Thanksgiving Series #2: Turkey
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 
Turkey is the centerpiece of nearly every Thanksgiving dinner. You can buy birds that are frozen, fresh or free range. I have cooked and eaten all three and can't say I personally saw much of a difference. No matter what kind of bird you plan to roast, the method of roasting is that really matters.
I remember the Thanksgiving bird being made in a roasting bag when I was young, which often yielded meat that dried out moments after hitting the table. I grew up thinking that cranberry and gravy were to moisten the meat so you could chew it!
When I hosted my very first Thanksgiving dinner I opted to use the method I watched Martha Stewart demonstrate on her own show. It was delicious but time and labor intensive and the meat didn't stay moist during left over mode.
Two years ago I was watching a Thanksgiving special Food Network and Alton Brown's turkey brine was featured. The Hubster proclaimed that we should try it and the rest is history! Brining a bird is magical. It changed our Thanksgiving. I will never cook our bird another way!
The method is so easy, once you get the brine and bird hanging out in a container- you just leave it. You can cook the brined turkey at a higher temp for shorter amount of time- which means waking up at a normal time on Thanksgiving! And probably the best part of all... the leftovers are super moist! Gravy and cranberry are served for flavor rather than moisture!
So here is the Alton Brown Method (as we call it in our house):
Ingredients
- 1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
For the brine:
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 gallon vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
- 1 gallon heavily iced water
For the aromatics:
- 1 red apple, sliced
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup water
- 4 sprigs rosemary
- 6 leaves sage
- Canola oil
Directions
Click here to SEE how it's done.
2 to 3 days before roasting:
Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.
Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:
Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.
I have serious sanitation issues, so we use brining bas we bought at Williams Sonoma- which come with a warning label!
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.
Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.
Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage.
Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.
Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.
The Hubster always makes sure he acts as quality control...
And that it is the trick to super moist turkey that yields next to no leftovers!
Alton also has a terrific gravy recipeto go on your Turkey Day table- I highly recommend it too!
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