Tag Archives: brine

Turkey 2011

28 Dec

Another Christmas dinner has come and gone and the troops have been well fed. Seven of us arrived at my folks’ place Christmas evening and tucked right in to a cheese and pate plate while glasses of red and white wine were poured.

But before the feast could be devoured, that turkey had to get prepped & cooked!  I posted earlier my general plan for the turkey and I stuck pretty close to what I had planned out. For this recipe, you’ll need either a large cooler or a non-reactive container (a large bucket and garbage bags work, I promise) and you’ll want to start at least 24 hours ahead. I actually brined my turkey for 36.

Here’s what I got up to…

Serves 10.

Ingredients

1 11lb fresh, organic turkey
2 c hot water
2 c brown sugar
2 c kosher salt
1.5 c molasses
1 head garlic, halved
4 sprigs rosemary
2 lemons, quartered
2 onions, halved
2 oranges, quartered
1/2 c black peppercorns
enough cold water to cover the turkey

2 leeks, halved
4-5 carrots, rough chop
4-5 stalks of celery, rough chop
1 head garlic
1 orange, halved
2 sprigs rosemary
2 tb ground black pepper
2 tb butter, room temperature
4 c chicken stock

Directions

Brine

1. Take the turkey out of the fridge. Remove the neck and giblets, then rinse with cold water.
2. In a large pot, combine the hot water, salt and brown sugar. Stir until salt and sugar have dissolved and cool the mixture. (You don’t want hot water in with your turkey.)
3. When the mixture has cooled, place it in the cooler/container. Add enough cold water to cover the turkey. Then add in the molasses and stir.
4.  Toss the oranges, lemons, rosemary, peppercorns and garlic halves into the mixture.
5. Place the turkey in the brine and store in a cold place.

Cooking

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
1. Remove the turkey from the brining solution. Rinse and pat dry.
2. In a roasting pan, place the leeks, carrots, celery and 3/4 of the garlic.
3. Place the turkey breast-side up on the bed of vegetables and smother completely with the butter. Season thoroughly with the black pepper, including in the cavity. (You won’t need salt.)
4. Place the rest of the garlic, orange halves and rosemary in the cavity of the turkey.
5. Pour 3 cups of the chicken stock into the pan, reserving the last cup for gravy  or if you need extra liquid during the cooking process.
6. Wrap a little bit of foil on the tips of the wings so they don’t burn.
7. Put the turkey in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 325F. Cook the turkey for 20 minutes per pound, basting every 30 minutes, until the turkey’s internal temperature reaches about 160-165. Let it rest for 20-30  minutes and enjoy!

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Christmas Turkey Plans

12 Dec

It’s about that time of year when I start plotting how I’m going to cook the Christmas turkey. I’ve taken on turkey-cooking for the last few Thanksgivings and this will be Christmas turkey number two. (Last year J & I hosted Christmas for the first time. Fun but exhausting, I’m glad the duties are being split up among guests this year. Even happier that I won’t have to do any dishes.) I’ve been keeping an eye on different brines and recipes and I think I’ve come up with the one I want to use:

2 c salt
2 c brown sugar
1 c molasses
2 lemons, quartered
2 oranges, quartered
1 bunch of rosemary
2 onions, halved
1 head garlic, halved
1/4 c peppercorns

The plan is to dissolve the salt & sugar in hot water in a large cooler, then add the rest of the ingredients. Top that off with enough cold water to cover the turkey and leave the whole concoction alone for a solid 24 hours, maybe longer. Will then stuff the birdie with garlic, rosemary, lemons & oranges and roast on a bed of celery, carrots and leeks. I have chicken stock in the freezer that will go in the bottom of the roasting pan, too, which should help make for some delicious gravy! (Actual gravy prep is Dad’s job. He still makes it the best. I always end up with lumps in mine because I’m impatient.)

Thoughts, anyone? Anyone have an amazing turkey recipe they’d like to share?

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Brined Citrus Turkey

31 Dec

This was my second shot at brining a turkey and I think this second one was even better than the first! It’s easy, it’s something you can do the day before you eat and it’s not complicated in the least.

But why should you, you might ask? Salt is the key here as it breaks down the proteins and traps water molecules, which results in less moisture loss in the cooking process. Also, the salt seasons the bird inside and out which is always a good thing.

So how do you brine a turkey? (Or a chicken, for that matter?) For every gallon of cold water, you need:

1 1/4 c Kosher salt
1 c brown sugar/honey

You’ll likely need at least 1 gallon to cover the turkey if not 2 gallons.

You can also use any herb or…well, anything you can imagine to flavour that bird! I used lemon & orange wedges this time around.

Dissolve the salt and sugar/honey in the water. You can use a large bag (garbage bags work, believe it or not) or a thoroughly cleaned cooler. Add in the turkey and keep the whole concoction stored somewhere cool for anywhere from 4 – 24 hours. If you’re using a cooler and keeping it inside, throw in a couple of ice packs to ensure that the bird stays nice and cold.

Once you’re ready to cook the turkey, take it out of the brine and rinse it thoroughly. Pat it dry so you get a nice, crispy skin and place it on a cooking rack in your roasting pan. (Or use veggies as a rack if you don’t have one. Those veg will be delicious at dinner!)

Set your oven to 400F.

Grate 1-2 tb orange and lemon zest into 2 tb butter at room temperature. Smear that birdie with your citrus butter. Season with 2tb black pepper but NOT salt. The brine took care of that already. Quarter the lemon and orange you zested and put them in the cavity of the turkey. Next, take a small piece of foil and wrap it around the tips of the wings so they don’t burn.

Toss the bird in the oven and set your timer for 15 minutes. Once that goes off,  turn the oven down to 325F.  Baste turkey every half hour. You can add water or stock to the bottom of the pan if you need to.

The general rule is that you need to cook turkey 20 minutes per pound but every oven is different. The last hour you anticipate cooking the turkey, check the temp every 15 minutes by sticking a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast or the thigh. You’re aiming for 170F or until the juices run clear. Once you’ve reached that optimal temperature, take the turkey out of the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes. Then slice that sucker up and enjoy!!

Isn't she gorgeous?

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