Turkey for Thanksgiving
Directions
- 1Chop celery.
- 2Brine the turkey overnight in apple cider, salt, oranges, rosemary, peppercorns, bay leaves, brown sugar, and crushed garlic.
- 3Bring the brine mixture to a boil until everything melts.
- 4Add about 12 cups of ice water to cool the brine down immediately.
- 5Pour the cooled brine and turkey into a big pot or an oven bag and let it rest in the fridge overnight.
- 6Discard the brine and remove the turkey from the fridge about two hours before cooking to come to room temperature.
- 7Prepare the compound butter by adding fresh rosemary and thyme to softened butter.
- 8Grate in two large cloves of garlic into the butter.
- 9Add onion powder, garlic powder, Tony's seasoning, paprika, salt, and pepper to the butter mixture.
- 10Mix all ingredients to form the compound butter.
- 11Pat the turkey completely dry with paper towels.
- 12Lift the skin of the breast up and loosen it before applying the butter.
- 13Shove the compound butter underneath the skin of the turkey breast.
- 14Rub the compound butter all over the surface of the turkey, including the backside and inside the cavity.
- 15Transfer the buttered turkey to a baking dish.
- 16Chop carrots, celery, onion, and garlic for the base of the baking dish.
- 17Season the vegetables with oil, salt, and pepper.
- 18Melt one more stick of butter for injection.
- 19Inject the melted butter into various parts of the turkey.
- 20Stuff the cavity of the turkey with citrus, garlic, and herbs (rosemary and thyme).
- 21Tie the legs of the turkey up and tuck the wings underneath to prevent burning.
- 22Stick a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, making sure not to touch any bone.
- 23Add some broth to the bottom of the baking dish.
- 24Add a little bit of oil to the turkey.
- 25Pop the turkey in the oven at 350°F.
- 26Bake the turkey 13 to 15 minutes per pound, basting and re-injecting with its juices every 30 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- 27Pull the turkey from the oven and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
- 28Carve the turkey.
- 29Pour gravy made from turkey drippings over the carved turkey.
Ingredients
- 4 cups apple cider
- 12 cups water
- 2 large oranges
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 2 Tbsp peppercorns
- 4 bay leaves
- 1.5 cup brown sugar
- 1.5 cup coarse salt
- 13 lb turkey
- 3 sticks unsalted butter softened
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 2 garlic cloves grated
- 1 Tbsp Tony's or Creole seasoning
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 onions
- 4 carrots
- 4 celery stalks
- 1 head of garlic
- olive oil
- broth
Equipment
knifecutting boardlarge potmeasuring cuproasting panoven baggratermeat injectorkitchen twinemeat thermometer
Tips
- Pat your turkey completely dry or the butter will not stick.
- Don't be intimidated by injecting the turkey, just follow the three B's: brine, butter, BBL (Brine, Butter, Baste/Bake/BBL).
- Let the turkey rest for at least 30 minutes after baking to lock in juices.
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