Talking Turkey

You know you are a real grown up when you are the one in charge of Thanksgiving dinner. Buying a house, earning that MBA, raising children, paying taxes is all nice and good. But you really are still a helpless baby until you start doing Thanksgiving yourself.

Being completely responsible for the success of the single most important meal of the year matures you in a way that nothing else can. No more running to mom's house for juicy turkey, light rolls, moist stuffing, perfect gravy. Expectations are high. It all must be home made and made by you. (Unless you are lucky like me and have amazing in-laws.)

For all of my grownup friends I am going to share with you how to roast the perfect juicy turkey. I have perfected this over the last 15 years of being a grownup. It all comes down to a salty brine and an ugly turkey (it is better to taste good than to look good).

Turkey in a Bucket

The night before roasting: Put the partially defrosted turkey in a 5 gallon bucket (or a cooler) and cover with a brine. Brine recipe: 1 gallon cold water, 1 cup salt, 1/2 cup sugar. I do mine in a 5 gallon bucket and it usually takes 1 1/2 gallon of brine to cover the turkey. The hardest part is storing the bucket in fridge so I just top the bucket off with ice and put it on the back porch (when the temperature will be below 40 and above 25) or in the garage. You could also put it in a cooler and toss in some ice - instant refrigeration!

Day of roasting: Drain the turkey and pat dry with paper towels. Put the turkey (I stuff mine with dressing [Mrs. Cubbinson's brand made with apple juice]) breast side down in a turkey roasting bag (made by Reynolds) and rub with olive oil. Did I mention that it should be breast side down? This makes for an ugly turkey but as I said before, it is better to taste good than to look good. Brined turkeys in a bag cook pretty fast so use a meat thermometer and start checking the temp about 45 minutes earlier than you would otherwise. As soon as it hits 180 degrees pull that turkey out and let it rest for about 30 minutes so you can flip it over breast side up for easier carving.

Another thing -start roasting at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, then 350 degrees for 45 minutes, then move into the 325 degree range for the remainder - this helps give an even roast.
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Because we will be eating fresh grilled tuna with lime on Thanksgiving we had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner last night with the Smiths.

The turkey was tender and juicy.

Now, grow up and make your own.