I searched all over the internet for instructions on how to sous vide an entire turkey. Nothing! The suggestions either suggested buying a tiny 10-pound turkey or disassembling the turkey, which is simply inappropriate for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. So, this is how I handled it, and it worked out great.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 18 hrs 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 18 hrs 50 mins |
| Servings: | 20 |
| Yield: | 20 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 quarts organic chicken stock
- ¾ cup kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon dried savory
- 1 tablespoon dried sage
- 1 (15 pound) turkey, neck and giblets removed
- large (25-pound capacity) brining bag
Instructions
- Combine chicken stock, salt, rosemary, thyme, savory, and sage in a bowl.
- Place turkey in the brining bag and fill with brine, making sure to fill the cavity. Transfer the bag to a 5-gallon pot filled with water. Slowly push the brining bag under the water while you seal it, squeezing air out as you go; remove as much air as possible so bag does not float.
- Attach a sous vide cooker to the edge of the pot. Wrap it in a dish towel for insulation. Cover the pot with plastic wrap to reduce evaporation. Set temperature to 150 degrees F (65 degrees C); cook for 18 to 24 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Remove turkey from the brining bag and transfer to a large roasting pan. Discard brine.
- Bake in the preheated oven until nicely browned, about 30 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone, should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove from the oven, cover with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Any brining recipe will do. The amount of brine in this recipe works for a 15- to 20-pound turkey.
- Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of brine ingredients. The actual amount consumed will vary.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 518 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 1 g |
| Cholesterol | 201 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 69 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 3991 mg |
| Sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 24 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Thank you for posting this! I was also looking all over the internet for instructions on how to sous vide a whole turkey. I made this today and it came out perfect. I made a brine, placed the turkey in the brining bag, and then the bag into a very huge stock pot. (Turkey was 12 pounds.) Then I poured the brine into the brining bag and filled it until it was halfway covering the turkey. Then I added water to the pot outside the brine bag, made sure it was enough water to sous vide. Then I added a bit more brine to the brining bag so that the turkey was completed submerged in the brine. 150 degrees for 22 hours. Then I too it out and set the turkey on my oven roaster to let it dry for 2 hours. Then brushed the turkey with butter and did convection roast for 375 degrees for 25 minutes. I probably could have roasted for another 10 minutes for brown and crispy skin but it was still good. The meat was soooooo juicy and perfectly cooked. I’m never making turkey another way again.
I will be honest that I probably shouldn’t experiment new things when family is coming over but I think I nailed it. I did tweak with a little liquid smoke then buttered the heck out of it a re-seasoned before the oven but was a very juicy result for white and dark meat.