Wednesday, March 16, 2011

My First Roasted BrineTurkey!


This is an old post way back on New Year day. I have been here for so many years but I never did my own turkey.  I guess the pure size of it turned me off.  With a small family, the idea of roasting a turkey never cross my mind, until I tasted a brine turkey at Lily's house.  Ever since then, I always wanted to brine a turkey.  My chance came when the turkey was on sales on Thanksgiving week.  I managed to find the smallest turkey there, about 10lb.  I guess holding the smallest young turkey wasn't that intimidating.  Furthermore, this small turkey fit into my large stock pot used for the brine.


My plate of turkey breasts.  I guess instead of carving the turkey, I sliced it the Chinese way instead.  I had no idea how to carve a turkey, hahaha...  I thought the turkey smell was a bit strong. :-P   But the drumstick, wing and bone made the best soup.  I made a big pot of soup with it and served it with noodle but I forgot to take any picture.

This was an old post but I wanted to show you my first brine turkey.  :-)   I will share the brine recipe that I used in the next page.  Is there a way to get rid of the turkey smell?



Recipe adapted from Allrecipes Turkey Brine with some modification.

Ingredients:

(A)
  • 1 gallon water
  • 3/4 cup salt
  • 1 Tbsp. chicken powder
  • 1 Tbsp. crushed dried rosemary
  • 1 Tbsp. dried sage
  • 1 Tbsp. dried thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 Tbsp. whole black peppers
  • 1 piece of ginger (about 1.5 inches), smashed

Additional water to cover the turkey
One 10-12lb. turkey

Method:

1.  In a large stock pot, combine (A) and bring to a boil.  Stir to dissolve the salt.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

2.  Wash your turkey, remove the innards and place breast side down into the brine.  Cover the turkey with cold water until the whole turkey is submerge into the water.  Cover the stock pot with its' cover.  Place the stock pot into the refrigerator overnight.

3.  Remove the turkey carefully, drain off the excess brine and pat dry.  Discard the brine.

4.  Preheat oven to 325'F.  Place turkey into a roasting pan and spray the skin of turkey with cooking spray, or you can brush it with melted butter.  Bake for 3 to 3.5 hours.  You can broil it at 500'F (5 minutes) to brown and crisp up the skin in the end.  Check to see if the internal temperature of turkey thigh reaches 180'F.  Reserve the drippings to make gravy.

5.  Rest for 30 minutes before carving. 

12 comments:

Belinda @zomppa said...

Terrific job!! I love the way you carved it!

kirbie said...

Congrats on your first brine turkey! I think it's so funny that you carved it the chinese way instead of the American way. heehee.

daphne said...

Oh you have done really well! I love how u cut the turkey-seems easier to eat that way.

I wonder if using lemon or other herbs will help with the smell?

Unknown said...

wah! i never tried brining and grilling a turkey of course. you are right, they are so HUGE. and my fridge can't fit a large stock pot heheheh, I might try brining a chicken instead :D

Babe_KL said...

gosh thank goodness we could get smaller turkeys here these days. otherwise very hard to finish up

Min {Honest Vanilla} said...

Oh yummy! Cute that you serve it on Chinese plates ;) I've not dared to attempt turkey either, yes the sheer size just scares me!

tigerfish said...

I have not roasted my own turkey as well and maybe I would never do.

Smoky Wok (formerly Tastes of Home) said...

I have never roasted my own turkey either despite living in the US for a while..your turkey looks delicious and love the Chinese way of chopping hehe

ICook4Fun said...

The past two years I tried out dry brine and I think the turkey taste better. Yea the smallest turkey I can get here is 9-10 pounds and I still have some leftovers in my freezer from the last thanksgiving :)

Jin Hooi said...

well done babe!!! And I love the way you cut the turkey ..;-)

Home Cooking said...

it looks amazing ching! luv it ^_^

Alice said...

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thks :)

such a great job for the turkey! :)