When it comes to finding directions on how to make the perfect Thanksgiving turkey, suddenly every person you know becomes an expert. Your neighbor, your mail carrier, your hairdresser, your car repairman (even though he's never cooked a turkey in his life) and last but not least your pest control man. every person has to put in their two cents worth on the subject. Well, I guess that means I'm in good company. Here are my instructions on how to cook the best Thanksgiving turkey you'll ever eat.
Creating perfect Flavor
Betty Crocker
I am going to let you in on a slight secret. There is a formula that the five star restaurants use to give their turkeys improbable flavor. What is it? It's called flavor brining. Yep, that's their secret. Historically, brining was done as a formula of preserving. However, today it is used primarily as a vehicle to quote improbable flavor and moisture into a lean cut of meat.
Note: You should begin the brining process at a minimum of four days before you plan to cook your bird.
How to Brine Your perfect Turkey
1. Purchase a 14 to 16 pound natural, young turkey. It should not be a self-basting or kosher turkey. These types of turkeys have a ton of added salt. Be careful to look at the ingredients on the turkey holder and if it says it contains sodium or salt, keep finding for one without salt.
If your turkey is frozen, you will need to thaw it for at least two days before you begin the brining process. Take off the innards.
2. You will need a non-reactive, food-safe, 5-gallon plastic pail large sufficient to fit your turkey with sufficient headroom for the brine to cover the turkey entirely by about one inch. Bistro provide houses regularly have these types of containers. You can also check with a local Bistro to see if they have a holder like this that they are discarding. Be sure to clean it well with very hot soap and water before use.
3. To rule the whole of brine combination you will need, put your turkey in the holder and face it with water. Take off the turkey and part the remaining water. This is the whole you will need to make. Discard this water.
4. Place your thawed turkey (innards removed) neck cavity side up in the holder and cover with it the brine (see formula below). If you need to weigh your bird down, fill one or two large plastic zipper-type bag with ice and place them on top of the bird. This will also keep your bird at a cool temperature.
Refrigerate or place the bird in a cool place to brine for at least 12 hours or up to two days if desired. You can place the bird face as long as the weather won't cause it to frost and the lid is gain against pests and animals.
If you are concerned about the bird being too salty, stop after the 12 hour period. It is better to err on the side of caution.
5. When the brining process is complete, rinse the bird well inside and out to Take off the excess salt, then pat it dry with a paper towel. Air dry the bird over-night in the refrigerator to let the skin dry. This will help in the crisping of the skin as it roasts. Stuff your turkey as usual and roast agreeing to the instructions below.
The perfect Brine Recipe
You may need to duplicate this formula in order to have sufficient to cover your bird. Added spices such as allspice berries, crushed thyme leaves, sprigs of rosemary, cinnamon sticks, and candied ginger may be added to this combination to generate your own unique flavor.
Approximately 1 gallon of cold, no-salt vegetable stock or water.
1 cup of solitaire Crystal Kosher salt (if using Morton's Kosher salt, use 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup of light brown sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, crushed
7 fresh leaves sage, bruised
1 onion, sliced thinly
10 cloves of peeled, crushed garlic
Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, sage, onion and garlic in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve all the solids and then bring to a boil. Take off the brine immediately from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
Pour the combination over the turkey and refrigerate or pace in a cool place.
Roasting Your perfect Turkey
The goal in cooking a turkey is to get your bird cooked and beautifully browned without drying out the breast. Here's the problem: white meat cooks faster than dark meat. Traditionally, the bird is cooked breast-side up. This formula causes the breast meat to cook swiftly while the legs that are under the bird cook slowly. What you end up with is dried-out breast meat in order for the legs and thighs to be done properly.
So what is the acknowledge you ask? Roast your turkey breast side down. Now before you brand me a heretic and have me burned at the stake, hear me out. Yes, this is not how your mum or grandmother did it but I am telling you, once you try this formula you will never go back to cooking your turkey breast-side up again.
Why do it this way? Because when the breast meat in on the bottom, not only is it protected and cooks a slight slower but all the juices that are in the turkey drain down into the breast manufacture it moist, tender and juicy. Unless you have your heart set on a Norman Rockwell presentation at your Thanksgiving table, this is the best position in which to cook your bird. It may not look as pretty as the other, but who carves their turkey at the table anyway? We never do.
The last tip to the perfect turkey is to put your bird in the oven a leave it there until it is done. Speculate the whole of time that it will take to cook your bird, then put it in the oven and don't peek until the timer goes off. No basting is necessary. You don't need to baste if you cook the turkey breast-side down.
Roast your turkey at 325 degrees F. A 14 to 18 pound, unstuffed turkey will take roughly 3 3/4 hours to 4 1/2 hours.
For an unstuffed turkey, place the meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, taking care that it does not touch any bone. Roast the turkey until the meat thermometer reaches 180 degrees F.
For a stuffed turkey, use a meat thermometer to check the climatic characteristic of the dressing. The town of the dressing inside the bird (or in a detach baking dish) must reach a climatic characteristic of 165 degrees F. For food safety.
After removing the turkey from the oven and before carving, allow the turkey to rest at least 20 minutes so that the juices rule within the meat, which will provide the meat with even more flavor and tenderness and will also make carving much easier.
Bon Appetite!
How to Make the exquisite Thanksgiving Turkey
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