How to Brine and Roast Turkey (with Homemade Gravy)
User Reviews
5.0
411 reviews
Excellent
-
Prep Time
2 hrs
-
Cook Time
3 hrs
-
Additional Time
10 mins
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Total Time
5 hrs 10 mins
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Servings
20
-
Calories
507 kcal
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Course
Main Course
-
Cuisine
American
How to Brine and Roast Turkey (with Homemade Gravy)
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This step-by-step recipe for how to brine and roast the most juicy, moist turkey will immediately make you the turkey maestro! NOTE: Give yourself a couple of days for brining, and several hours for turkey to reach room temperature prior to cooking.
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Ingredients
For the Brine
- 1 cup table salt
- ½ cup brown sugar tightly pack
- 4 quarts vegetable stock or 16 cups
- 1 TB whole peppercorns
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- plenty of ice and water
For the Dry Rub
- 2 TB garlic powder
- 2 TB freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
For the Turkey
- 16-20 lb turkey whole
- 1 apple quartered
- 2 onions quartered
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup water
- 4 prigs rosemary
- 6 leaves sage
- 4 carrots roughly cut
- 4 celery stalks roughly cut
For the Gravy
- 4 TB olive oil
- Turkey giblets
- turkey neck
- 10 garlic cloves peeled and smashed flat
- 1 onion roughly cut into pieces
- 4 carrots sliced into 1/4" coins
- 4 stalks celery cut into 1/4" pieces
- 6 quarts water
Instructions
For the Brine
- In a very large/tall stockpot, add all brine ingredients, except for ice and water. Heat over high heat* and stir until dissolved. Allow to cool.
- Gently submerge turkey into the brine. Cover the top with ice. Pour in enough cold water to completely submerge turkey in liquid. Stir the liquid to combine. Store in fridge or cool location (below 40F). Swirl/stir a couple of times during brine time – 48 hours recommended, but 24 hours minimum.
For the Turkey
- Drain and place turkey upright on roasting pan’s wire rack to fully drain for several hours and allow it to reach room temp. Pat dry turkey skin thoroughly with paper towels.
- Preheat oven to 450F, with rack on a lower position. Combine dry rub ingredients in bowl. Gently spread one-third of the dry rub between skin and flesh throughout entire bird, taking care not to rip the skin. Sprinkle and press remaining dry rub on outside of skin throughout entire bird. Seal together loose skin of neck area with toothpicks.
- Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a small pot. Remove from heat and add apples, 1 quartered onion, cinnamon stick, rosemary, and sage and let steep for 1 minute. Dispose of water and insert the steeped aromatics into the turkey cavity.
- Add 1 quartered onion, carrots, and celery to the bottom pan of a turkey roaster. Place sheet of foil onto the roaster's wire rack and poke holes in the foil to allow juice to flow through. (The foil keeps the bird from sticking to the rack and makes it much easier to flip halfway through the cooking process.) Place turkey breast-side down on the foil-lined rack.
- Roast for 1 hour at 450F. Drop heat to 300F and roast for another 30 min. Remove turkey from oven and carefully flip it over, breast-side up. Insert meat thermometer into center of turkey breast and return to oven. Continue roasting until meat thermometer registers 160F.
- Transfer rack with turkey to cutting board, tent with foil, and let it rest – do not cut into it, nor remove the thermometer probe for at least 15 minutes. Set roasting pan with roasted vegetables and pan drippings aside for later.
For the Gravy
- While turkey is roasting, heat 2 TB oil in a large pot. Add giblets/neck to hot oil and sear until well-browned. Remove neck and set aside. Throw out giblets.
- Add remaining 2TB oil to the pot and heat until almost smoking. Add garlic and sauté until golden brown. Add onions, carrots, and celery, cooking until onions become translucent. Add water and bring to a boil.
- Add neck back in and boil over heat. Continue to boil until liquid is reduced by about half. Keep warm.
- Place the turkey roasting pan with roasted vegetables over two stovetop burners. Pour reduced gravy with veggies into the roasting pan and bring to a boil. Use spatula to loosen all brown bits from bottom of roasting pan. Boil and reduce by at least half again, or until gravy has the desired flavor strength. It should taste amazing when it's done!
- Strain mixture so you are left with just the au jus. Skim fat off the top and serve with sliced turkey.
Equipments used:
Notes
- For fast cooling of brine: boil only half of the vegetable stock. After everything is dissolved, add the other half of the stock; this instantly cools off brine.
- If your turkey is frozen, thaw it in fridge before starting recipe. It takes about 6 days for a large frozen turkey to completely thaw in the fridge.
- For fast cooling of brine: boil only half of the vegetable stock. After everything is dissolved, add the other half of the stock; this instantly cools off brine.
- If you don't own a large enough stockpot, you can brine the turkey in a clean bucket.
- Prep Ahead Tip: All vegetables and aromatics can be cut up to 2 days in advance and chilled until use. Dry rub can be mixed several days in advance.
- The video should show vegetables in the bottom of turkey roaster, not on the foil-lined rack. Please accept our apologies for that mis-shoot.
- The gravy is a sauce-like au jus, which is thinner than classic gravy. If you prefer a thicker gravy, add 2-3TB flour to the boiling liquid while stirring, OR use dissolved cornstarch for a gluten free option (start with 2TB cornstarch fully dissolved in 2TB water; no trace of white cornstarch should be visible upon use.)
- Make sure to let turkey sit for at least 15 minutes out of the oven before slicing.
- If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating - we love hearing from you! ❤️
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Calories
507kcal
(25%)
Carbohydrates
15g
(5%)
Protein
85g
(170%)
Fat
11g
(17%)
Saturated Fat
2g
(10%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
2g
Monounsaturated Fat
4g
Trans Fat
0.03g
Cholesterol
284mg
(95%)
Sodium
7013mg
(292%)
Potassium
1035mg
(30%)
Fiber
2g
(8%)
Sugar
10g
(20%)
Vitamin A
6210IU
(124%)
Vitamin C
4mg
(4%)
Calcium
83mg
(8%)
Iron
4mg
(22%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 20Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 507 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 507kcal | 25% |
| Carbohydrates | 15g | 5% |
| Protein | 85g | 170% |
| Fat | 11g | 17% |
| Saturated Fat | 2g | 10% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 2g | 12% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 4g | 20% |
| Trans Fat | 0.03g | 2% |
| Cholesterol | 284mg | 95% |
| Sodium | 7013mg | 292% |
| Potassium | 1035mg | 22% |
| Fiber | 2g | 8% |
| Sugar | 10g | 20% |
| Vitamin A | 6210IU | 124% |
| Vitamin C | 4mg | 4% |
| Calcium | 83mg | 8% |
| Iron | 4mg | 22% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
411 reviews
Excellent
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