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Ric Orlando's Turkey Roasting 101
When you are done frying, grilling and messing around, try my tested tried and true method for brining and roasting! We feed about 400 people every year and the turkey always ROCKS. Brining and the high/low cooking technique is the secret.
Ric's Turkey Brine.
Ratio up to make enough to cover the bird entirely.
Use a cooler to hold the turkey so that you can brine it over night.
Put 4 frozen ice packs or bags of ice in zip lock bags and cover the cooler to make sure it stays cold enough.
1 gallon cold water
1 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup evaporated cane juice or organic sugar
3-4 allspice berries
8-10 peppercorns
2 fresh bay leaves
1 tablespoon dry thyme
1 tsp lemon zest
Stir salt into water to dissolve. Cover Turkey completely with brine for as short as two hours or as long as 24 hours. Remove from brine and dry well.
Basic Ric Orlando Turkey Roasting Recipe
Massage the turkey with melted butter, olive oil, duck fat or grapeseed oil before seasoning. Rub turkey with the following mix. You may not use all of it, but this rub makes for great skin!
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons dry thyme
1 tablespoons sugar or evaporated cane juice
1 tablespoon dry sage, crumbled or "rubbed"
Mix well and massage into the entire bird.
Fill the cavity with the following
1 Apple, split in half
1 Lemon, split in half
1 onion, split in half
1 head garlic, split in half
2-3 spring each of thyme, sage and parsley
Let turkey stand at room temperature for 30 minutes minutes before cooking
Preheat oven to 500™.
Have a quick read thermometer and a kitchen timer handy.
This method should take about 12 minutes per pound or about 4 total hours for a 20 pound bird.
Put turkey in roasting pan directly in the bottom---not on a rack or mirepoix.
Put turkey in oven and set timer for 30 minutes. When timer goes off, check turkey . You are looking for a golden brown skin and a nice sizzle in the pan. If it is still pale, reset time for 15 more minutes. The goal at this stage is to have a turkey that looks perfectly cooked, though we know it is raw inside still.
When you reach that stage, reduce oven to 300™ and loosley cover it with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Pour enough water into the pan to cover the pan with about 1/4 inch of liquid.
Set timer again for about 12 minutes per bird minus the time it took to brown it.
When the timer goes off, check for internal temperature by putting the proble thermometer between the thigh and breast. When it reads 165-170 the bird is done. It will continue to cook and its internal temperature will increase by about 7%.
Woo hooo--
Let the turkey stand for 30 minutes.
Remove to a cutting board and use the juicees in the pan to make amazing gravy!
Have a nice holiday!
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