Best Brining And Cooking The Bird Turkey Recipes

BRINING AND COOKING THE PERFECT TURKEY WITH DELICIOUS GRAVY

Steps:

• Pour 4 32-ounce cartons of low-sodium chicken broth into a large stock pot and stir in kosher salt, savory, thyme, sage, and rosemary. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook the brine for 7 minutes to blend flavors. Cool. Pour the mixture into a 5-gallon food-grade bucket, large cooler, or large brining bag. Stir apple juice and 1 gallon of water into the mixture. Place turkey, breast side down, into the brine and pour in more water if needed to cover. Place in refrigerator and brine for at least 36 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Remove turkey and discard used brine. Rinse turkey and pat dry with paper towels. Place the turkey with breast side down on a roasting rack set into a roasting pan. Stuff the bird with 2 onions, 4 stalks of celery, and 4 carrots; place remaining 2 onions, 4 stalks of celery, and 4 carrots into the roasting pan surrounding the turkey. Brush outside of the turkey with 1/4 cup melted butter and pour white cooking wine and 2 32-ounce cartons of chicken broth into the pan.
• Roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes; baste with pan juices. If skin begins to darken too quickly, place a tent of aluminum foil over the bird. Continue roasting for 1 1/2 more hours, basting every 30 minutes. Turn the turkey over so it is breast side up; brush with remaining 1/4 cup melted butter. Continue roasting, basting every 30 minutes, until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh, not touching bone, reads 180 degrees F (80 degrees C), about 1 more hour (3 hours roasting time in all).
• Remove turkey and set aside while you make the gravy. Strain all the pan drippings through a mesh strainer into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer. Whisk 2 cups water, 1 32-ounce carton turkey broth, and cornstarch together in a bowl until smooth. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the hot pan drippings and cook until thickened, whisking constantly, about 5 minutes. Let gravy cool to thicken slightly. If desired, use a gravy separator to remove excess fat. Serve turkey with gravy.

GOOD EATS ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Two to three 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.
• The night before or early on the day 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.
• 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.

BRINING AND COOKING THE BIRD - TURKEY

Steps:

• Lightly crush by hand the Rosemary, Sage, Thyme and Bay Leafs. Then "Blossom the herbs in a dry fry pan."
• Add apple juice, boiled cider, sugar, pepper and salt to a pan. Bring to boil and then simmer until sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Remove from heat add in the herbs, garlic and then cool completely.
• In a large container added your clean turkey and pour the brine into the cavity and down the sides. Add the chilled distilled or purified water till it covers the turkey. Let sit in brine 12 hours or longer. Turn the turkey so the breast is upside down in the brine. Or do as I do. I brine my turkey in a large enamel stock pot that I have boiled and cooled the brine in.
• Pour the brine off and rinse turkey inside and out. And dry with paper towels, or as I do Flour Sack towel. (these I place in hot bleached water then in the washing machine once I have dried the turkey.
• This is where you get your turkey fat and drippings https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/sauce-spread/gravy/hint-what-to-do-with-the-turkey.html?p=155 Or you can do as I do at Thanksgiving. I buy wings and roast them with salt, pepper, paprika and butter, Once they are cooked then I save the drippings and cook the wings in water with a tad of celery, salt, pepper and a carrot to make a broth.
• Take the fat and rub the turkey inside and out. If you have enough fat rub it under the skin. Sprinkle with lightly salt, pepper and paprika inside and outside the turkey. Fold the tip of the wings under the turkey and place turkey breast side down on a rack. Add some Turkey stock to the bottom of roasting pan. (Optional) you can add a celery sprig, carrot and onion to the bottom of the pan if you like) Roast at 325*, turn turkey, once it is golden brown on bottom, to breast side up. Baste every once in a while. Finish roasting.... If turkey starts to brown too fast...tent with tin foil.
• Let turkey rest for 15-30 minutes before carving.