Yakityak's Dry Brined Roast Turkey
It's now 2019, and I first wrote this page over 20 years ago. I've made a lot of turkeys since then, and some of what I do has changed over the years. It's time for an update.
I have switched over to a dry brined technique. It takes a little more planning because the bird needs to sit in the brine, but actually requires very little work. If, like me, you are forced by circumstance to buy frozen turkeys anyway (the only way I can get a good organic kosher turkey in my area), it represents no change because you can brine the bird as it defrosts in your refrigerator. This is a very surefire technique and does not require much skill, so don't be afraid to tackle a turkey for your holiday meal!
Ingredients
- 1 kosher turkey
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt per 5 lbs of bird
- fresh sage leaves
- fresh bay leaves
- a small apple
- a small onion
- 1 bottle of chardonnay or other dry white wine
- a roasting pan that is bigger than your bird (this is often a non-trivial consideration)
- a brining bag (see below for suggestions)
- a roasting/turkey rack
- a turkey baster
- a meat thermometer
- some sewing thread
- a sturdy sewing needle
- heavy duty aluminum foil, preferably the extra wide kind
Method
These instructions are predicated on the turkey being kosher. Kosher birds are salted during the processing. I really don't know how it comes out with a non-kosher bird. I always buy my birds frozen and I brine during the defrost. Yes, it is okay to brine a kosher bird. No, it will not come out too salty. You will need a minimum of 3 days of brining in advance of cooking. You can go longer by a day or two, but do not go shorter. I do a dry brine, which requires a big bag. You can use a 5 gallon ziplock, a dedicated brining bag (Amazon has them) or you can double up those 'Reynolds oven bags'.
Please do not use a trashbag. Those are not rated for use with food and it is perfectly legal for those bags to be coated with machine oils and other non-consumable and potentially toxic crud.
I stole my dry brine technique from the LA Times:
I can't really tell you how much sage and bay to use - I go by eye. You want it to be generous, but not overwhelm the salt. Mix the salt with the minced herbs in a small bowl. Place the frozen turkey in the brining bag. Try to rub the salt mix all over the turkey, and whatever you can't get to stick to the bird, put in the bag with it. You do not need to get the brine under the skin, it makes no difference so save yourself the misery of trying to do that to a frozen turkey. Seal the bag and put it in the refrigerator for 3 days, ideally turning the bird once or twice a day to make sure it all gets time in contact with the salt mix.
After 3 days in the fridge, the bird should be completely defrosted. All that follows depends on the bird being defrosted. The bird will cook better stuffed (vs. leaving the body cavity empty). But I have found that turkey fat does not impart yummy goodness the way that chicken fat does. If you place stuffing in the bird, it will only make the stuffing greasy and a bit gamey in flavor.
As a result, I now buy a small onion and a small apple for the purpose of stuffing the bird. Peel the onion and cut off the two ends. Core the apple and peel a band around the center. Stick them into the body cavity of the bird. Doing so ensures that the bird cooks evenly and does not lose a lot of moisture draining from the inside. Another way to ensure that your bird stays nice and moist is to sew up the body cavity hole, and tie the legs together. So after I've stuffed the cavity with the apple and onion, I take a heavy duty sewing needle and a long length of regular sewing thread doubled, and lace the cavity shut. In order to not have the thread rip right through the skin, I cross the legs with one of my hands and hold them in that position. I use the end of the thread to tie the legs together. It doesn't have to be perfect.
Total cooking time for a turkey is generally 20 minutes/pound.
This will be considerably shortened if you use a convection oven on convection bake setting. I highly recommend this. Big things brown evenly and cook evenly on convection, in addition to the speed advantage. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place a meat thermometer between a leg and the body, wedged in deep. The stuffed turkey should be on a turkey/roasting rack in a pan that extends beyond the edges of the bird. The rack is not optional. If you do not use a rack, the bird will be greasy and soggy on the bottom. The bird needs to be elevated above the juices. Using extra wide heavy duty aluminum foil, completely seal the bird in the pan. Even for smaller birds, you will need to use at least two lengths of foil. Cook the bird, covered, for 1 hour at 325 F. Remove the tinfoil, and baste with the chardonnay. You are going to use the whole bottle on this bird eventually. I usually baste with about a quarter of the bottle at a time. If it's a bigger bird, I use up to a third of the bottle per basting. Baste religiously every 15 minutes. Yes. I know. It's a total pain. However, if you skimp on the basting then the turkey will not only dry out, the top will overcook because you are depending on the frequent opening and closing of the oven door to get the correct temperature (not nec. at 325 F) for the bird. On the plus side - this really is surefire if you follow the directions. When you run out of chardonnay in the bottle start using the turkey baster to use the liquid from the pan. The turkey is done when the thermometer reads 165 - 170 F. You can double check to make sure the turkey is cooked by placing the thermometer deep into the apple/onion and checking there, too.) Bear in mind that a bird continues to cook when you take it out of the oven. The larger the bird, the more heat it retains, the more likely it is to overcook itself. This is why I tend to gravitate toward smaller birds, because I get more reliable results. I like a bird that is between 12 - 13 lbs.
I let the bird rest for a fair bit after I take it out of the oven, and I often will recover it in aluminum foil. All those juices in the bottom of the pan make a stellar gravy with no further work. I suppose if you like a thick gravy you could add cornstarch, but I don't think that's worth the trouble.
Oh and toss the apple and onion. They're not meant (or fit) for eating.