This was my first official year cooking an entire T Day dinner by myself. I wanted to document the turkey-making process for two reasons. 1) So other new cooks can learn and 2) So I can remember what to do next year!!!!! So, similar to every decision I make, I started with research. Originally I was going to follow marthastewart.com/thanksgiving but then happened to see Alton Brown on the food network, showing the word how to brine a turkey. I was hooked and knew I must try it. So, read along to see how to make this delicious brine to ensure your turkey is moist & flavorful!
Step #1: Ingredients & Recipe
It never fails, I always forget to buy one key ingredient. This time, I bought about 1/4 the amount of vegetable broth needed for the brine. My solution? Beef boullion cubes dissolved in water... turned out great!
Step #2: Prepare the bird... my least fave and most difficult part of the process. I did have to call my mom to find out where the "innards" were located! Alas, the neck and baggie of organs (to use for gravy)
Then we had to wash the little sucker.....
Boiling my brine:
One the brine was bolied then cooled, I submerged the turkey in the pot and literally clared out Kellen's entire refridgerator to fit this 5-gallon pot! I added some ice and let it sit there brining for the next 12 hours!
We took the turkey out of the brine about 2 hours before cooking. Rinsed it with cold water, rubbed the skin with olive oil and steeped the aromatics (AMAZING). The aromatics I used were apple, sage and rosemary (fresh). Definitely flavored the turkey very nicely.Kellen's mom gave us an amazing electric roaster (resembled a ginormous crock pot) to cook the turkey in as there was no way in hell we were fitting that 18-lbs turkey in our mini NYC oven! About 4 hours later, here was the result:
Usually I would spend a bit more time on presentation but hey, the food was still really good!
Joy tested.... Kellen approved!
And the leftovers that we are still eating!
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