Best Turkey Recipe Ever

What you will need:

Large heavy-duty roasting pan and a v-shaped rack for turkey

Turkey baster

Kitchen twine or metal lacers for trussing

Digital thermometer with probe- the kind that sit outside of the oven and alert you when the bird is done. Can get for about $20.00 at a kitchen gadget shop.

Gravy separator

Potato masher

Carving knife

Procedure1 - Brine the turkey for 6-8 hours

If you have never brined a turkey before. Here is the what and why fully explained. The cells of a turkey are capable of a scientic process called osmosis. Osmosis is the diffusion of fluid through a partition into another fluid so basically speaking, a brine involves soaking a turkey in a solution that will eventually permeate into the turkey. A brine can be a simple solution of salt and water or it can be more complex, but the idea remains the same. A brine will allow moisture and flavor to permeate the muscles and tissue of your bird as it escorts the flavors of the brine into the meat. These are flavors that will remain even as the bird is cooked. Here is our favorite brine:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2-1 3/4 cups salt- preferable kosher or sea salt
• 2 1/2 gallons cold water (enough to cover bird)
• 2 bay leaves, torn into pieces - preferably fresh bay leaves rather than dried- these are also called laurel leaves
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• 1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled -smash the garlic for added flavor
• 5 whole allspice berries, crushed
• 4 juniper berries, smashed (these can usually be found at gourmet shops and health food stores).

Mix the above ingredients (except for water) into a large plastic bucket or ice cooler- one that is clean and has not been used to house chemicals or paint. Place your thawed turkey, cleaned of its giblets whatnot, breast first into the bucket and cover with water. Cover the top with a light layer of ice and affix the lid. You will want to store in a cool location (such a the corner of a garage and refresh the ice every three or four hours to ensure that the turkey remains cold.

Procedure 2 - Prepare the bird and roast

1). Remove turkey from brine and wash in cool clean water

2). Dry the bird thoroughly with paper towels and be careful not to allow the poultry to touch any surfaces that other food will touch. Wash your hands very thoroughly when done and before touching knives and other kitchen utensils.

3). Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

4). Soften two tablespoons of butter and rub over the skin of the turkey

5). Inside the cavity of the bird, place one lemon cut into slices, some fresh sage leaves a little salt and a bulb of garlic cut in half. Under no circumstances should you ever place stuffing inside the bird. You risk under cooking the stuffing and sending your guests to the hospital or over cooking your turkey. Either way, stuffing is bad news!

6). If you would like extra flavor insurance, you can mix fresh herbs with softened butter and slide under the skin of the turkey being careful not to break the skin.

7). Tuck the wing tips under the breast or they will flop around in the oven and burn

8). Truss the legs of the turkey together if they are not already trussed with a metal or oven-safe plastic piece and place in a roasting pan with a v-shaped roasting rack.

9). Cut a piece of tin foil into a triangle shape and create a superman logo shaped shield over the breast of the turkey. It will take the breast less time to cook than the dark meat so doing this ensures that the breast will not dry out before the dark meat reaches the proper temperature.

10). Roast for one hour- turning the pan 180 degrees every 30 minutes (unless you are using a third element convection oven- if so, no turning is neccesary and you should reduce the heat and time by 25 %

11). After one hour has passed, remove the turkey from the oven, remove the tin foil breastplate, baste the turkey with a half cup of chicken stock that has been warmed in a sauce pan. Insert your digital themometer probe sideways into the breast of the turkey being cautious not to hit the keel bone or the ribs (those will give you an inaccurate reading of course). Set the thermometer to read 161 degrees.

12). Do not replace the foil breastplate, return to the oven and continue to roast for thirty minutes. At this point peek through the oven door to make certain that the thighs are not getting too brown. If they are, cover with foil. Try at all costs not to open the door. Doing so will make the temperature fall and will result in a longer roasting time and a dryer bird. Check the browning through the door every thirty minutes until your thickest breastmeat reaches 161.

13). Remove turkey from oven, lightly cover with tin foil and allow to sit for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.