How To Brine And Roast A Turkey

Total Time: 8 hrs Preparation Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 1 gallon cool water
• 3/4 cup morton kosher salt or 1 cup diamond crystal kosher salt or 1/2 cup table salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 (12 -14 lb) whole turkey

Recipe

• 1 mix in a plastic container or stockpot until dissolved.
• 2 makes 1 gallon of brining solution.
• 3 salinity differs!
• 4 determine the amount of brine needed to cover a 12-14 pound whole turkey.
• 5 tips: start brining method the day before you plan to cook the turkey.
• 6 use a fresh or completely thawed turkey.
• 7 wash the bird inside and out and remove the giblet bag and neck.
• 8 (save for giblet gravy) in a large stockpot, plastic tub or cooler mix up brine and stir until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved.
• 9 place the turkey in the brine solution, breast down.
• 10 cover and chill for 6 to 8 hours.
• 11 if you brine overnight reduce the salt and sugar by half so the turkey does not retain too much salt.
• 12 remove the turkey from brine, rinse inside and out under cold running water.
• 13 pat dry with paper towels.
• 14 preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 15 place turkey on shallow roasting pan.
• 16 tie legs together and tuck wings underneath the bird.
• 17 coat the skin with butter or olive oil.
• 18 cover the breast loosely with aluminum foil.
• 19 add 1 cup water to bottom of pan.
• 20 cooking time will vary depending on the size of the turkey.
• 21 check the wrapper to see how much the turkey weighs and determine the approximately.
• 22 cooking time roast the turkey until temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 180 degrees or thigh juices run clear when pierced with a fork.
• 23 during the last 1 to 1 1/2 hours of cooking time remove the aluminum foil from the breast and baste with pan juices to encourage browning.
• 24 when the turkey is done, (180 f), allow it to set 20 minutes before carving to allow juices to saturate the meat evenly.
• 25 cooking time: a 12-pound turkey will take about 3 hours and 15 minutes to roast.
• 26 add 15 minutes for each additional pound.