Roast Turkey – No Brine

Categories: Christmas, Poultry, Thanksgiving, Turkey

Ingredients

• 14 - 16 pound turkey, preferably fresh not frozen
• 1 turkey sized "Brown-n-Bag"
• 1-2 tablespoons flour for coating inside of bag.
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 3 stems fresh parsley
• 1/2 apple, cored not peeled
• 1/2 carrot, washed but not peeled
• 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 stick real butter unsalted
• 1 stick real butter salted
• 1-2 teaspoons fresh or dry rosemary leaves
• Crisco or olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1/2 to 1 cup water

Directions

1. Purchase your turkey about 2-3 days ahead of time and wash thoroughly…removing all necks, gibblets, heart, liver. Save the necks, giblets, heart and liver for making your broth for dressing or making gravy. Drain & dry with paper towel. Place in a pan and wrap tightly, place immediately back in fridge.

2. Read the instructions on the “Brown-n-Bag” ahead of time so you will know how long to bake your turkey and what temp, etc. I usually pre-heat my oven to 25 degrees higher than called for…let the turkey bake for about 30 minutes at this higher temp, then turn the temp down to recommended temp.

3. Just prior to baking, remove turkey from fridge and wash again…leave the turkey in your sink to work with.

4. Place the following inside the turkey…salt & pepper the inside of the cavity;1/2 onion, cut into 2 chunks; 2-3 cloves fresh garlic, cut each clove in half; 1 stalk celery, quartered; 3 stems fresh parsley, whole stems; 1/2 apple, cut into 2 chunks; 1/2 carrot, cut into 2 chunks; 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary.

5. Melt the salted and unsalted butter together. Using an “injector”, inject the butter into the breast meat, legs, thighs, and in various spots under the skin. (even if it is a “Butterball”)

6. Generously grease the outside of the turkey with Crisco or olive oil…salt & pepper outside. Rub the outside of the bird with the rosemary leaves so they will stick to the bird.

7. Tie the legs together and tuck under the wings.

8. Put the flour into the empty “Brown-N-Bag”, and shake the bag to distribute the flour and coat the bag.

9. Place the turkey inside the bag, add 1/2 to 1 cup water to bag. Tie up with the tie thing provided.

10. Periodically check on the bird to make sure it is progressing well.

11. About 30 minutes before bird is due to be done cut a hole in one of the corners of the bag and drain off all cooking liquids, tilting bird to get all the liquid from the inside of the bird too. CATCH ALL THIS LIQUID…it will be your gravy.

12. If your turkey is not brown, remove from the bag and continue cooking turkey until brown and thigh & breast reaches recommended temperature on a meat thermometer, Temperature should be in the upper 180’s degrees, like 185-189’ish. (I have had to even turn on the broiler at the last minute to get browned properly.) You can drain liquid one more time to get more juice for gravy.

13. GRAVY: You can make your gravy using the pan drippings that you collected.

14. While your turkey was cooking you should have been cooking your necks, giblets, heart, liver in a 3 quart pan of water (using only about 2 quarts of water) seasoned with salt, pepper, celery, onion and carrot.

15. Strain out everything from the broth. Discard all but the neck and giblets. (Your dog will love the heart and liver.) Add the pan drippings to the broth, taste for salt and pepper. Bring back to a boil.

16. In a 1 cup measuring cup put about 1/3 cup cornstarch and fill up with cold tap water, stirring until cornstarch is dissolved. Slowly pour into the boiling broth while whisking. Your broth/gravy should quickly thicken. Bring back to a boil…you have gravy.

17. Cut up the meat from the neck (discard skin), and cut up the giblets. Stir into gravy. This gravy heats well in the microwave.

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