I am a Turkey

I take food very seriously.  One area that is of important concern is Turkeys.  A Turkey done wrong is the bane of the table. A dry barren dust bowl lacking all flavor.  That bird needs love.  The question becomes what is the message of a juicy turkey?

The turkey speaks... epic meal... even better left overs!
So... what do we do to get this mouth watering turkey, two ideas.


1.  Give that bird a bath... er in a brine
  

For the brine: Adapted from Good Eats

• 1 cup kosher or sea salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 gallon worth (Knorr cube) vegetable stock (I use Knorr blocks because they add more salt to the brine, the salter the better)
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns (optional)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons whole allspice berries (optional)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger (optional)
• 1 gallon heavily iced water

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.

2.  Learn to use a probe thermometer!

the old math equations about weight and time are wrong and will always result in a dry crappy turkey

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.

If this seems like a lot of work, well I warned you that I take food seriously, do everyone a favor and don't cook turkey