Good Eats Roast Turkey
by Alton Brown

Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” is probably my favorite TV cooking show. Many years ago, we started following his recipe for brined turkey, and we haven’t had a dry Thanksgiving dinner since. Although Mr. Brown may have moved on to other turkey cooking techniques, we’re still very happy with this one.

Ingredients

• 1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the Brine:

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 gallon vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
• 1 gallon heavily iced water

For the Aromatics:

• 1 red apple, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup water
• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 6 leaves sage

Instructions

1. Two to three days before roasting: Begin thawing the turkey in the
   refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.
2. Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice
   berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
3. The night before or early on the day you’d like to eat: Combine the
   brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey
   (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh
   down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.
4. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
5. Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.
6. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add
   steeped aromatics to the turkey’s cavity along with the rosemary and
   sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.
7. Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.