Dry Brined Roasted Broad Breasted White Turkey Recipes

DRY-BRINED ROASTED BROAD BREASTED WHITE TURKEY

Steps:

• Dry-brine the turkey: One day before roasting, rinse turkey inside and out; pat dry with paper towels. Mix together 1/2 cup salt and the chopped thyme; season generously with pepper. Rub salt mixture on the following turkey parts in these amounts: cavity (2 tablespoons), legs (2 teaspoons each), wings (1 teaspoon each), breast halves (2 tablespoons each). Gently separate skin from breast. Rub remaining salt mixture under the skin on each side. Transfer to a deep pan, and cover, or to a large plastic bag set on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch juices). Refrigerate for 24 hours.
• Drain accumulated juices from cavity, and pat inside of turkey dry with paper towels. Transfer to a large roasting pan fitted with a roasting rack, and place breast-side up. Bring to room temperature, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Pat inside and outside of turkey dry with paper towels.
• Roast the turkey: Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Tuck wings under turkey. Stir chopped sage and thyme into butter, and rub over outside of turkey. Fill cavity with herb sprigs, bay leaves, apple cores, and onion; tie legs together with kitchen twine. Scatter apples and celery around rack. Place neck and giblets in pan. Add water to pan.
• Roast turkey for 30 minutes. Baste with pan juices. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees; roast, basting every 30 minutes, for 1 1/2 hours more. Rotate pan, and add more water if pan is dry. Tent turkey with foil, and roast until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 160 degrees, about 1 hour more. Let turkey stand for 30 minutes before transferring to a platter and carving. Reserve pan with contents if making gravy.

DRY BRINE TURKEY

Steps:

• Pat turkey dry with paper towels. Season the inside and outside of turkey with kosher salt, focusing on the breast and thighs. Place turkey, breast-side up, in the roasting pan and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate turkey for about 2 days.
• Flip turkey breast-side down, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 1 more day.
• Remove plastic wrap and place turkey on a rack over a baking sheet the night before you plan to roast. Allow turkey to air-dry in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
• Bring turkey to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours; pat dry with paper towels. Season turkey with black pepper and place onion and celery in the cavity.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Place turkey, breast-side down, in a roasting pan.
• Roast in the preheated oven until skin is golden, about 30 minutes. Remove turkey from oven and flip to breast-side up. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C); continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), about 2 hours.
• Transfer turkey to a large platter and loosely tent with aluminum foil; allow turkey to rest about 30 minutes before carving.

ROASTED DRY-BRINED TURKEY

Steps:

• Make the turkey: Combine 2/3 cup salt and crushed bay leaves in a small bowl. Rinse inside and outside of turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Rub 2 tablespoons salt mixture evenly inside turkey cavity, 2 tablespoons on each leg portion, 1 1/2 teaspoons on each wing, and 2 tablespoons on each breast. Place turkey in a large oven bag and seal tightly, removing any trapped air. Place on a rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate for 48 hours.
• Remove turkey from bag, and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Combine 1 stick butter, the wine, and whole bay leaves in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in lowest position. Rinse inside and outside of turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Tuck wings under turkey. Season cavity with salt and pepper, and loosely fill it with 4 cups stuffing. (To bake remaining stuffing, see Leek-Celery Root Stuffing). Tie legs together with kitchen string. Rub remaining 1/2 stick butter on turkey, and season with salt and pepper. Pour water into roasting pan.
• Place turkey, legs first, into oven. Roast for 30 minutes, then baste with butter-wine mixture. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees, and roast, basting with butter-wine mixture every 30 minutes, for 2 1/2 hours. (Add more water to roasting pan if necessary to prevent pan drippings from burning.) Rotate pan, and roast until skin is golden brown and thickest part of thigh (avoiding bone) and center of stuffing register 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer 30 to 45 minutes more. (If turkey is done before the stuffing, remove turkey from oven, and spoon stuffing into a buttered baking dish, and continue to roast until golden and center registers 165 degrees.) Transfer turkey to a rimmed baking sheet, reserving pan juices and roasting pan, and let rest for 30 minutes before carving.
• Make the pan gravy: Pour reserved pan juices into a glass measuring cup or a gravy separator, and let stand until fat rises to the surface, about 10 minutes. Pour or spoon off fat.
• Place reserved roasting pan on 2 burners over medium heat. Add wine, and bring to a gentle simmer, scraping browned bits with a wooden spoon. Whisk flour and giblet stock in a large bowl until combined. Add defatted pan juices, whisking to combine, then pour into roasting pan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half and thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove pan from heat, and whisk in butter. Strain through a sieve, and discard solids. Stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
• To carve the turkey: Place the turkey in front of you, breast side up, and use your hand to hold it steady. Cut through kitchen string, and discard. Remove drumsticks first by placing a knife against the thigh, cutting alongside body, and slicing through the skin to expose the joint. Apply pressure at the joint with the tip of the knife, then twist the knife, and cut through the joint to release the drumstick. Repeat on the other side. (For a video how-to, see How to Carve Turkey Like a Pro.)
• Use a long-handled spoon to scoop out the stuffing, and transfer it to a serving bowl. Slice the thigh meat from the bone.
• Place the knife horizontally at the bottom curve of the breast, and slice in toward the rib cage along the length of the breast to create a "guide cut." Then make a vertical slice from the top down alongside the rib cage to loosen the breast meat. Cut the breast vertically into 1/4-inch-thick slices, being careful to preserve some skin. Repeat on the other side. Insert the knife tip at wing joint closest to the turkey, and twist to release wing. Repeat on the other side.

DRY-BRINED ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• The day before, remove the giblets from the turkey cavity and pat dry with paper towels.
• Combine the salt, sugar and pepper in a medium bowl. Sprinkle the mixture inside the turkey cavity and all over the outside skin, using all of it. Put the turkey on a large baking sheet or platter and refrigerate uncovered overnight.
• The next day, adjust a rack in the oven to the lowest position and remove the other racks. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Set a roasting rack in a roasting pan.
• Rinse the turkey very well and pat dry thoroughly. Stuff the cavity with the herbs, bay leaves, garlic and onion. Put the turkey on the roasting rack, breast-side up, and brush with half of the butter. Tent with aluminum foil.
• Roast the turkey for 2 hours, then remove the foil and brush with the remaining butter. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165 degrees F, about 45 minutes more. Let the turkey rest for 20 minutes, then remove and discard the herbs, bay leaves, garlic and onion before carving.

DRY-BRINED TURKEY

Steps:

• Two days before serving, rinse the turkey and pat dry. Rub all over with the salt, slipping salt under the skin where possible and rubbing some into the cavities; use about 1 tablespoon per every 4 pounds of bird. Put the bird in a large plastic bag and refrigerate.
• On the second night, turn the turkey over.
• A couple of hours before cooking, remove the turkey from the bag and pat dry.
• Put in a roasting pan and allow to come to room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 450°F.
• Sprinkle half the pepper into the main cavity of the turkey and add the thyme, parsley, half the onions, and half the apples. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Put the remaining apples and onions in the neck opening and tuck the neck skin under the bird.
• Rub the butter under the breast skin and over the thigh meat. Sprinkle the bird with the remaining pepper.
• Roast for 30 minutes.
• Remove the turkey from the oven and reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Cover the breast of the bird and the wing tips with foil. Add 1 1/2 cups water (or white wine) to the roasting pan and roast the bird for another 2 hours or so, depending on size; figure on 12 minutes a pound for an unstuffed bird. Remove the foil from the breast in the last half hour so it browns.
• When the turkey has roasted for 2 hours, begin to test for doneness by inserting an instant-read thermometer (digital is best) into two different places in the thigh, making sure not to touch bone; it should be at about 160 degrees.
• When it is done, tip the turkey so the interior juices run into the pan. Remove the turkey to a rimmed baking sheet or a serving platter, cover with foil and then a damp kitchen towel, and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pour the fat and drippings from the pan into a measuring cup. Add the 1/2 cup white wine (or broth) to the pan, stirring to deglaze it, and pour that into same measuring cup. The fat and drippings can then be used to make gravy.