Brined and Roasted Turkey

Emeril Lagasse

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2001

Picture of Brined and Roasted Turkey Recipe Photo: Brined and Roasted Turkey Recipe
Rated 5 stars out of 5
  • Rate This Recipe
  • Read 324 Reviews
Total Time:
9 hr 0 min
Prep
1 hr 0 min
Inactive
4 hr 0 min
Cook
4 hr 0 min
Yield:
8 servings
Level:
Intermediate
x

Save To My Recipe Box

Please limit to 20 characters

Saving Recipe

Adding Recipe

Or Do Not Add

Success

This recipe was saved to your Folder_Name folder.

x

Save To My Recipe Box

Please sign in to save this recipe to your Recipe Box!!

25 Characters Max

Enter Time:

:
:

You can create up to five timers

Ingredients

  • 1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey
  • Brine, recipe follows
  • 4 tablespoons 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
  • 1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or turkey stock, for basting

Turkey Broth:

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • Reserved turkey neck and giblets
  • 1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
  • 1 onion, coarsely chopped
  • 1 large celery stalk, coarsely chopped
  • 1 small bay leaf
  • 3 cups turkey stock, chicken stock, or canned low-salt chicken broth
  • 3 cups water

Gravy:

  • 4 cups turkey broth
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

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.

Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels, inside and out. 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.

For the turkey broth: Heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium high heat. Add the turkey neck, heart, and gizzard to the pan and saute until just beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Add the chopped vegetables and bay leaf to the pan and saute until soft, about 2 minutes. Pour the stock and 3 cups of water into the pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the stock is reduced to 4 cups, about 1 hour, adding the chopped liver to the pan during the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Strain the stock into a clean pot or large measuring cup. Pull the meat off the neck, chop the neck meat and giblets, and set aside.

Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side down for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, turn, and baste with 1/2 cup stock. Continue roasting with the breast side up until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the largest section of thigh (avoiding the bone), about 2 3/4 to 3 hours total cooking time. Baste the turkey once every hour with 1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken or turkey stock.

Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.

For the pan gravy: Pour the reserved turkey pan juices into a glass-measuring cup and skim off the fat. Place the roasting pan on 2 stovetop burners over medium heat add the pan juice and 1 cup turkey broth and the white wine to the pan, and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining 3 cup of broth and bring to a simmer, then transfer to a measuring cup.

In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, to make a light roux. Add the hot stock, whisking constantly, then simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Add the reserved neck meat and giblets to the pan and adjust seasoning, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Pour into a gravy boat and serve.

Brine:

  • 1 cup salt
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 oranges, quartered
  • 2 lemons, quartered
  • 6 sprigs thyme
  • 4 sprigs rosemary

To make the brining solution, 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.) Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary.

Note: if you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water.

Print Recipe

Wine Suggestion for This Recipe

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Delicate, floral red wine

Quick Video Tips

Find easy pairings for your favorite recipes, Bobby's perfect picks and party ideas.

Wine 101: Get All the Basics

COMMENT ON THIS PROJECT

    

Sign in

All fields are required.

E-mail Address:

Password:

Remember me on this computer

Signing in

Please enter your email address and we will send your password

E-mail Address

Your password has been sent and should arrive in your mailbox very soon.

Not a member?

Sign up for My Food Network to share photos, show off your style, and connect to an enthusiastic and helpful community.

It's free and easy.

Review This Recipe

You must be signed in to review this recipe.

Newest Ratings and Reviews

Read all 324 reviews

  • on January 23, 2012

    Flag

    This recipe takes turkey to a new level. Guests rave this turkey is the best they've ever tasted. The only problem I have is with his recommendation to first roast the turkey breast side down for one hour, and then flip the bird for the remainder of cooking. Here are my issues: 1 I find flipping the bird when it's hot really difficult; 2 When I flip the bird, I always get indentations from the roasting rack on the breast and they never quite go away, ruining the beauty of the breast. It also often causes some skin to tear if my butcher has already placed a thermometer in the breast; 3 The thermometer in the leg reads that the turkey is done before the breast browns as golden as I would like it to, and I don't want to leave it in the oven any longer for fear I will overcook it. For the first time this past Christmas, I tried roasting the turkey breast side up the whole time and I found it didn't brown too quickly, even with a 16lb bird.

    people found this review Helpful.
    Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No
  • on December 28, 2011

    Flag

    LOL...only bones were left!!! My first turkey ever was a smashing success. Thanks, Emeril =

    people found this review Helpful.
    Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No
  • on December 25, 2011

    Flag

    If you haven't tasted this turkey, you haven't TASTED turkey. None of the ingredients (citrus, brine herbs etc dominated, yet all combined to enhance the natural flavour of the bird. Beautifully cispy, brown skin, luscious dark meat and forget stringy white meat !! The breast was as tender as it possibly could be whilst maintaining some texture. And the gravy... aaaah the gravy.......More a frenh-style dark, silky, glossy sauce, thick but not gluggy, and richer with true turkey flavour than tradional English/American gravies. I used a 4.3kg (10lb, free-range organic bird and roasted it in the hooded BBQ. (too hot to cook inside in Melb, Australia yesterday! and whilst the recipe involves a little forward planning, there are no fancy techniques involved. Just allow yourself plenty of time and enjoy the process.

    people found this review Helpful.
    Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No

Next Recipe

Advertisement

Free Recipe of the Day Newsletter

Let Food Network chefs plan what's for dinner, with quick and easy recipes delivered to your inbox daily.

Ads by Google