After years of “settling” for the traditional oven roasted turkey, a few years ago we finally tried two well-known tricks for the perfect tasty and juicy bird. The first is to fry the turkey. I won’t go in to detail on that here for simple liability reasons, but there are many great resources on how to do this safely. The #1 tip is not to overfill the fryer with oil so it spills over to the flame when you drop the bird into the boiling oil. If that happens, bad things will surely follow.
Instead, I’ll pass along my tried and true brine recipe. You can tweak this to your taste, or you can pick up a brine packet and add it to salt water. But the key is to get turkey in to a briny overnight bath. Do this, and you’ll get a truly tasty and juicy turkey!
Brine Ingredients:
* 1 gallon vegetable stock
* 1 cup kosher salt
* 1/2 cup light brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
* 2 teaspoons candied ginger
* 3 springs rosemary
* 3 springs sage
* 3 springs thyme
* 1 gallon heavily iced water
Tools required:
* 5 gallon bucket and lid
* hammer
In a large stock pot, combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, and candied ginger over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. When the salt and brown sugar is fully dissolved, add the rosemary, sage, and thyme and from the heat. Allow the brine to cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until ready to use.
At least 8 hours, and up to 15 hours in advance, combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. After removing the innards, drop the thawed turkey breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh the bird down to make sure it is fully covered. Using the hammer, seal the lid on the bucket, and set in a cool area for 8 to 12 hours. If possible, flip the turkey once through the brining process.
About 1 hour prior to cooking, remove the turkey from the bucket, drain the water from the cavity, and pat dry. Allow the turkey some time to fully dry and approach room temperature prior to placing in the fryer or oven.
