Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey
- 1 whole Brining Bag
- 1 jar Williams Sonoma Turkey Brine Or Homemade Brine (see My Homemade Brine Recipe)
- 1 whole Fresh Turkey (I Use A 20-lb. Turkey)
- 1 stick Butter
- (Note: If you want to make your own brining spice, start with about 1 1/2 cups kosher salt and build the spice mix from there.)
- First of all, brine the turkey.
- Remove the turkey from its packaging and remove the bags inside that hold the neck and giblets.
- Rinse them and put them in a Ziploc bag in the fridge because you will need them later.
- Rinse the turkey thoroughly with cold water.
- Place the turkey into a large brining bag and place in the fridge for 16-24 hours and let it work its magic.
- After the turkey has slurped up all of the wonderful flavor of the brine for 16-24 hours remove it from the brining bag and rinse the turkey thoroughly again inside and out.
- Then soak the turkey in a sink full of clean, cold water for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Now tuck the legs and wings however you like to tuck them and place bird, breast side up on a rack in a large roasting pan.
- Cover the turkey tightly with heavy-duty foil.
- Make sure it is entirely covered (cover over the bottom edges of the pan.
- Place in a pre-heated 275 degree oven and walk away.
- The rule of thumb now is to roast the turkey at 275 degrees for about 10 minutes per pound.
- So for a 20-pound turkey, roast it at 275 degrees for about 3 1/2 hours.
- (For a 15-pound turkey, roast it for 2 1/2 hours.)
- Note: therell still be more cooking time after this, but itll be at a different temperature).
- When its time to remove the turkey from the oven, melt one stick of butter in a bowl.
- Remove the turkey from the oven and increase the temperature to 375 degrees.
- Remove the aluminum foil and set aside.
- Brush 1/3 of the butter all over the skin of the turkey.
- Insert a meat thermometer into the thigh, near the hip joint.
- Place the turkey uncovered back into the oven.
- Continue roasting the turkey, basting with butter every 30 minutes until the thermometer registers 170 degrees and until the juices are no longer pink.
- Remove from oven, cover with foil until you are ready to serve it.
turkey brine, fresh turkey, butter
Taken from tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/roasted-thanksgiving-turkey/ (may not work)