My uncle Bill is the best cook. I know you are probably a great cook and your momma
is a great cook and lets not talk about your grandma, I know she’s a good cook.
However my uncle Bill is a better cook then all of them (this is not a scientific study but I
am pretty sure its true).
Last year my uncle Bill who is in his early 70’s finally let Thanksgiving pass to one of the “kids”. This particular kid in fact. I cook all the time for my family and I think I am a fairly good cook but I am not sure my family was altogether certain of my Thanksgiving dinner skills. I made the 2nd and 3rd turkeys of my life last Thanksgiving and I am here to tell you I think it was delicious. I don’t think you have to be a great cook to be someone who can appreciate a good meal. I did a ton of research so that I would not:1. Shame myself. 2. Ruin Thanksgiving for my whole extended family with yucky turkey, and most of all 3. Disappoint my uncle Bill.
From my research I think this was a bullet proof turkey and if you want a recipe/method to try
here is what I did.
First Step The Brine:
- Get a Home Depot 5 Gallon Bucket (I cooked 2 – 20 lb turkeys so I had 2 buckets)
- Recipe for the brine: 1/2 gallon of apple juice, 3/4 cup of salt, 1 tbsp dried rosemary,
1 tbsp dried sage, 1 tbsp dried thyme, 1 tbsp poultry seasoning, 10 black peppercorns,
3 garlic cloves sliced, 2 bay leaves, 1 gallon ice water. Bring all ingredients except the
ice water to a boil in a stock pot until salt is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool to
room temperature. - Line bucket with a food safe plastic bag and pour in broth and ice water
- Remove innard from the turkey and place breast side down into the luxurious bucket
bath and make sure the cavity is filled with brine & put the bucket in the fridge over
night. Do not over brine your turkey it will change the texture of the meat. I did 12
hours. - Remove the turkey and drain off the excess brine & pat dry
The Cook
I will say right off the bat some folks are gonna say this is completely wrong. I don’t
have any other insight on turkey cooking this is the only way I have done it but my 3
turkeys were super moist and not dry at all. The research I did said that the directions
for temperature and time on every turkey produces a dry bird.
Here is how I did it:
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees (I know its not how you do it, stop yelling at this
screen) - Pat the top and sides of the turkey dry with towels again.
- Stuff the turkey with your stuffing/dressing or you can stuff with onions, celery and apple
quartered. - Put the turkey in one of those oven bags but tip the opening up a bit not straight out the side.
- Drizzle olive oil across the skin on the breast, thighs and legs. Sprinkle salt and
parsley over the top of your bird, the olive oil should help it stick. - Pour a carton of chicken or vegetable broth in the bottom of the bag (dont wash off
the oil and spices) - Use the tie that comes with the bag to seal it and cut a few slits for steam in the top of
the bag. - Place the turkey in the oven and cook 3-4 hours for a 13 lb turkey and 5-6 for a
larger turkey like my 20 pounders. Check the temperature on the thigh should be 180
degrees or the breast meat should be 165 degrees.
This method steams the turkey in the bag and cooks faster than you think. If you notice
the breast getting too brown and crispy you can turn down to 250 degrees. Mine cooked
fine at 300 in 5.5 hours. No basting just a turkey sauna.
Enjoy! Be sure to let me know if you try this recipe and how it turns out.