Thanksgiving turkey

Ingredients

Turkey

• 1turkey, 6 to 7 kg, fully thawed

Dry brine

• 60 gcoarse salt
• 2 tbspbrown sugar
• 1 tbspblack pepper
• 2 tspdried thyme
• 1 tspsmoked paprika

Butter

• 200 gsoftened butter
• 3 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 2 tbspchopped sage, thyme and rosemary
• grated zest of 1 lemon

Cavity

• 1onion, halved
• 1lemon, halved
• a bunch of herbs
• 2bay leaves

Roasting tray

• 2onions, 3 carrots, 3 celery sticks, thickly cut
• 500 mlstock

Gravy

• the pan juices
• 3 tbspflour
• 1 litreturkey or chicken stock
• a splash of white wine

To serve

• stuffing, baked separately
• cranberry sauce
• mashed potato
• green beans

Directions

1. Check the cavity for the giblet bag before you do anything else, and keep the giblets for the gravy. Now brining, and the dry method is easier and better. Mix the salt, sugar and spices and rub them all over the bird, inside and out, working under the skin of the breast where you can.
2. Set it on a rack over a tray, uncovered, in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours. Dry brining draws moisture out, dissolves the salt, and lets it be reabsorbed as a seasoned solution deep into the meat. Take it out of the fridge 1 to 2 hours before roasting. Mix the softened butter with the garlic, herbs and lemon zest.
3. Work slowly and keep your fingers flat. A torn skin shrinks back in the oven and leaves the breast exposed and dry. Butter under the skin bastes the breast from within throughout the roast, which butter on top cannot do.
4. Rub any remaining butter over the outside. Now the cavity, and the important point about stuffing. Put aromatics in the cavity: onion, lemon, herbs and bay. Do not stuff the bird with bread stuffing.
5. Tie the legs loosely rather than tightly, since a tightly trussed bird cooks unevenly around the thighs. Set the vegetables in the roasting tray and stand the turkey on top, on a rack if you have one. The vegetables lift the bird, stop the base stewing, and flavour the gravy.
6. Pour the stock into the roasting tray. Now roast at 220°C (430°F) for 30 minutes to colour the skin. Use a meat thermometer and cook to temperature, not to time. Weight-based timings are unreliable because birds vary in shape, ovens vary, and starting temperature varies.
7. Cover the breast with foil if it is browning too fast. Baste every 45 minutes if you like, though opening the oven repeatedly lengthens the cooking considerably. Rest the turkey for at least 45 minutes, loosely tented with foil. A bird this size holds heat for well over an hour, and resting lets the juices redistribute through the meat instead of running out onto the board.
8. Pour off the fat, keeping 3 tablespoons, and set the tray over a low heat. Stir in the flour and cook it for 2 minutes, scraping up everything stuck to the tray. Add the wine, then the stock gradually, whisking, and simmer until it thickens. Strain the gravy and season it.
9. Carve the breast off the crown in one piece and slice it across, rather than carving down onto the bone. Serve with stuffing, cranberry sauce and the rest of the table.

Technique

• Cooking to temperature rather than time is the single most reliable change.
• Stuffing baked separately is both safer and better.
• Spatchcocking the bird cooks it far faster and more evenly, if presentation matters less.

Substitutions

• A wet brine, if you have space, though dry brining is easier.
• Two smaller birds instead of one large one, which cook more evenly.

Variations

• Spatchcocked and roasted flat.
• Deep-fried, which is a genuine Southern tradition and requires real care.
• Smoked over wood.

History

Linked to the 1621 Plymouth harvest feast; Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for decades until Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national holiday in 1863.

Frequently asked questions

What is Thanksgiving turkey?

Thanksgiving turkey is a main from United States: roast turkey with stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Linked to the 1621 Plymouth harvest feast; Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for decades until Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national holiday in 1863.

How long does Thanksgiving turkey take to make?

Thanksgiving turkey takes 45 min plus 24 hr brining of preparation and 3 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 10 to 12 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Thanksgiving turkey?

Yes, within limits. A wet brine, if you have space, though dry brining is easier. Two smaller birds instead of one large one, which cook more evenly.

What is the most important thing to get right in Thanksgiving turkey?

Rub any remaining butter over the outside. Now the cavity, and the important point about stuffing. Put aromatics in the cavity: onion, lemon, herbs and bay. Do not stuff the bird with bread stuffing.