Brined Turkey
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
- Prep Time:15 min
- Inactive Prep Time: 7 hr 0 min
- Cook Time: 2 hr 30 min
- Level:Easy Serves:10 to 12 servings
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.
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.
RE:This can be modified in many ways.
I have used the principle of brining for Turkey making some of the BEST tasting chicken breast I have ever had.
When you brine smaller meats without skin, you need to just change the time it soaks to about 2 hours. If you like salty foods add more time (15-30 mins max) and the opposite if you like less salty foods.
A nice hint to this process. Don't start with the salt in the water. Put all of your seasonings in the water FIRST. Taste it. Once you are happy with the taste, add your salt.
One of my favorite Brines is:
Soy Sauce, poultry seasoning, thyme, rosemary, cracked black pepper (course). Measurements are all by hand/taste. Start with the Soy Sauce then poultry seasoning...then add the rest. You really need to "brew" everything together in a large pot under med heat, to get the full taste out of all the ingredients.
Make sure to let the brine mixture cool all the way down before adding any meat!!