| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 8 hr 15 min |
| Prep: | 1 hr |
| Inactive: | 4 hr |
| Cook: | 3 hr 15 min |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 gallon water
- 1/2 ounce ground cloves
- 1/2 ounce ground ginger
- 4 ounces cracked black peppercorns
- 12 bay leaves
- 1 pound kosher salt
- 24 ounces honey
- 24 ounces maple syrup
- One 10-pound whole fresh turkey, giblets and neck removed and reserved for stock
- 1 stick butter, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
- 2 apples, quartered and cored
- 1 onion, peeled and quartered
- 2 rosemary sprigs
- 3 sprigs sage
- Olive oil, for drizzling
- 1 cup cubed carrots
- 1 cup cubed celery
- 1 cup cubed onions
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup Madeira wine
- 4 cups Turkey Stock, recipe follows
- 1 sprig thyme
- 2 sprigs parsley
- Beurre manie (2 ounces butter mixed with 2 ounces flour until it forms a soft dough)
- Salt and pepper
- Giblets and neck from 1 turkey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup port wine
- 1 cup roughly chopped onions
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped carrots
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped celery
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 5 peppercorns
- Water, to cover
Instructions
- In a large stockpot, bring the water, cloves, ginger, black peppercorn, bay leaves and salt to a boil. Lower to a simmer and stir in the honey and maple syrup until well blended. Turn off heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Rinse the turkey inside and out with cold tap water. Reserve the neck and specialty meats for pan gravy. Set the turkey in the brine, making sure that the turkey is fully immersed in the brine. Place a weight on top of the turkey to make sure it is always covered with brine. Marinate for at least 4 hours to overnight, depending on the weight of the turkey, in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- In a shallow roasting pan, place the carrots, celery and onions. Remove turkey from brine.
- Mix together the butter, garlic, chopped rosemary, and sage to make a compound butter. Using your hands, loosen to the skin from the breast by gently inserting your fingers between the skin and the flesh. Rub the compound butter underneath the skin. Insert the apples, onions, and whole rosemary and sage into the cavity of the turkey.
- Place the turkey over the vegetables, breast-side up, in the roasting pan. Tuck the wings back and under the turkey. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs together. This will make a compact shape and will create a great presentation. Drizzle the turkey with olive oil and rub it into the skin. Roast the turkey to at least 165 degrees F in the breast, about 2 1/2 hours. If the skin gets too dark during roasting, tent with foil.
- Transfer turkey to a platter and allow to cool. Meanwhile, prepare the pan gravy.
- Tilt the pan and skim as much fat as possible off the juice with a spoon. Set the pan on 2 burners set on medium heat. Deglaze roasting pan with white wine and Madeira. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any brown bits. Reduce until only a quarter remains. Add the Turkey Stock, thyme and parsley. Bring to a boil and strain into a saucepan. Bring back to a boil, skim and lower to a simmer. Whisk in the beurre manie until well incorporated and continue to cook until gravy has thickened. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
- Heat a saucepan over high heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and heat. Add the neck and giblets and cook until browned all over, about 7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and deglaze with the port. Return the pan to the heat and cook until the port is almost completely evaporated, about 10 minutes.
- Add the carrots, onions, celery, rosemary and peppercorns. Cover with cold water by 4-inches. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer for 2 hours, adding a little more water, if necessary. Skim any scum that rises to the surface of the stock and discard.
- Strain the stock. Use immediately, or cool and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Reviews
So here’s a question – could i spatchcock this brined turkey? just thinking of a quicker way to cook the bird.
thanks for your help!
thanks for your help!
Best ever!!! I have been making this for six years on Thanksgiving.
The best!! I wish they had the episode where you can see him make it..
Make every year
I am hoping to make this Thursday. I cannot justify purchasing both the port and madeira. Will the gravy still be wonderful if I only use white wine? Does someone have a recommendation of what kind I should use? Thanks!
We’ve been using this brine for several years and I won’t make a turkey any other way. This year I was asked to stuff the turnkey, has anyone tried doing that with the brine? Not sure how it will turn out…
Amazing!!
We’ve been using this recipe for quite a few years now. We don’t have to think how we’re going to cook our turkey, because it was made clear years back that there is no other way. It is that good! Yes, gotta follow the recipe in detail!
Thank you Wolfgang Puck, and Food Network!
I wanted to brine my own turkey this year so I decided to try this one. It was the best turkey we ever had. I followed the recipe to a tee. It turned out and taste picture perfect. This will be our thanksgiving turkey from now on.
The recipe calls for one stick of butter but does not indicate if its salted or not. Any suggestions?