A Finer Briner

[siege]

I had some extra food grade 5 gallon buckets available from a bucket garden project that I had not used. You can buy them at WallyWorld in the food storage department, or see if your locally owned restaurants can save you a bucket that bulk commodities like mayo or other bulk food items come in. Some of these containers are round, some are square. Both shapes work fine. Be sure to wash and sterilize all parts of the brining set up.
The key to the briner I made was to have 2 lids. Using a pair of tin snips, I cut the outside rim off one lid. After removing the part of the lid that used to fasten it down to the bucket, the remaining center part became the " follower " that dropped into the bucket on top of the food being cured or brined. I set a 12 pound turkey in my bucket legs down, poured 2 gallons of brine mixture in, put the cut down lid over the turkey, and set a ceramic bowl on top of it for for weight. Since the inside lid was the exact same shape as the bucket, and only an inch or so smaller in diameter, it can't slide off and let the food float up. The bird remained fully submerged. After depositing the bucket in the fridge and making sure the were no air pockets hiding in the food, I put the unaltered lid on top of the bucket. Cheap, easy, and effective.

[Conumdrum]

Pics please. Pics help us challenged ones. Like me.

[Richtee]

Large Ziplocs/bags are still a more efficient way to brine..but lacking those this is a “solution”

[AJ]

My only problem is I don't have room in my fridge for a 5-gal bucket. I have to use the ziplock bags even for turkeys. Other than that it is a great idea.

[barkonbutts]

Those are great for turkeys, I do prefer the gallon bags for smaller projects, easier to refrigerate the bags!!

[siege]

I regularly use gallon zip lock bags for dry cures like Canadian Bacon, and brines like chicken thighs. The local dollar store sells a pretty decent 5 pack of 2 1/2 gal bags for ....you guessed it....a dollar. Nice for bigger batches, or as an outer bag for a little more security.
But I like the bucket system for anything that will hold 2 or three gallons of liquid, plus a turkey or a few whole chickens and weigh a combined total of 25 or 30 pounds. The potential for that much "hazardous waste" from a leaky bag in the bottom of the fridge is more than enough to make me seek a better "solution".
Decent used fridges on Facebook and Craig s List can be had for $50 to $75. Mine is in the garage, and that way, there is always a cold beverage available when out there working on a project. It's also nice to have a place to age cheese, mellow smoked sausages, and defrost large cuts of meat. I keep it at a slightly higher temperature than the kitchen fridge, and it keeps my food projects out of the way of "she whose voice must be obeyed".

[Richtee]

My only problem is I don't have room in my fridge for a 5-gal bucket. I have to use the ziplock bags even for turkeys. Other than that it is a great idea.

Depending on the weather, etc... coolers with ice are a great place to brine larger projects.

[SmokinOutBack]

I have my own fridge down in the basement with the top shelf lowered that holds a 5 gallon Rubbermaid bucket with lid. It was decided years ago that I needed my own "area."

[HawgHeaven]

I have my own fridge down in the basement with the top shelf lowered that holds a 5 gallon Rubbermaid bucket with lid. It was decided years ago that I needed my own "area."

Yup, and will remain to be so...

[CoffeeCreek]

I really like having an extra fridge in the garage, use it for doing large brines, fermenting beer, cold beer storage.
We went back to our retirement home last Christmas for vation and we have limited supplies there, the hole family wanted the turkey smoked and we looked every where for a big enough container to brine the turkey in, after 30-45 minutes of me looking my wife said " I'll just use the bottom drawer in the fridge" took it out, washed it, put the bird in, poured the brine, slid the drawer back in
worked like a charm

[SMOKE FREAK]

I really like having an extra fridge in the garage, use it for doing large brines, fermenting beer, cold beer storage.
We went back to our retirement home last Christmas for vation and we have limited supplies there, the hole family wanted the turkey smoked and we looked every where for a big enough container to brine the turkey in, after 30-45 minutes of me looking my wife said " I'll just use the bottom drawer in the fridge" took it out, washed it, put the bird in, poured the brine, slid the drawer back in
worked like a charm

Sounds like an opportunity to buy some more "stuff"

[TATONKA3A2]

We bought these a couple of years ago and I love them! I haven't had luck with the large ziplocks sealing and always end up leaking and I have them in a large container anyway.
http://www.thebriner.com/