Brined Roasted Turkey
Not only is this the prettiest turkey, but it tastes sooo good! This Brined Roasted Turkey is just perfect on any holiday table.
Ingredients
2.5 cups kosher salt
2.5 cups brown sugar
2.5 tbsp Big Green Egg Dill and Herb seasoning or other dill or herb seasoning
Instructions
Combine the brine ingredients and 2 quarts of water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Mix until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Chill the liquid and pour into a 5-gallon brining bucket. Fill the bucket halfway with cold water and ice. Add the turkey. Brine the turkey for 24 hours, ensuring the water temperature is below 40ºF.
The next day, remove the turkey from brine, rise and pat dry. Let the turkey sit at room temperature for one hour.
Turkey Ingredients
1 14-16 lb. turkey, defrosted
3 sticks butter, unsalted
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch sage
1 bunch thyme
1 yellow onion, cut into large chunks
2 celery stalks, cut into large chunks
2 carrots, cut into large chunks
1 lemon, cut
1 cup white wine
Turkey Instructions
Set the Big Green Egg for indirect cooking with the convEGGtor at 325°F.
Place the dry turkey on the Big Green Egg roasting rack in the drip pan. Melt 2 sticks of butter and add 1 tbsp each of rosemary, thyme and sage. Cut up the third stick of butter and put under the skin of the turkey over the breast. Pour the butter mixture over the turkey, ensuring thorough coverage. Put the onion, carrots, celery, lemon, rosemary, sage and thyme inside the turkey cavity. Pour a cup of white wine in the drip pan.
As a tip, fill a one-gallon zip lock bag with ice. Lay the bag on the breast of the turkey for 30 minutes. The ice will bring down the temperature of the breast meat so it can finish cooking at the same time as the dark meat.
Cook turkey on the EGG until it has reached and internal temperature of 165ºF.
Gravy Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 onion, halved
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch thyme
1 bunch sage
Gravy Instructions
For the gravy, add the turkey neck, giblets, onion, celery, carrots and herbs in a stock pot of water. Simmer for 6-8 hours to make the stock.
Pour the drippings from the turkey’s drip pan into a jar and wait for the fat to separate. Remove the fat and discard.
Take the turkey’s drip pan and put in on the stove over medium heat and scrape the bottom of the pan. Use 1 stick of butter and whisk it in the pan. Whisk until the butter starts to brown and then add 1 cup of flour. Keep whisking until the flour is combined. Add the pan drippings from the jar and keep whisking. If you need more liquid, use the turkey stock. Keep a consistent heat on the pan until the gravy is your desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Lastly, remove all the meat from the turkey neck that was in the stock and chop it up with the rest of the giblets. Combine into the gravy.
Recipe and photo from Big Green Egg and courtesy of BGETeamGreen member Maciek Zurawski aka Grillin_with_dad
