Thanksgiving Roast Turkey

I have since made a turkey again and I have some additional notes. Please refer to the bottom of the post to see these additional notes.

I cooked a turkey for the first time. I was very nervous. I shouldn’t have been. It turned out wonderful! It was browned and crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I did a lot of research ahead of time. The thing that helped me the most was the Romancing the Bird episode of Good Eats by Alton Brown. That man is my hero. He is so weird and slightly annoying, but he has away of instilling kitchen confidence into his viewers. After watching that episode, I was pumped! I was ready to tackle the turkey. I took Alton’s advice down to every last detail and I was very happy with the result.

So follow me on my turkey journey:

Ingredients:

• 1 turkey, thawed and rinsed
• garnish (I used kale to pretty up the turkey platter)

Brine:

• 1 gallon vegetable stock (Don’t buy low sodium stock. The salt is necessary)
• 1 C. kosher salt
• 1/2 C. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 tsp. allspice berries
• 1 1/2 tsp. chopped candied ginger (optional)
• 1 gallon heavily iced water
• 1 large bucket or pot ( I used a clean 10 gallon bucket that I bought for 5 bucks at Sears)

For the Aromatics:

• 1 red apple, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 C. water
• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 6 leaves sage
• canola oil or butter

Please see my notes below for a more simple recipe.

Directions:

1. Buy the turkey. If you are brining the turkey, do not buy a self-basting or a kosher turkey. Figure at least 1 pound of turkey per person for all birds under 16 lbs. Less if the bird weighs more because there is more meat in proportion to bone. There will still be plenty left overs. We bought the smallest bird we could find since there were just four of us.

2. Thaw the turkey. Do not let the turkey sit on the counter to defrost. Allow 2 days for a turkey under 12 pounds, 3 days for a turkey 12 to 14 pounds, 4 days for a turkey 14 to 18 pounds, and 4 or 5 days for a turkey 18 pounds and over. You can also do a speed thaw by submerging the turkey in cold water. Change the water every 3 hours. Always leave the turkey in its wrappings while thawing.

3. Cut away the wrappings and remove the neck and giblets. Did you know a turkey has two ends? You would think that would be obvious, right? Alas, I have blonde moments in abundance. My mom told me multiple times not to forget to pull out the neck AND the giblets. The neck was easy. I pulled it right out (although I had a secret fear that it would have a head still attached when I pulled it out). But the deeper into the cavity I reached, the more confused I got. I could not find the stupid bag of giblets. So I called my mother in law because I knew she was the only one who would be awake at that early time in the morning over in Idaho (6:00 AM in Idaho) and I asked her what I should do. She said, “Look in the other end”.” And I said, “I didn’t know there was another end!!!” She said, “Amy, every body has two ends.” Sure enough, there they were. So take out the neck and giblets, rinse them off, and put them in a Ziploc bag if you are going to use them later for gravy. Or just toss them.

4. Rinse off the turkey. Rinse out the cavity.

5.To make the Brine: The day before cooking the turkey, boil the veggie stock, salt, sugar, and spices in a large pot. Let it cool to room temperature and then refrigerate to get it cold. At least 8 hours before cooking, but  up to 12, transfer the brine to a large bucket or pot and add a gallon of heavily iced water. I used a ten gallon bucket. Plunge the turkey into the brine breast down. Let it soak in all that moisture and salt and flavor, turning the turkey over once half way through the brining. Brining really helps the turkey hold in flavor and juiciness. If you are worried about having a dry turkey, then a wet brine is the way to go. I highly recommend letting it brine over the night before. Just take out on of the shelves in your fridge and stick the whole bucket in.

6. When you are finished brining, rinse off the turkey again. Set the turkey in the roasting pan and pat dry. Now, I am not a believer in stuffing the turkey. If you watch Alton Brown’s Good Eats, you will see that he has convinced me to stay away from stuffing the turkey. Stuffing is the perfect home for bacteria and food born illness once its in the turkey. You need to cook the stuffing to a certain temperature for it to be safe, buy by then the turkey breast is dried out. You can stuff it after it’s done cooking if you like the presentation. But I do like to fill the cavity with some nice aromatics to give it more flavor. You don’t eat these, but you let them cook inside the turkey. You just leave them inside the turkey when your carving.

Microwave the apple, onion, and cinnamon stick in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes on high. Then stuff them in the cavity along with the rosemary and sage. You could also throw in some garlic heads, too. I used tongs to stuff them inside.

7. Preheat the oven to 500 F. Rub the turkey with canola oil or butter. I put some parsley on top, but I really wouldn’t recommend doing that. I didn’t really have a reason, I just did it. The leaves burned and looked ugly. Insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast, avoiding any bones.

I can’t say enough about this little purchase. It is a timer and thermometer all in one. I bought it for $15 at Sears and it saved me! The pointed end sticks in the meat, the cord comes out of the oven, and the timer is magnetic and sticks to the door of the oven. You have the timer go off either after a certain amount of time or when the internal temperature reaches a certain point.

8. Get some tin foil and make a triangle out of it and kind of shape it over the breast. Pull it off and set it aside away from everything else. You will need it later.

8. So first off, set the timer for 30 minutes at 500 F. This will give the turkey skin a nice golden brown crisp and lock in all the juices and fat. After 30 minutes, lower the heat to 350 F and set you thermometer alarm to ding when the internal temperature reaches 161degrees Fahrenheit. Put the bi-fold of tinfoil over the breast and do not open the oven door unless you absolutely have to. That is right: no basting periodically. The brining gives it the juiciness and opening the door to baste just makes it cook slower. The tin foil helps the breast meat not to over cook. The whole process of baking took me 2.5 hours, but every oven and turkey is different, so yours might take more or less time. Don’t go by the little pop up thermometer that comes in the turkey, but don’t pull it out because the juices will run out of the hole. A probe thermometer will give you a more accurate idea of when the breast meat is at the perfect temperature to be safe, but juicy.

 

9. Let the turkey sit for at least 15 minutes to let the juices settle. Garnish with greens and fruit. Carve and enjoy!

REVISIONS AND CHANGES:

I made this turkey two Thanksgivings ago. Last Thanksgiving I used the same techniques, but a different recipe for the brine that I thought turned out a little better and easier. I didn’t want to get ride of the original recipe, but I did want to post the one I like better on this page. Here it is:

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon hot water
• 1 pound kosher salt
• 2 quarts vegetable broth
• 1 pound of honey
• 1 (15-20 pound) turkey, giblets and neck removed
• oil for rubbing down turkey

Directions:

1. Combine the hot water and salt in the 10 gallon bucket and stir until the salt dissolves. Stir in the broth and honey. Follow the directions above for thawing and prepping the turkey (removing giblets and rinsing) and stick in the brine, breast side up.

2. Put the whole bucket in the fridge and leave it over night, up to 12 hours. Take out the turkey and pat dry with paper towels. Rub it all over with oil.

3. Follow the roasting instructions from above. If you are too lazy to scroll up, here is the roasting instructions in a nut shell: Form some tin foil over the breast and set aside. Set the turkey in a roasting pan on the lowest rung and put in an oven that has been preheated to 500 F and cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, reduce temperature to 350 F and insert probe thermometer. Set the alarm so it will go off at 161 degrees F and put the foil form loosely over the breast. Once the timer goes off, take out of the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before carving. (It should take about 2 to 2 1/2 hours for a 14 to 16 pound bird).

Either recipe is good, but I like the simplicity of the second one. I didn’t feel like the aromatics really added to the first recipe enough to take the time to prepare them. Just make sure you let the turkey brine for around 12 hours.

Recipe from Alton Brown’s Good Eats and revised recipe from my friend Kristin.