

Used a roaster chicken and we smoked it after letting it sit in brine for 24 hrs. It was so moist and flavorful. Can't wait to do this again!!

way too salty.

Very quick to make and love that you can add flavoring to your own taste! Came out great!

I used this for my first time smoking a brisket. It turned out perfectly moist and flavorful.

I substituted 1/2 of the amount of water with Bragg's Liquid Aminos. I added a few Tbsp of both garlic powder and onion powder along with a few Tbsp of black and cayenne pepper and cut the salt content in half. I smoked a rabbit and a few steelhead trout fillets and the results were amazing. Even people who werent fans of smoked foods loved these. I have eaten rabbit many ways but this will be the only recipe I use from now on. Doing a duck and a few squirrels this weekend.

Easy and delicious. Had to double the recipe to cover a 5lb roast. Turned out great. Thanks.

I followed this recipe as is, only increasing the quantity it to cover a roaster chicken. I brined the chicken overnight and added a container of fresh poultry herbs to the cavity before putting it on a rotisserie spit on my BGE grill . The chicken turned out perfectly and is my new go to for all rotisserie/ grilled/ smoked meats . I can’t wait to try it for the smoked Thanksgiving turkey

I added some Brine Spice and ground ginger and the smoked Pork butt came out juicy and flavorful

Brined and smoked pork chops. FAMILY loved them. Me, not so much. Guess I don't like smoked meat very much.

Added my own extra spices and converted the salt. It is a good base!

First time smoker and this worked great. I will use this many more times in my adventures in smoking meat.

Excellent pre - smoke brine for pork or beef. Only soaked for a few hours. Overnight might be tool long. Really tenderizes the meat.

KEY STEP: RINSE OFF THE MEAT BEFORE COOKING/SMOKING! otherwise it will be too salty. The ratio is correct, according to Cooks Country, of 1 cup salt to 1 gallon water. My family doubles the brown sugar, 2 cups per gallon, or half cup in this recipe. If you're doing fish, like salmon, quadruple the sugar. You can add any kind of spice you like to the brine. We often add a generic "pickling spice" with great results. We've brined whole pork butts for a week before slow cooking or indirect grilling = best ham you've ever eaten! Bonus: this is how brisket becomes corned beef.

Followed the Basic recipe, added my favorite herbs and spices as instructed. Recipe is great. I will definitely use it again. Thanks

My smoked beef roast turned out moist and juicy! Very tastey

I will use this on every bird i cook

I added a small amount of soy sauce. Next time I think I'll try some apple juice. I'm still pretty new at smoking meat, but this is the best chicken I've smoked yet. I'm sticking with this recipe.