Honey Brined Turkey With Cream Gravy Food

HONEY BRINED SMOKED TURKEY

Steps:

• Combine the hot water and the salt in a 54-quart cooler. Stir until the salt dissolves. Stir in the vegetable broth and the honey. Add the ice and stir. Place the turkey in the brine, breast side up, and cover with cooler lid.. Brine overnight, up to 12 hours.
• Remove the turkey from the brine and dry thoroughly. Rub the bird thoroughly with the vegetable oil.
• Heat the grill to 400 degrees F.
• Using a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil, build a smoke bomb. Place a cup of hickory wood chips in the center of the foil and gather up the edges, making a small pouch. Leave the pouch open at the top. Set this directly on the charcoal or on the metal bar over the gas flame. Set the turkey over indirect heat, insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast meat, and set the alarm for 160 degrees F. Close the lid and cook for 1 hour.
• After 1 hour check the bird; if the skin is golden brown, cover with aluminum foil and continue cooking. Also, after 1 hour, replace wood chips with second cup.
• Once the bird reaches 160 degrees F, remove from grill, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 1 hour. Carve and serve.

SLOW-ROASTED TURKEY WITH CREAM GRAVY

Steps:

• Place breast halves and leg quarters in a large bowl; sprinkle with salt. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight.
• Combine reserved giblets, wings and backbone in a large Dutch oven. Add 10 cups water, 8 celery pieces, 4 onion quarters, and 4 carrot pieces. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 5 hours or until mixture measures 8 cups. Cool to room temperature. Cover and chill stock 8 hours or overnight.
• Skim solidified fat from surface of stock; discard fat. Return stock to high heat; bring to a boil. Boil for 30 minutes or until stock measures 3 cups. Strain mixture througha sieve, reserving stock. Discard the solids.
• Remove turkey from refrigerator, and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Arrange turkey pieces skin side up, in a roasting pan, and arrange remaining 8 celery pieces, 4 onion quarters, and 4 carrot pieces in pan. Brush turkey skin with 2 tablespoons cream; sprinkle with black pepper. Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 1/2 hours or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of breast registers 165 degrees F, basting every 30 minutes with 2 1/2 tablesppons stock. Remove from oven. Place breast halves and leg quarters on a jelly-roll pan or cutting board. Let stand, covered, for 30 minutes. Discard skin.
• Add 1 cup stock to bottom of roasting pan; carefully scrape browned bits from bottom of pan. Place a zip-top plastic bag inside a 2-cup glass measure. Pour drippings into bag; let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to top). Seal bag, and carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Strain drippings through a sieve into a medium saucepan, stopping before the fat layer reaches the opening; discard fat and solids. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups stock to pan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Combine remaining 6 tablespoons cream and cornstarch, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Stir until sauce thickens.

HONEY BRINED HERB ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• Remove giblets and neck from turkey, reserve for gravy. Rinse turkey with cold running water and drain well. Blot dry with paper towels.
• Prepare brine by mixing water, honey and salt in a large bowl. Stir until honey dissolves. Add half the thyme and sage along with the garlic and black pepper. Set aside. Add chicken stock.
• Line an extra-large stock pot with a food-safe plastic bag. Place the rinsed turkey in the bag and pour brine over the turkey. Gather the bag tightly around the turkey, causing the turkey to be surrounded by the brine. Seal the bag and refrigerate the pot, bag and brined turkey for at least 12 hours.
• Pre-heat oven to 350°F Remove turkey from brine and pat dry inside and out. Discard brine. Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a large shallow (about 2 1/2" deep) roasting pan.
• Squeeze lemon juice into the main turkey cavity. Put the squeezed lemon halves into the cavity along with the rest of the thyme and sage. Coat turkey lightly with oil and sprinkle inside and out with salt, pepper.
• Insert an oven safe meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, being careful the pointed end of the thermometer does not touch the bone. Roast turkey, basting with poultry stock every half hour or so.
• Loosely cover with aluminum foil to prevent over browning, remove foil during last hour and a half of cooking time. Continue to roast until thermometer registers 180°F in the thigh, or 170°F in the breast.
• Remove turkey from the oven and allow it to cool for 15-20 minutes before carving.

HONEY BRINED TURKEY

Steps:

• 2-3 days before the big day, start defrosting your turkey. Make sure you have time enough to defrost thoroughly before brining so that it cooks properly. Combine hot water and salt in a large bucket or cooler and stir until the salt dissolves. Stir in vegetable broth and honey, then add the ice and stir. Place the turkey in the brine, breast side up, and cover with cooler or bucket lid. Brine overnight, up to 12 hours. Remove turkey from the brine and dry thoroughly. Rub all over with vegetable oil. Heat grill to 400 degrees F. You're going to want the grill to stay at 350 degrees after you put the turkey on. The turkey should also never be over direct heat. With our grill, we turned all the burners on to preheat it and then turned half of them off and took half of the grills off. The smoke bomb is placed on the side with the burners on, and place the turkey on the side with burners off. Make 4 smoke bombs by making pouches out of double layers of 12 inch square aluminum foil. In the middle of the square, place hickory wood chips, rosemary, thyme and cinnamon stick. Fold or roll the sides of the square to create a pouch, leaving a small part of the top open. Place the turkey directly on the grill, but not over direct heat. Cut out the bottom and up the side of an aluminum roasting pan to wrap around the turkey. Close the lid and cook for 1 hour. After 1 hour, check the bird. Switch sides by sliding the grills that the turkey is on to the other side, making sure to keep the turkey over indirect heat (turn on/off burners as you switch sides). If the turkey is starting to brown, cover with aluminum foil. Also, replace smoke bomb. Continue to check and switch sides in the same manner every hour until the bird reaches 160 degrees F (a meat thermometer is a must!). Once it reaches 160 degrees, about 3-4 hours, remove from grill, cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 1 hour. Carve and serve.