The Juiciest Holiday Turkey
- 16 to 20 lbs turkey
- 2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup plus 3 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp chili flake
- 1 tbsp coriander seed
- 10 bay leaf
- 4 star anise
- 1 bulb garlic
- 4 to 6 sprigs rosemary
- 4 to 6 sprigs thyme
- 4 to 6 sprigs Italian parsley
- 4 to 6 sprigs sage
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 70 oz water
- 70 oz ice cubes
- 1 yellow onion (roughly chopped)
- 3 carrots (roughly chopped)
- 1 stick butter (melted)
- 2 shallots
Pour the water into a pot. Add brown sugar, kosher salt, a head of garlic, chopped celery, bay leaves, black peppercorns, star anise, chili flakes, coriander seeds, thyme , sage, Italian parsley, and rosemary.
Bring to a boil. Then turn off the heat and stir in ice cubes to chill the brine down.
Submerge the turkey in the brine. Use a couple of plates to weight it down. Let the turkey brine in the fridge for 24 hours.
When done brining, take it out and place it on a roasting rack. Strain the vegetables and herbs from the brine (we will use this to stuff the bird).
Roughly chopped onions and carrots for aromatics and place them under the roasting rack. Stuff the bird with the vegetables and herbs from the brine. Stuff a couple of shallots in there as well.
Truss the legs of the bird. Melt a stick of butter and massage the butter over the turkey. Pour some water or chicken stock into the pan, so that you don’t scorch your vegetables. *Note that the vegetables in this recipe are mostly for aromatics, but you can certainly eat them or purée them into a soup.
Put the turkey into the oven at 250° for three hours or until the internal temperature of the bird is 160°. Pull the turkey out and let it rest with foil covering it. It will carry over cook while resting, and the temperature will actually go higher. 165° is the perfect temperature you want your turkey get to.
Carve the turkey and serve. Enjoy!