Poultry: Roast Turkey 28 by Recipe Cottage

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	Roast Turkey 28

		Brined Turkey 1 cup kosher salt 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1 gallon vegetable stock 1 tablespoon black peppercorns 1/2 tablespoon allspice berries 1/2 tablespoon candied ginger 1 gallon iced water The night before: Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stock pot and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5 gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a cooler with ice) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining. (I usually half the brine recipe and use one of those gigantic oven bags to marinate turkey in.) Thanksgiving morning: Take your hand and gently run it between the skin on the breast and the meat, separating the two very gently. Take whole peeled garlic cloves and stuff under the skin. Either use your favorite marinade or this simple one: 50% Italian dressing and 50% orange juice (with some tabasco thrown in). Using a turkey/meat syringe, inject marinade all over your turkey. (Strain marinade before using or it will clog up the syringe.) Making mad doctor noises entirely optional. Stuff turkey with celery, sliced apple, cut up lemons and quartered onion. Take a double up length of cheesecloth, enough to cover the turkey, and soak in melted butter. Forget the pop-up thermometer -- splurge on an electronic thermometer. These are great. You put the probe in a thickest part of the turkey breast, and the thermometer is on the outside of the oven. (Thin wire connecting them.) Take about 4 heads of garlic and wack them with a glass to break apart. (Don't peel cloves.) Scatter in turkey pan. These will bake and soak up the turkey juices and just be DIVINE spread on a roll. I think I might like the garlic better than the turkey. Put in the oven at 500 degrees and cook for 1/2 hour. Decrease temperature to 350 and cover turkey with butter soaked cheesecloth. Baste with chicken broth right over the cheesecloth (to keep the cheesecloth moist). Cook until thermometer reads 161 degrees. Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes, loosely covered with foil. Turkey will continue to cook, raising the temperature.