The Best Roast Turkey and Brine Recipe – Printable Recipe

The Best Roast Turkey and Brine Recipe – Printable Recipe

Ingredients

    Ingredients for the Brine: Recipe adapted from Alton Brown’s Good Eats Roast Turkey
    Note: You will brine your turkey the day before you intend to cook it, so please plan accordingly
  • 1 gallon (16 cups) chicken stock
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 1 cup coarse Kosher salt
  • ½ cup light brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 onion, quartered
  • 2 carrots, peeled and cut in half
  • 2 celery stalks, cut in half
  • 4 cloves garlic, whole
  • Handful of fresh thyme
  • 7 sprigs of fresh sage
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • Small handful fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 ½ teaspoons whole allspice berries
  • 1 ½ teaspoons chopped candied ginger (I have used fresh ginger if unable to find candied)
  • 1 gallon ice water (16 ounces)
  • 4 cups of ice
  • 1 turkey, approximately 15 pounds, giblets removed (If you are not using fresh, make sure the turkey is thoroughly thawed. You can always use a bigger bird if necessary; just adjust your cooking time appropriately.)
  • 1 large brining bag
    Ingredients for the roast turkey (adapted from Martha Stewart’s Perfect Roast Turkey)
  • 1 stick of butter, softened
  • 1 stick of butter, melted
  • 1 cup dry white wine, room temperature (like chardonnay or sauvignon blanc)
  • Cheesecloth (found in the grocery store aisle near kitchen utensils)

Instructions

    Instructions for the brine:
  1. The day before you plan to cook your turkey, make the brine. Pour the chicken stock into a large stock pot and add the apple juice, salt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, sage, rosemary, peppercorns, bay leaves, allspice, and ginger. (Basically everything except the ice water, ice and turkey!) Bring to a simmer over high heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar and salt dissolve.
  2. Remove from heat once it begins to simmer and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes to one hour. Pour the cooled brine into your brining bag and add the ice water. Add in additional cups of ice until the liquid is very cold, stirring to make sure it is cooled throughout the brine.
  3. Only once the liquid is very, very cold, add your turkey to the brine breast-side down. Seal the bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. If you have a lot of excess bag space, tie it into a knot using a rubber band. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan with high sides (or a bucket) and store overnight in your fridge.
    Instructions for roasting your turkey
  1. Remove your turkey from the brine at least 1 hour before you intend to cook it. Discard the brine and rinse the bird well to remove any excess salt. Let stand at room temperature for approximately one hour to dry the skin and take the chill off the turkey. Make sure you thoroughly dry the turkey inside the cavity and all over the exterior of the bird.
  2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
  3. Gently loosen the skin from the breast meat. This will be much more difficult than it is with a chicken, so don’t be afraid to use some force to tear through the fibrous pieces. Take approximately ¼ of the softened butter stick and rub it between your hands. Then massage the butter all over the turkey skin. Take another third of the stick and do the same thing, but getting underneath the skin as much as possible. Distribute the remaining 1/3 stick of butter where ever needed on the turkey. It’s OK to have larger butter chunks under the skin.
  4. Place the turkey, breast-side up, in a large roasting pan with a rack inside. Tie the legs together with twine and push the wings underneath the turkey so that it looks like it is sunbathing.
  5. Open up the cheesecloth all the way and gently drape it over the turkey. Trim the cloth so that there is minimal overhang into the pan. You want the cheesecloth the completely cover the turkey.
  6. Combine the melted butter and the cup of wine in a medium size bowl. Take the cheesecloth you trimmed to fit the turkey and place it inside the bowl, saturating the cloth with the wine-butter liquid. Remove the cheesecloth and squeeze most of the excess liquid back into the bowl. Gently drape the cheesecloth over the turkey again. Using a turkey baster, baste the bird once with the wine-butter mixture, making sure it goes directly on top of the cheesecloth. (The cheesecloth with ensure that you don’t overbrown the bird while it is cooking in the oven.) Reserve the remaining wine-butter liquid for additional basting.
  7. Place the cheesecloth covered turkey in the oven and cook undisturbed for 45 minutes. Then turn the temperature down to 350 degrees and baste the wine-butter mixture all over the breast. Continue to do this in 45 minute increments until the turkey comes to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Note: Be sure to remove the cheesecloth before the final cooking increment to allow the turkey to properly brown in the oven. If your turkey has already come to temperature and you still need to brown the skin, you can turn on the broiler for a few short minutes. Just make sure you are constantly watching the skin to ensure it doesn't burn. Also, if you run out of wine-butter basting liquid, use the drippings in the bottom of the pan and inside the cavity to baste the bird.
  8. Remove your turkey from the oven and very loosely tent it with aluminum foil, making sure it doesn’t touch the skin. Allow the turkey to stand at room temperature for 45 minutes so the juices can redistribute throughout the bird. Then carve and serve. Happy Turkey Day!!
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