Prep Time for Brine: At least 4 hours and up to 24 hours
Cook Time: 4 hours
1- (10 to 12-pound)
Turkey
Brine Recipe Ingredients:
- 1 c. salt
- 1 c. brown sugar
- 2 oranges, quartered
- 2 lemons, quartered
- 6 sprigs of thyme
- 4 sprigs of rosemary
Brine Directions:
- Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey and reserve for the gravy. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water. Place aside.
- Dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a non-reactive container such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean heavy-duty plastic garbage bag. We’ve found that the large garbage bags work easiest when doing an over night brine.
- Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary.
- Place turkey into the brine.
- When brining over night, put the large plastic bag with the turkey in a large cooler and cover bag with ice to keep it chilled until ready to put into the oven.
Note: If you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use ½ cup salt and ½cup brown sugar for every gallon of water.
Roasting Ingredients:
- Whole stick of unsalted butter (8 Tablespoons)
- 4 T. unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 large yellow onion, cut into 8ths
- 1 large orange, cut into 8ths
- 1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1½ to 2 c. chicken or turkey stock, for basting
Roasting Directions:
- Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels, inside and out – this is important because butter will not stick to a wet turkey.
- Place breast side down in a large, heavy roasting pan, and rub on all sides with the butter.
- Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper.
- Stuff the turkey with the onion, orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, and thyme. Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string.
- Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side down for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, turn the turkey over, and baste with drippings at the bottom of the roasting pan. Continue roasting breast side up until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165-degrees when inserted into the largest section of thigh (avoiding the bone), about 2¾ to 3 hours total cooking time. Baste turkey once every hour with the drippings at the bottom of the roasting pan.
- Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.