Tasty Roasted Turkey! Thanksgiving Style

I hosted Thanksgiving this year for the first time, and got to make my first real turkey! I'd practiced on little 3- or 4-pound turkey breasts in the past, but this is the first time I made the whole bird.

The night before, I brined the turkey using a simple method I found on AllRecipes.com.  It involved soaking the guy in a salt-water solution (ratio: 1 cup salt to 2 quarts water).  I used a large crockpot for this.

I covered it with a clean, brine-soaked dish towel and some plastic wrap and put it in the fridge over night.

I neglected to get a decent picture of the finished product this time! Things were a little busy on Thanksgiving Day :-)  As soon as that bird came out of the oven, he was carved and eaten!  But trust me, it was gorgeous - and delicious! Here are some action shots of the carving process (it just fell right off the bone!):




Ingredients

• 1 (12-pound) whole turkey
• 6 tablespoons butter, divided
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
• 2 tablespoons seasoning salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Rinse and wash turkey. Discard the giblets, or add to pan if they are anyone's favorites.**I washed the turkey and removed the gross stuff the night before, prior to brining.  Then when I was ready to roast the turkey, I removed it from the brine solution and rinsed it all off again**
   
   
2. Separate the skin over the breast to make little pockets. Put 3 tablespoons of the butter on both sides between the skin and breast meat. This makes for very juicy breast meat!
   
   
3. Brush top of turkey with olive oil and season with a little pepper, paprika and herbs of choice (no need to use salt, thanks to the brine!). 
4. Stuff bird now, if desired.
   
   
   
5. Carefully place turkey in prepared (i.e., flour-shaken) roasting bag and set in roasting pan. Don't seal bag yet.
   
6. In a medium bowl, combine the broth with the parsley and minced onion. Pour over the top of the turkey. 
7. Add some veggies (I used baby carrots and a few chopped potatoes) for flavor. 
8. Seal bag according to instructions on package (and don't forget to cut the slits across the top!).
   
   
9. Bake in the preheated oven according to instructions on roasting bag package (mine took about 2-1/2 hours), until internal temperature of the turkey reaches 180 degrees F. **Do not overcook! Turkey begins to get tough/dry after it gets past 180 degrees. I learned this on the Discovery Channel the night before Thanksgiving!**
   
   

Allow turkey to cool at least 30 minutes before carving. Be sure to get all the leftover meat off the bones and refrigerated in an airtight container no later than 2 hours after cooking.

Also, as we discovered the "hard way" - if you plan to make fresh gravy from the pan drippings (or, bag drippings), it's a good idea to taste as you go and you will probably need to cut in some water.  The drippings became very salty due to the brine preparation, making for potentially sodium-packed gravy.  

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!