My turkey recipe: (my turkey was juicy and delicious with no basting. Basting is evil and makes me hot and annoyed.) This is really easy. The brine takes 10 minutes max to make & there's no real molesting of the turkey.
*1 gallon apple cider *1 cup kosher salt *1 cup brown sugar *black peppercorns (small palmful) *allspice berries (ditto) *ginger (optional, but use fresh & peel a couple of 1 inch pieces) *rosemary (FRESH) *onions *apples *oranges *garlic (6 cloves peeled)
Quarter one each onion, apple, & orange. Dump them & everything except salt, sugar & rosemary in a bowl. Add one cup of water. Microwave for 5 minutes. While that's doing it's thing, bring another 2 cups of water to a boil & disolve salt & sugar. Dump disolved salt/sugar mix into stock pot & add water from the microwaved stuff. Dump in gallon of apple cider & a handful of ice if it's still warm. Stuff everything else you just microwaved into turkey cavity (after you've removed giblets and neck), add 4* sprigs of rosemary and lower into brine (if necessary, add water until turkey is covered). Put the top on the stock pot & weigh down the top so the turkey doesn't float. Put pot into fridge if you have room, if not, set pot into an ice chest & pack ice around. Let turkey brine overnight. Heat oven to 500. Discard brine & contents of cavity & rinse turkey inside and out. Quarter another onion, apple & orange & stuff them with 4 more sprigs of rosemary into the cavity. Pour 2 cups of water into bottom of roasting pan. Put turkey on rack and tuck wings back. Coat hands with olive oil and rub all over the turkey, be sure to coat breast well. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes. Lower heat to 350 and cover breast with double layer of heavy duty aluminium foil.
For a 16 lb turkey I cooked it 2 more hours after the first 30 minutes. As long as the juices run clear when you cut into the leg at the joint, you're ok. Let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.
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*1 gallon apple cider *1 cup kosher salt *1 cup brown sugar
*black peppercorns (small palmful) *allspice berries (ditto)
*ginger (optional, but use fresh & peel a couple of 1 inch pieces)
*rosemary (FRESH) *onions *apples *oranges *garlic (6 cloves peeled)
Quarter one each onion, apple, & orange. Dump them & everything except salt, sugar & rosemary in a bowl. Add one cup of water. Microwave for 5 minutes. While that's doing it's thing, bring another 2 cups of water to a boil & disolve salt & sugar. Dump disolved salt/sugar mix into stock pot & add water from the microwaved stuff. Dump in gallon of apple cider & a handful of ice if it's still warm. Stuff everything else you just microwaved into turkey cavity (after you've removed giblets and neck), add 4* sprigs of rosemary and lower into brine (if necessary, add water until turkey is covered). Put the top on the stock pot & weigh down the top so the turkey doesn't float. Put pot into fridge if you have room, if not, set pot into an ice chest & pack ice around. Let turkey brine overnight. Heat oven to 500. Discard brine & contents of cavity & rinse turkey inside and out. Quarter another onion, apple & orange & stuff them with 4 more sprigs of rosemary into the cavity. Pour 2 cups of water into bottom of roasting pan. Put turkey on rack and tuck wings back. Coat hands with olive oil and rub all over the turkey, be sure to coat breast well. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes. Lower heat to 350 and cover breast with double layer of heavy duty aluminium foil.
For a 16 lb turkey I cooked it 2 more hours after the first 30 minutes. As long as the juices run clear when you cut into the leg at the joint, you're ok. Let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.