Dee’s No-Fear Brine-Roasted Turkey

Hola, mi amigas!  I am blissfully happy to have the next FOUR DAYS OFF!  I have to hoof it back to the mothership next Monday, so no rest for the wicked wheelie bag quite yet.  But for a few precious days at least, I will be spending my long Thanksgiving Day weekend any way I damn well please.

For us this year, that means our favorite way to spend a holiday -- just our little family, me, Bomber, and the Rox-Monster.  We will start our day by running in our local Turkey Trot 5K, then spend all of those wonderfully pre-earned calories on a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  Naturally, to be followed by lots and lots of FOOTBALL.

Definitely my kind of day.

I love cooking a big Thanksgiving feast and I especially love the turkey.  I know a lot of people can get freaked out about cooking a turkey, but I’m here to testify that it’s really very easy.  I love anything I can season up and just throw in the oven for a few hours. 

I’ve experimented over the years with lots of prep methods and they’ve all had merit.  But if you want a fool-proof checklist for the PERFECT turkey, then I have the recipe for you.  I found this a few years ago and modified it to my liking.  It is my go-to, no-fail method for a great turkey dinner.

Dee’s No-Fear Brine-Roasted Turkey

Ingredients:

• 2 gallons water, divided
• 2 cups kosher salt
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns, coarsely cracked [I put whole peppercorns in wax paper and then beat the heck out of them with a mallet!]
• 1 (12-14 pound) fresh turkey [Note:  Because I strive to vote myself as far off the industrial agriculture wagon as I can get, I buy cage-free, humanely raised turkeys from a local farm.  It is worth it to me to devote the additional effort to find a bird who lived a good life.]
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

The night before roasting the turkey, make the brine.  In a medium saucepan, combine 4 cups water, kosher salt, and sugar; cook over medium heat, stirring, until salt and sugar dissolve.  Remove pan from heat, stir in peppercorns, and let cool.

Rinse the turkey inside and out and place in a very large stock pot.  [My turkey in this picture is about 11 pounds and this is my largest stock pot.]

Add the remaining water and the brown sugar mixture, stirring to blend. Refrigerate for 12-15 hours.  If your turkey floats to the top too much, you can weight it down with a plate and then put the stock pot lid on to keep it under the brine.  Alternatively, you an just flip your bird halfway through to ensure even brining.

[Note:  If you are using a bigger bird and/or don’t have a big enough pot, you can use an ice chest lined with heavy plastic.  Just put the bird and the brine in the plastic, then close up the plastic and pack ice around it all.  Store in a cool place, like a garage in Missouri in November.  Hah.  Another option is to pick up one of the ready-made “brining bags” on the market these days. I haven’t tried one, but they look pretty sturdy.  For safety, I’d put it in a roasting pan before storing in the fridge in case you get a hole in the bag.]

When time’s up, remove the bird from the brine and rinse THOROUGHLY under cold running water.  I mean thoroughly!  When you think you are done, do it again.  And then again.  Otherwise, your pan drippings may be too salty for gravy or other uses.  Next, pat it dry with paper towels.  If you are not quite ready to roast it, put it in the refrigerator in the meantime.

When you ARE ready to roast, now’s the time for your butter.  First, preheat the oven to 325F.  Then, gently loosen the skin over the breast until you can rub butter UNDER the skin.  Work it under the skin as far as you can.  If this is too challenging, don’t worry about it!  Just rub the butter ON the skin.  It’ll still be great, I promise. 

Follow with a light dusting of pepper or seasoning of your choice.  I advise skipping salt or anything with salt in it, e.g. garlic salt, onion salt, etc.  The flesh will have absorbed some salt from the brine and you don’t want to add more.  For me, I just dust with freshly ground black pepper and very loosely stuff the cavity of the bird with assorted herbs – rosemary, thyme, and sage.  The herbs really add an amazing flavor to the bird and the pan drippings!

Now tie the legs together with kitchen twine (or twist foil around or whatever you have on hand that can handle oven heat.)  And if you have nothing, it will still be fine!  It just makes for prettier presentation.  Put the bird on a rack, breast side up, in your roasting pan.  Tuck the wing tips under the back of the bird (it keeps them from getting too crispy).  Put the turkey in the oven and baste with pan drippings about every half hour for 1 hour.

Next, cover the turkey breast loosely with foil.  This helps keep the breast from drying out while the denser dark meat takes a little longer.  Some people flip the bird over on the breast side at this point, but have you ever tried to flip a partially-cooked, 12-pound bird?  Umm, yeah.  Not easy.  Others simply roast it on the breast the whole time, but that’s never worked out as well for me as they say it should.  Since we’re going for no-fail, no-fear, no-freak-out, folks, I advise against both of those methods.

Continue roasting for 2 to 3 hours longer, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (don’t connect with the bone, it’ll throw off your temp results) reads between 165-175F.  You have about 30 minutes to go now, so take the foil off and the skin will brown up nicely.  And keep basting!

How do you know when your turkey is done?  When your temp reading is 180F, your turkey is considered fully cooked and you are safe!  You can cook it more if you like, but get it to at least 180F and then take it out to rest, about 15-20 minutes.  It won’t get cold, I promise. If you are worried, cover it with foil or put the lid on your roasting pan.  The resting is key to getting the juiciest turkey – and to getting one that is easy to carve as well.

If I remember before I devour the turkey tomorrow, I’ll take photos to show you this year’s finished product.

And if you try this, good luck, and please let me know how it went!