Good Eats Roast Turkey

Alton Brown

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, also featured in Food Network Magazine

Picture of Good Eats Roast Turkey Recipe 3 Videos | Photo: Good Eats Roast Turkey Recipe
Rated 5 stars out of 5
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Total Time:
9 hr 45 min
Prep
15 min
Inactive
7 hr 0 min
Cook
2 hr 30 min
Yield:
10 to 12 servings
Level:
Easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 gallon vegetable stock
  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
  • 1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:

  • 1 red apple, sliced
  • 1/2 onion, sliced
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 sprigs rosemary
  • 6 leaves sage
  • Canola oil

Directions

Click here to see how it's done.

2 to 3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

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Wine Suggestion for This Recipe

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Delicate, floral red wine

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Newest Ratings and Reviews

Read all 3911 reviews

  • on March 08, 2012

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    Absolutely wonderful!! I now brine my chicken breasts as well.

    people found this review Helpful.
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  • on February 25, 2012

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    I used this recipe for my first turkey and it was amazing! It came out so moist and tender it was hard to keep away the scavengers to get it to the table. I was told it was better than my mother in laws turkey : I will use this recipe every time.

    people found this review Helpful.
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  • on February 18, 2012

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    The first time I put the turkey in a clean plastic bucket for brine ing all my guests were questioning my sanity. I have made recipes from Alton before I really wasn't worried.

    Since I didn't have a frig big enough for the brine bucket I left it outside.(In November in Colorado And being in Colorado, I sorta forgot to check how cold it got that night. So the funny thing about all that salt, it lowered the freezing point of the water so everything was a little slushy but ready to go for the stuffing process and oven.

    And now everyone that had thanksgiving with me now brines their turkey just like I did.

    Thanks Alton!

    people found this review Helpful.
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