Brining a turkey ensures full flavor and juiciness. It only requires a few extra steps and the payoff is well worth it!
Turkey. It’s an obvious choice when it comes to planning a Thanksgiving menu. I mean, can you imagine Thanksgiving without it?!? Blasphomy! But there are a variety of ways in which you can prepare a turkey. You can fry it, roast it, cover it in bacon and roast it, stuff it, leave the stuffing outside the bird, the options are endless.
When I roasted my first turkey a couple years ago, I turned to my cooking hero, Alton Brown, for the recipe. For those of you who me on Instagram, you’ll remember that I just saw AB again recently. I have met him before, at a book signing in Boston, and when I found out he was touring this year, I knew I had to go. The best way to describe his show was that it was a variety show which consisted of AB doing things he loves. Cooking demos on huge scales. Singing original songs about food (including a song about dry pork chops and one about Easy Bake ovens). And yeast puppets burping. And farting. The show was awesome, and I’d love to see it again. If you have the chance, I highly recommend it.
But back to the turkey. A couple years ago, Hubby and I weren’t traveling for Thanksgiving so we did a mini Thanksgiving meal for the two of us. Alton Brown’s cookbooks are a constant reference for us and that’s where we turned to find a recipe. His brined and roasted turkey comes out perfectly every time. Instead of using a cooler, we simply buy one of the huge ziplock bags that are intended to hold sweaters under your bed and pour the brine in the giant bag. Then put the turkey in the bag, seal it up, and store in the fridge. It works like a charm every time. Obviously you can use a cooler if you want, but we found this method easier.
If you’re still searching for the perfect turkey recipe, or if you have one but you’re not in love with it, I highly recommend this one. There’s a reason it’s the most reviewed, most viewed, most popular recipe on the Food Network website. To watch AB make this recipe, check out the Good Eats video here.