Good Eats Roast Turkey

Prep Time: 15 min
Inactive Prep Time:7 hr 0 min
Cook Time:2 hr 30 min
Level:Easy
Serves:10 to 12 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 gallon vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
• 1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:

• 1 red apple, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup water
• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 6 leaves sage
• Canola oil

Directions

If you are a visual person, you can Click here to see a video.

2 or 3 days before roasting:

You need to start thawing your turkey in the fridge.

Mix the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a bit pot over medium-high heat.

Stir this occasionally so all the solids dissolve and bring it to a boil.

Next, remove the brine from the medium high heat and let it cool to room temperature, and put it in the fridge.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Mix the brine, water and ice in a large 5-gallon bucket and place the thawed turkey (with innards of the bird removed) breast side down into the brine that you made.

If you need to, you can weigh down the turkey to make sure that it's fully immersed. Cover it, and put it in the fridge or set in relatively cool area for 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Once the bringing is done, you need to preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and remove the turkey from the brine and rinse the inside and out of with cold water.

Discard the brine in a sensible way.

Place the turkey onto a roasting rack inside of a half sheet pan and pat the bird dry with a few paper towels.

Mix your apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and water (1 cup) in a microwavable dish and microwave this mixture on high for about 5 minutes.

Add this mixture to the cavity of the turkey's along with the rosemary and sage.

Carefully fold the wings underneath the bird and coat the outside skin liberally with the canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest covered with foil for about 15 minutes before you start carving the turkey.