Recipe Review - Alton Brown's (From Good Eats) Roast Turkey

About a month ago, I came across this recipe for roasting a turkey:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html

I showed the recipe to my boyfriend, Will, and he decided to try it this year. We figured it would be worth trying for two reasons:

1) We love the show Good Eats on Food Network. Alton Brown knows what he is doing!

2) When I look at recipes, I look at the ratings. I was impressed that this recipe had over 2,000 reviews (which now is up to over 3,000), and it got 5 out of 5 stars!

Definitely worth trying... and I am SO glad we did!

I love turkey, but every year I always go for the dark meat because the breast is always so dry. Not this year.  The Good Eats turkey was cooked perfectly. It was the most juiciest, delicious turkey breast I have ever put in my mouth! It just melts on your tongue. AMAZING!

So, if you are planning on baking a turkey for Christmas, I HIGHLY recommend this recipe!

Before

After

Good Eats Roast Turkey

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Prep Time: 15 min
Inactive Prep Time: 7 hr 0 min
Cook Time: 2 hr 30 min
Level: Easy Serves: 10 to 12 servings

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

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.



I hope to be posting the ornament from my Christmas ornament giveaway in a week! It's at Pottery Works and should be ready to pick up next week! Most of my projects this month will involve cooking... lots and lots of cooking! Cookies, cakes, etc. Should be fun!

Happy Holidays!

♥ Emily

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