Yeah, I know, it's Thanksgiving + 4 Days, but I thought I'd talk about this technique and post a recipe (off the top of my head, but I'm pretty accurate with it).
I've brined chicken before, but never turkey. Man, I have got to say that I've NEVER had a better-tasting, more flavorful, and moist turkey in my LIFE.
This is a variation of Alton Brown's recipe and I'll use it till they're feeding me turkey substitute in the Geezer Home, dribbling gravy on my pajamas:
one 12 - 14 lb. Turkey, thawed out in the fridge and rinsed (it takes about 3 days - I always use Butterball because they inject it with vegetable shortening here and there). MAKE SURE TO REMOVE ALL GIBLETS -- BOTH PACKETS!
Overnight, or about 8-12 hours (no more than 12 hours) before you roast, combine the following:
-1 gallon of vegetable stock (I make my own out of onions, celery, carrots, to include the peels.)
-1 cup kosher salt
-2 tablespoons of crystallized ginger, chopped roughly
-1/2 cup of brown sugar
-small handful of peppercorns
-small handful of allspice berries (do NOT use ground allspice)
Heat to boiling in a large pot, dissolving the solids. Add the mixture to a 5 gallon bucket (one of those insulated thermos-type containers used on the job site is perfect), then immediately add:
-5 to 10 lbs. of ice. The idea is to cool the mixture down and leave some floating ice in it to keep it cold.
Immerse the bird in the brine mixture, breast side down. Cover and place in a cool location up to 12 hours.
When brining is complete, remove the turkey, rinse with cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. Oil the skin liberally with vegetable/canola oil - don't use butter, as that will burn. Discard the brine.
Place the turkey in your roaster on a rack. Leave uncovered. Pre-heat your oven to 500 deg. F. (That is NOT a typo - just do it.)
While the oven preheats, combine the following in a microwave-proof bowl:
-1 red apple, sliced
-1 cinnamon stick
-2 or 3 whole cloves
-1 onion, sliced
-1 cup water or veggie stock
Nuke on high for 5 minutes. Place the contents in the bird's cavity, along with:
-4 rosemary sprigs
-4 thyme sprigs
-6 to 8 sage leaves (chiffonade them first)
Put the bird in the oven, with the top of the bird not closer than 6 inches from the top of the inside of the oven. Let roast at 500 deg. F. for 30 minutes, or until your smoke detectors go off (whichever occurs first).
Crank the heat down to 340 deg. F. and roast until it's done. My 20-lb. bird took about 2 hours and 50 minutes and it was done perfectly, though I have a convection oven (which makes a difference).
You can do the fancy Alton Brown gizmo-techno-geek stuff and have a thermometer that detects the presence of sunspots on the sun, or you can use an instant-check thermometer and check the thigh meat. The thigh seems to be the part of the bird that takes longest to roast, so I check that rather than the breast. I look for the juices to be running clear AND for the thigh meat temp to read not less than 175 deg. If in doubt, tilt the bird to allow some juices to run out of the cavity and watch for pink.
Let the bird rest at least 20 minutes before carving.
While the bird rests, prepare your pan gravy by first pouring off excess fat, leaving about a cup in the roaster. Put the roaster on the stove top, turn your burner on, then add about 1/2 cup all-purpose flour to the drippings. Stir to combine and cook the roux for a few minutes, then add about 48 oz. of the same vegetable stock you made earlier or a separate poultry stock you might've made from the neck and giblets (but not the liver). Use prepared chicken broth if you didn't make a stock. Bring to a boil, stirring more or less constantly; adjust seasonings. Strain if necessary to remove large chunks of bird bits, if desired.
I used a 20-lb. bird for our meal and the one-gallon brine mixture worked fabulously. The breast meat was absolutely moist, tender, and flavorful.
I will never again prepare whole turkey any other way but this way. It's too good to pass up.
