Last week we had a bunch of friends over for dinner. Brandon's company gave us a 13+lb turkey for Christmas. If you've had a turkey in your refrigerator's freezer you know how much you can't wait to get it out and get rid of it. Its huge. Its obnoxious. Its got to go! But, I'm like most everyone else -- how do you bake a turkey? Its something my grandma does for Thanksgiving. It sounds time consuming and overwhelming. I was stressed just thinking about it. However, the task needed to be accomplished.
So I found a delicious brine off the Food Network. Thank you Emeril.. you've done it yet again. The turkey came out juicy, flavorful and all around "tasty" as my friend's two year old kept telling us. I adapted Emeril's turkey wing brine for this massive bird.
{the goods}
***the original recipe was for turkey wings. Below is the adaptions for a 13 pound turkey
12 cups water
2/3 cup (x3) fresh orange juice
1 cup fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 cup kosher salt
1 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons Emeril's Southwest Essence or other Southwest seasoning
3 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1 lime, sliced thinly
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
6 teaspoons minced garlic
13 pound turkey
{let's cook}
In a large, nonreactive container combine the water, orange juice, lemon juice, lime juice, salt, light brown sugar, Southwest Essence, and crushed red pepper and stir until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved.
Add the onions, lime slices, cilantro, garlic, and beer and stir gently to combine. Keep a small bowl of brine off to the side. Place bird in large trash bag. Pour the rest of the brine over top. Tie off top and place in refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 12 hours. Remove the turkey from the refrigerator and discard the brining solution. Place turkey in roasting pan breast side up on roasting rack. Pour the remainder of brine over top of turkey. (These extra juices at the bottom of the pan will help keep the bird juicy while it cooks). Preheat oven to 325 deg. "Tent" bird with aluminium foil loosely. Place bird in oven for 20 min/pound. ***Check the bird halfway through to make sure wings and legs aren't burning. If they are, cover those areas with extra foil. Bird is done when thermometer insterted into thickest part of thigh registers 170 deg. Leave foil tent off for the last hour of baking.
** My bird baked for about 4 hours.
When turkey is done take foil off and transfer to warm plate. Wait 10-20 minutes and carve.
Labels: recipe, recipe box
