Bourbon Brined Turkey

I've been getting asked all week, "Doc, waht'd ya make for NewYears?"  Well the first answer is no resolutions.  They fail, we all know it. If you're smart, you make an un-resolution.  Because it's not a resolutions it doesn't fail right?  My un-resolution was to make some wicked turkey for my guests.  I like to buy my turkey breasts whole on the bone, and roast them on the bone to get all that great flavor.  I'll either make a gravy from the bones, or hack them up and save for them stock.  This brine is so flavorful and juicy you really don't need any sauce (but you can make one if you want, that recipe will be up tomorrow)  this recipe will do  about an 6-8 lb. turkey front with the bone on. If you don't  have a pot or another vessel big enough to hold both breasts with the bone on, no big deal, look for some brining bags or ask your butcher to de-bone it.  If he won't email me and I'll help you out.  (If there are enough comments I'll do some articles on butchery too)  I let the turkey sit for 24 hours in the brine,then let it come up to room temp before it was roasted at 300 for 80-90 minutes and 450 for 15-20 minutes to get the skin nice and brown.  Cooking times may very for your oven, they're all calibrated differently, so if you don't have a meat thermometer, get one.  I cook to 155, then let it carry to 165, so it doesn't dry out.  You can do this recipe however you want.  I take the turkey off the bone and grill it in the summer, roast it in the winter, and sometime in the spring, I use this recipe as a base for corned turkey and corned beef (more on that in another episode) Here's your brine:

1 c. Your favorite Bourbon.  I can't officially make recommendation because, well....I like all of them...

Mmmm.....Turkey

1/3c.  kosher salt

1/4 c. honey

2 tbsp pickling spice

1/4 c. brown sugar

4 qt water

1-1.5 qt ice

1/2 bunch sage

1/2 bunch parsley

1. First step, we need to cook the alcohol out of the bourbon (SACRILEGE....) not really sacrilege, the meat will come out tasting funny, we just want to flavor from all of those wonderful smokey, cured grains.  Be careful not to set anything on fire, just put it in a pot, turn the heat on medium high and reduce it by half.  

2. This is easy right? Add the rest of the ingredients, except the ice, and bring them to a boil in a pot.  You need to stir every few minutes so the sugar and honey don't sit on the bottom and burn. You're only working with half of the liquid you need to chemically make a proper solution.  Why you ask?  Because you're going to add the rest of the liquid as ice to cool the brine down nice and fast (Smart huh?, I'm not an Evil Doctor for nothing....)

3.  After you've put the ice in the brine (please turn off the heat first....) put the turkey in the brine.  Use a plate or something to weigh the turkey down so it's completely submerged.  If you have a brine bag, turn the turkey every 4-6 hours so that brine gets distributed evenly.

4.  The next day, pop that bird in the oven, I like to baste it, even though there is s brine.  Baste about every 15-20 minutes.  If you need to add water to the  bottom of the roasting pan after 30-40 minuets or so, go ahead, sometimes you need to, to make sure you got enough of that beautiful turkey juice to baste with. When that turkey's done don't go hacking it up right away, although i know you wanna.  let that puppy rest for 10-15 minutes, then slice into it. that muscle tissue needs to relax a bit so those juices you worked so hard basting that turkey with stay in the meat.  (Don't throw that juicy bird flavored goodness away, it makes an excellent base for a gravy, or a great addition to a stock.)  As a general rule of thumb regarding the cooking times I talked about earlier, once your bird hits about 140-145, crank that oven up to the 450 degree temperature.  I will crisp that skin up quite nicely, especially with all of the sugar and salt it absorbed from that brine. 

As always, share out my blog on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Happy Eating

-The Doctah