Brined and Roasted Turkey with Compound Butter
Wet brined fresh whole turkey, rubbed with an herb and citrus compound butter. Roasted at a high temperature quickly before lowering the temperature to 325.
Ingredients
Turkey Brine
- 13-15 lbs Turkey Fresh or frozen will work for this recipe.
- 1 Gallon Vegetable Stock
- 1 cup Salt
- ½ cup Honey
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Gallon Ice Water
- 5 Sprigs of Thyme
- 5 Sprigs of Rosemary
- 1 Halved Lemon
- 1 Halved Orange
- 3 Bay Leaves
Roasting Pan
- 4 Coarsely Chopped Carrots
- 4 Coarsely Chopped Onions
- 2 Coarsely Chopped Celery Stalks
- 1 quart Chicken or Turkey Stock
- 6 Cloves of Garlic
Compound Butter
- 1 stick Softened Unsalted Butter
- 1/8 cup Chopped Garlic
- 1/8 cup Chopped Fresh Dill
- 1/8 cup Chopped Fresh Thyme
- Rind of One Lemon
- Rind of One Orange
- 2 tbsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Cracked Black Pepper
Instructions
Brine
- Bring vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, honey, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, orange, and lemon to the stock and boil for ten minutes.
- Remove stock from heat or turn off the heat and add ice water.
- Once the liquid is cool submerge your turkey breast side down in pot and brine for twelve to twenty-four hours.
- Remove from brine and pat the inside and outside of the turkey dry with paper towel.
Roasting Pan
- Add all roasting pan ingredients to a roasting pan.
Compound Butter Rub
- Combine all ingredients of the compound butter and mix them together.
- Gently pull the skin from the breast enough so that you can slip your hand between the skin and the breast and then massage ¾ of the compound butter onto the turkey.
- With the remainder of the compound butter massage the entire turkey.
Roasting the Turkey
- Set the oven to 400 degrees.
- Cook the turkey for 30 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
- Cook the turkey until the breast temps at 165 degrees and the thighs temp at 175 degrees. Baste the turkey with the drippings every 30 minutes and rotate the pan.
- Remove from the oven and tent the entire turkey with foil then cover with a towel. Allow to rest for at least one hour.
- Carve the turkey and you can use the drippings to make gravy or you can arrange your carved turkey in the drippings.
Notes
A 13/15lb fresh turkey will take two and half to three hours to cook with this process. A great way to keep the breast from reaching temp before the drums and thighs is to place foil or buttered cheesecloth over the turkey before lowering the oven temperature. This may keep the breast skin from being crispy but you can always remove the entire breast after it is rested and broil them for a few minutes to get your crispy skin back.