Brine

This is enough for a 20 lb turkey but I've used with chicken too. All yummy.

Ingredients

1 gallon vegetable broth

1 cup sea salt

1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary

1 tablespoon dried sage

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried savory

1 gallon ice water

Directions

1. Use a mortar and pestle to grind the herbs so that they can infuse the turkey

2. In a large stock pot, combine the vegetable broth, sea salt, rosemary, sage, thyme, and savory

3. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to be sure salt is dissolved

4. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature

5. When the broth mixture is cool, use a brine bag to line a large food-grade tub

6. Stir in the ice water.

7. Wash and dry your turkey, remove the innards

8. Place the turkey, breast down, into the brine

9. Make sure that the cavity gets filled

10. Place the bucket in the refrigerator overnight

11. Remove the turkey carefully draining off the excess brine and pat dry

12. Discard excess brine

13. Cook the turkey as desired reserving the drippings for gravy

14. Keep in mind that brined turkeys cook 20 to 30 minutes faster so watch the temperature gauge

Herb/Compound Butter

1. As you're at it, make a quick compound butter with the same herbs to baste the turkey when it's in the oven.

2. For this one leave them a whole as possible to maximize the aromatics and add a nice visual to the skin as it crisps

3. Add sea salt and pepper to the butter or add it to the bird after basting

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RETROSPECTIVES

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Thanksgiving 2018

Brine was good but next time skip the roasting bag, it's tough to baste the turkey and it sticks to the skin. Just us a tin foil tent. Also, remember to rotate the turkey to get an even color next time.