We had the *best* turkey for Thanksgiving this year. The gravy was so good, you could have drank (drunk? drinkked?) it by the glass. Well, maybe not quite, but it was gooood.
The secret? Putting the turkey in brine for 24 hours before cooking. We used about 2 1/2 cups of salt and one can of concentrated apple juice (because the recipe called for brown sugar and we wanted to avoid the sugar for the turkey) mixed with water to cover the bird (ours was 24 pounds) . We heated the salt and apple juice in some water in a pan on the stove to dissolve the salt, then poured it over the turkey that already had some water in the bag with it. We used one of the turkey cooking bags to marinate the turkey in and then another one to cook it in. I seasoned the bird in my usual way- onion, salt and pepper in the cavity, melted butter over the top.
Yum, yum. The turkey didn't taste salty or sweet, but just delicious. I don't think we'll ever do it any other way from now on!
Note: we did buy a free range turkey, but it wasn't organic or a heritage variety.
The secret? Putting the turkey in brine for 24 hours before cooking. We used about 2 1/2 cups of salt and one can of concentrated apple juice (because the recipe called for brown sugar and we wanted to avoid the sugar for the turkey) mixed with water to cover the bird (ours was 24 pounds) . We heated the salt and apple juice in some water in a pan on the stove to dissolve the salt, then poured it over the turkey that already had some water in the bag with it. We used one of the turkey cooking bags to marinate the turkey in and then another one to cook it in. I seasoned the bird in my usual way- onion, salt and pepper in the cavity, melted butter over the top.
Yum, yum. The turkey didn't taste salty or sweet, but just delicious. I don't think we'll ever do it any other way from now on!
Note: we did buy a free range turkey, but it wasn't organic or a heritage variety.
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