Roasted Turkey
Equipment
- Small Pan
- Mortar and pestle or a spice grinder
- Small Bowl
- Sheet tray lined with a wire rack
- Roasting pan with a rack.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 Tbsp coriander seeds
- ¼ cup diamond crystal kosher salt
- ¼ cup maple sugar or brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder aids in crisping the skin!
- 1 12-14 lb whole turkey giblets removed, patted dry
- 1 lemon quartered
- 2 shallots or 1 small onion quartered
- 1 garlic head cut in half
- 1 inch ginger root sliced
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- Butchers twine
- Olive oil for drizzling
- Make Ahead Turkey Gravy for serving
Instructions
- Add peppercorns and coriander to a small pan over low heat and toast until fragrant. Crush using a mortar and pestle, or a spice grinder. Add to a small bowl. Whisk in salt, baking powder, and maple sugar.
- Place turkey on sheet tray lined with a wire rack and season all over (top, bottom and cavity!) with salt mixture. Pressing in as much as you can wherever you can. Some will fall off and that’s ok!
- Refrigerate uncovered for 36-48 hours (this is known as a dry brine).
- When you are ready to roast, preheat oven to 450ºF.
- Remove turkey from the fridge and transfer to a roasting pan with a rack.
- Stuff cavity with lemon, shallots, garlic, ginger, and thyme.
- Carefully (you don’t want to rip the skin) run your fingers under the skin of the breast to loosen it from the meat. Spread softened butter under the skin of the turkey breast.
- Tuck wings under the breast and tie the legs together with twine. Drizzle the turkey heavily with olive oil to coat. Insert and instant read probe thermometer in the thickest, deepest part of the breast (see video).
- Place turkey in oven and roast for 20 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 325ºF and continue to roast until the internal temperature of the breast is 155F (it will carryover while resting). Check the thighs as well, they should be around 175ºF or higher (the thigh meat will stay moist up to 190ºF). If your turkey seems like its getting too brown during the roasting, you can tent it with foil. This will take anywhere from 3-4 hours depending on the size of your turkey. Feel free to check other parts of the turkey with your thermometer for extra insurance.
- Let turkey rest at least 30 minutes, longer is better! I like to go a full hour! I find it best to eat turkey just slightly above room temperature. It gives the bird a ton of resting time, and as long as you serve hot gravy, your good to go! No need to stress about having your turkey done exactly at the time you want to eat!
- While turkey rests, pour off all the drippings from the roasting pan into a liquid measuring cup. Separate the fat from the juices by ladling off the fat from the top. Strain the juices through a fine mesh sieve, if desired.
- Heat the make ahead gravy over low heat, whisking, until it is hot and homogenous. Stir in the juices (not the fat) from roasting the turkey (add about half of the juices to start as they can be salty. taste, and add more if needed). Keep warm.
- Carve turkey and serve with warm gravy. When carving, don’t be afraid of juices! Juices don’t mean raw, they mean delish! There may be pink around the joints of the thigh but that is normal and doesn’t indicate raw/unsafe to eat. As long as you took the temp of your bird, you are good to go 🙂 Also, young turkeys tend to have a pinker hue to the meat!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
