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to brine or not to brine a turkey




Source of Recipe


old files


Recipe Introduction


secret to a MOIST turkey? Soak it in a salt solution or brine.


List of Ingredients




Clean your cooler with soap and water, then pour in a half gallon of hot tap water, 2/3 cup sugar, and a pound of salt. Stir thoroughly to dissolve crystals, and then stir in 8 pounds of ice and 16 cups of vegetable broth. No kidding!

Unwrap thawed turkey, remove any parts inside. Leave leg clip attached. Place turkey in brine, breast side up. The brine should cover the bird. If it floats, weight it down with a sealed plastic bag of water. Place covered cooler in a cool place for 8 to 12 hours, turning bird over once, if possible. Use freezer packs (inside resalable bags) to keep the brine temperature at 40 or below.

Recipe




4 hours before dinner, remove one oven rack and set the other rack in the next-to-lowest position. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Remove turkey from brine, rinse with cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. Prepare fresh herbs of your choice, a chopped onion, and chopped celery for the cavity of the bird.

Stuffing is evil. It creates more mass, requiring longer cooking time, setting up the possibility of salmonella, and dries out the turkey.

Loosely “pack” your bird with herbs and vegetables.
you can also pack it with Italian sausage for a real treat

Place turkey, breast side up, on a V-shaped rack. Cut a piece of foil that, when folded in half, will cover the turkey’s breast. Lay this on, shiny side up and mold it into a “breast-plate.” Remove it, lube with Pam spray and set aside.

Rub a ¼ stick of butter between your hands (rubber gloves optional). Rub the butter into the turkey as if you were a masseuse on a mission! Re-butter as needed to get a nice, even coating. Ditch the gloves.

Put the turkey into the oven and set timer for 30 minutes. The breast should be nicely browned; if not, cook another 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Replace the breast plate you made earlier. This foil will reflect the heat and slow the cooking of the breast meat. Target temperature for the breast meat if 161 while dark meat should be 180. (The built-in pop-up timer does not pop until 180 degrees, tragically late for the perfect party! Insert your probe thermometer through the foil and into the deepest part of the breast.

Reduce the heat to 350. Return turkey to oven and keep door closed. Do not baste. Basting is evil. The skin protects anything from getting to the meat…so basting does nothing but let heat escape from the oven. Don’t touch that door!

Once the prime 161 degrees is attained in the breast (approximately 2 to 2 ½ hours after the temp was reduced) take bird out of oven and give it a rest. Do not skip this crucial step. Cover with foil and wait 30 minutes before carving. This preserves moisture.

The only downside to roasting a brined bird is that the pan drippings may be too salty to make gravy. To get around that, mix the drippings with 1 cup water, 1 cup low salt chicken broth and a cornstarch slurry.