Roasted Brined Turkey

About Brining:
Turkey brine is a mixture of water and salt that the turkey is soaked in for up to 24 hours before roasting. The salt causes the protein to become extra tender and with the right spices, a brined turkey for Thanksgiving is the TASTIEST choice. Plus, the drippings that come off of this turkey makes for the most amazing gravy! Once you brine your turkey, you will ALWAYS want to brine it thereafter!

The difficult part of brining a turkey is finding a container large enough to contain a submerged turkey. Also, you will need to take out a shelf or two in your refrigerator because it does need to stay chilled as it brines. I have heard of people buying large coolers and then rotating plastic bottles (as in soda pop bottles) full of frozen water from the freezer. I'm not sure how safe that is... I prefer to stick with the refrigerator since I KNOW that's the safe way to go.

You can actually find large containers at The Container Store, or at Bed Bath and Beyond. Also found at Bed Bath and Beyond are "brining bags" to line your container to make for easy clean up afterwards!

Picking out your turkey:
Be sure when picking out a turkey that you read the label and make sure it hasn't already been injected with a brining solution.

A good rule of thumb is to purchase a turkey that is about 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. per person. That will allow for some leftovers as well.

Thawing your turkey:
When thawing your turkey, thaw in your refrigerator on a large enough platter to fit, on the lowest shelf. Allow one day to thaw PER every five pounds.

Ingredients for brine:
We have supplied to different types to try. Look the over and decide which combination sounds the best to you.

Recipe 1:
2 gallons water
1 1/2 cups canning salt
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar

OR

Recipe 2:
1 gallon vegetable broth
1 cup sea salt
1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary
1 tablespoon dried sage
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried savory
1 gallon ice water

1. First rinse your turkey and pat it dry with paper towels. Make sure you have removed the bag of giblets from the cavity

2. Pour water into your container. Mix all ingredients with the water then add turkey, making sure it is submerged and the cavity is filled with the brine. Place in refrigerator and allow to soak overnight or for 24 hours. You want to be careful not to let it soak too long, or the skin starts to tear apart.

3. Remove turkey from brine, allowing the excess brine to drip off turkey, then pat dry with paper towels. Safely discard excess brine.

4. Stuff turkey firmly, filling both cavities, front and back. (Filling the neck cavity gives the breast a nice rounded shape.

5. Place turkey on a rack in the roasting pan.

Optional tips:
--Rub entire outside of turkey with a softened stick of butter, using the whole stick. Baste with melted butter.

--Even better is to get a cheesecloth (available at grocery stores), and completely soak it in melted butter. Cover the turkey with the cheesecloth before roasting to get that PERFECT brown skin.

--Add 1 cup of liquid (wine, vegetable stock, or water) to the bottom of pan to keep drippings from burning.

6. Roast in the oven:
500 degrees for the first 30 minutes
350 for the remainder, until turkey is thoroughly cooked (internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F for turkey breast meat and 180 degrees F for turkey thigh meat). (Expect around 3 1/2 to 4 hours for an 18 lb. turkey.)

7. Baste every half hour to hour while it is cooking.

8. Remove from oven and allow turkey to cool a minimum of 20 minutes before carving.