Happy Thanksgiving Crofton

A little over a year ago I was watching one of the Food Network shows, as I often do on lazy weekend afternoons. Food Network is my version of a spectator sport.  Last year just before Thanksgiving I watched as chef, Sunny Anderson talked about brining a turkey before cooking it.  Her mention of brined turkey on the show inspired me to learn about and try this technique. 

the truth is I don’t cook much from scratch.  On the occasions when I have been inspired enough to attempt preparing meals from scratch I’d say I produce something rave worthy maybe half of the time.   Last Thanksgiving’s brined turkey was one of those successful, rave worthy times.  My kids, who typically cringe at the sight of turkey loved it and asked for seconds.  That’s saying something.

This year I am trying it again. Here is a recipe I pulled together and adapted from a few recipes I found researching on allrecipes.com last year.

Ingredients:

64 oz vegetable broth

1 cup sea salt

4 tablespoons poultry seasoning

1 gallon ice water

Directions:

1. In large stock pot combine the vegetable broth¸ sea salt, and poultry seasoning.  Dissolve the salt by bringing the mixture to a boil, stirring often.  The result will likely remind you of something a witch might brew up in a pot.  it's not exactly pretty. Upon boiling remove the pot from the heat and allow the mixture to cool all the way.  You are going to be soaking the turkey in this liquid prior to cooking it.  You do not want to start the cooking process prematurely by soaking your turkey in warm liquid.

2. Prepare your turkey for the brine.  If your turkey is frozen it should be thawed ahead.  Remove the wrapping, the turkey neck and the gizzards bag from the turkey cavity.  Set aside if you use them in dressing or gravy, or discard.  Wash and pat they turkey dry.

3.  I use a large sized Ziploc Big Bag set to stand up in a 9 x 13 glass pan to hold the turkey.  My turkeys are usually between 14 – 16 lbs.  If you serve a larger turkey you may need to use your imagination to come up with a different container.  Just make sure it is food safe and clean.

4. Place the turkey in the Ziploc bag, then pour the cooled mixture into the bag, followed by enough ice water to cover the turkey.  You may need a second set of hands to keep the bag upright during this step.  Seal the bag, check the seal.  Since I really don’t want to clean this stuff up off the shelf in my refrigerator, I check the seal again.

5. Clear a large enough section in your refrigerator and place the pan/bag on a shelf overnight.

6.  Before cooking, remove the turkey from the bag drain off the brine and discard.  Make sure to also tip the turkey to make sure the brine drains from the cavities.  Pat the turkey dry.

7.  Cook the turkey using your traditional method.  I personally roast my turkey until temperature indicates it is done in a tent of butter coated foil.  The foil is something I learned from my mother, other than that I pretty much stick to the Stuffed and Roasted Bird method described in Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. I leave it alone and let it roast, I skip the basting.  The simple approach works for me.

Well this year’s turkey is sitting, soaking in the fridge.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.  Have a great holiday!