Ingredients
3 qt/2.8 L plain unsweetened kefir or buttermilk
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp fine sea salt
12 garlic cloves (about 1 whole head of garlic)
4 Tbsp ground turmeric
One 9 to 10 lb/4 to 4.5 kg turkey
¼ cup/60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp ground coriander
½ Tbsp ground black pepper
2 cups/480 ml water
Instructions
- Pat the turkey dry with clean paper towels, remove the gizzard and giblets (I’m going to refer to these as turkey parts), reserve in a ziptop bag, and freeze them to make the gravy (recipe follows).
- Place 1 qt/960 ml of the kefir in a blender along with the salt, garlic cloves, and turmeric. Pulse on high speed for a few seconds until the garlic is completely obliterated, the mixture is smooth, and the salt is dissolved. Pour the liquid into a large brining bag (aka turkey-size oven bag), pour in the remaining kefir, and stir to combine. Place the turkey in the bag, squeeze out as much air as possible, and tie the bag up (a food vacuum sealing device and a large vacuum bag are great for this). Gently shake the bag to coat the turkey in the brine and leave it on a large plate or tray in the refrigerator to brine for at least 24 hours, preferably 48 hours. Shake the contents of the bag and flip it over every 6 to 8 hours. Some of the turmeric will settle as the brine sits, this helps redistribute the brine and the turmeric.
- When ready to roast the turkey, preheat the oven to 200F/95C.
- Use a roasting pan with a wire rack or a rectangular 13 in by 18 in by 2 in/33 cm by 46 cm by 5cm baking pan. If using the rectangular baking pan, place 4 small ramekin bowls near the four corners of the pan. Place a wire rack on top of the ramekin bowls.
- Drain and discard the brine in the bag. Place the turkey in a large bowl and drain and brush off as much liquid as you can get off the turkey, there’s no need to overdo this. Place the turkey breast-side down on a cutting board and using a pair of kitchen shears cut the turkey across the length of the backbone and continue until the turkey is cut all the way from the tail end to the neck. Flip the bird over the cutting board to splay out the legs. Take both your hands and place them on top of the breastbone and press down till you hear the bones crack and the bird lays out flat. Oddly enough it feels like performing CPR. Place the flattened bird cut-side down on the wire rack. Cut out the backbone and add it to the ziptop bag with the turkey parts.
- In a small mixing bowl, mix the olive oil, coriander, and black pepper. Brush the mixture all over the bird either with your hands or a brush (a silicone brush is much more efficient).
- Cover the tips of the wings and the exposed bones at the end of the legs with a layer of foil. This reduces the risk of charring.
- Pour the water into the pan and place the pan in the preheated oven. Cook until the skin turns golden brown and crisp, the internal temperature of the breasts reaches 150/65C and the thighs reach 165F/74C, for 4 to 4 ½ hours. Rotate the pan halfway through every hour to ensure even browning.
- Once the bird is roasted, remove the pan from the oven, tent, cover with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Transfer the turkey to a cutting board. Cut the turkey and serve with gravy (recipe follows) and my extra citrusy cranberry sauce.
Notes
- You don’t need a special roasting pan, I rigged a sturdy high-sided baking pan with 4 ramekin bowls to support the weight of the turkey while it sat on the wire rack and it worked lovely. (My regular roasting pan is wrapped up in a box sitting in the garage as we’re currently undergoing a home renovation). To learn how wet brining works read all about it in The Science of Wet Brining Poultry.
- To collect the drippings in the pan for gravy, pour 1 cup/240 ml of boiling water on the pan and scrape the pan with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to extract as much of the solids as possible. Transfer the liquid with any solids to a bowl or measuring cup.
- I’ve used a turkey that’s large enough to feed 8 people. However, for smaller families and groups of people, you’ll have enough leftover turkey for a second meal during the week.
- I like to spatchcock/butterfly the turkey after brining rather than before. I find it makes the bird easier to handle and also fits in the brining bag. If prefer to spatchcock first and then brine, you can. If you’d rather roast the bird whole and not spatchcock that will work too, just adjust your cooking time accordingly.
- You can use either kefir or buttermilk to prepare the brine. My favorite brands for kefir are Lifeway and Green Valley Creamery, their consistency is not excessively thick unlike some of the other brands.
- I’ve roasted turkeys that were brined for 24, 36, and 48 hours brining times. The turkey brined for 48 hours produced the best results in terms of juiciness and texture.
- I cover the wingtips and the exposed bone of each leg with a small piece of foil (like a pair of socks). There’s little to no meat at these ends and they easily burn. Covering them in foil reduces the risk of burning, it’s similar to the trick that pie makers do when baking pie crusts (they cover the edge of the pie crust with foil to avoid them from burning).
[caption id="attachment_17092" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Place foil “socks” over your turkey’s leg and wing tips to prevent them from burning out during roasting.[/caption] - The water in the pan helps provide humidity in the oven just like a steam oven.
- The low cooking temperature and water in the pan eliminate the need to baste the turkey as it cooks.
