Brined Roasted Whole Turkey

When we pulled our turkey out of the fridge Thanksgiving morning we realized the darn bird was still mostly frozen. Knowing the quickest way to defrost frozen meat is in a liquid bath we promptly sterilized the kitchen sink then filled it with water and added the turkey and some salt! Within an hour the turkey was ready to be injected and roasted. Using this brined roasted whole turkey recipe our bird turned out deliciously moist, tender & full of flavor!

Ingredients:

• 2 gallons cold water (or enough to completely cover the turkey )
• 1 cup table salt
• 1 whole turkey (ours was 20 lbs)
• 3 tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. Mix cold water and salt in a large stockpot, clean bucket, or sterilized small kitchen sink. Stir salt until dissolved, then add the turkey and let sit for at least 1 hour. If you have room in the fridge you can do this the night before for more of a brine, cover the turkey in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours.
2. Heat the oven to 450*F while preparing the turkey. Remove the turkey from the brine, pat the skin and interior cavity with paper towels. Inject turkey with our gluten-free turkey injection, click here for the recipe.
3. Place the turkey in your roasting pan, breast side down without the roasting rack. Warning, it will not look as pretty when it’s done, but this will help ensure your meat will be deliciously moist.
4. Brush the entire backside of the turkey with 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter. Tent the turkey with foil.
5. Reduce the oven temperature to 350*F and immediately place the turkey in the oven.
6. Remove the foil after about an hour or so of cooking time and quickly baste the turkey with pan drippings.
7. About halfway through the cooking time, 2 hours for our 20 lb turkey, remove the turkey from the oven. Using food safe potholders (we used the ones that came with our instapot) flip the turkey so it is now breast side up. Brush with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, and return to oven. Continue to baste the turkey periodically each time you check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer.
8. The turkey is done when the thermometer reads 165*F and drumsticks move easily when lifted or twisted, our 20 lb turkey took 4 hours. Place on a warm platter, cover with aluminum foil and a towel to keep warm. Let stand about 15 minutes for easiest carving. Enjoy!

Check out our DELICIOUS gluten-free gravy recipe!!