How To Cook A Turkey

Turkey cooking is no easy business, with lots of a processes. But if you can spare the time to do it properly, the difference between a well-cooked bird and one that’s just been shoved in the oven is immense.

There are two phases of cooking an awesome Turkey. The first is the brining. The second is the baking. This recipe is based on the use of a 3.5kg turkey.

The bird must be defrosted by placing in the fridge around two days before you plan to start brining. The brining should be around 24 hours, or at least overnight.

Also, at the end I’ve included a recipe for gravy.

Brining ingredients

-14 cups of water water
-3/4 cups coarse salt
-4 bay leaves
-1 tbsp whole coriander seeds
-1.5 tbsp whole black peppercorns
-1 tbsp fennel seeds
-1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
-1/2 bottle dry white wine
-1 medium onion sliced
-4 garlic cloves, crushed
-1/2 bunch fresh thyme

-Place the white wine and three cups of the water in a saucepan with the salt and spices, that is everything on the list except the wine, onion, garlic and thyme. Boil until the salt is dissolved.
-Get a large bucket and line it with a large, clear plastic bag. Fill the bag with the remaining water and add the salt mixture and the remaining ingredients.
-Place the bird in the water, breast side down, adding water to cover. Tie the bag and weigh down the bird with a plate, if need be, to be fully immersed.
-Put in the fridge or a cool esky for 24 hours or at least overnight.
-Remove the bird from the brine mix, pat dry.

Ingredients for baking
-Stuffing (look here for some inspiration)
-White wine (you can use the half an unused bottle from the brining)
-200g butter

-Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
-Sprinkle some salt and pepper in the turkey cavity, then stuff your turkey, stick wingtips underneath and tie legs together. Do not overstuff the bird – loosely packed stuffing is preferable, as it will expand during cooking.
-Melt the butter and add the white wine and combine. Take piece of cheesecloth, soak it in the butter/wine mixture. -Put the turkey on a rack, in a baking dish.  Squeeze the cheesecloth gently and lay over the breast of the bird, covering only the breast meat, not the legs. Baste the whole bird with butter/wine mixture. Add half a cup of water to the bottom of the pan, then place the bird in the oven.
-Every half an hour, baste the bird, including the cheesecloth, with the white wine and butter mixture and add half a cup of water to the bottom of the pan (to avoid the turkey juices from burning, because you want to use them for gravy). Two hours in, remove the cheesecloth and baste again, and keep cooking. In total it should take around three hours for the bird to cook. Lower the temperature if you think it’s cooking to quickly.
-Use a meat thermometer to test the stuffing, which should be at around 160 degrees, while the thickest part of the leg meat should be at 180 degrees.
-Remove and rest for at least half an hour before carving.

Gravy ingredients
-Neck from the turkey and 500ml water or just 500ml chicken stock.
-One small onion
-2 sticks of celery
-Two peeled carrots
-One small leek, trimmed
-Half a handful of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
-1/2 cup Madeira or Rum Port or Port
-Two tbsp cornflour, dissolved in half a cup of cold water

-Put the neck in 500ml of water and bring to the boil, otherwise do the same with your stock.
-Add your vegetables (not the rosemary) and boil for at least an hour, preferably 2, covered. Strain out the vegetables and return to the pan.
-When the turkey is cooked and resting, pour its pan juices into your saucepan of stock and bring to a simmer, throwing in your rosemary and stirring in your alcohol. Reduce until the flavour is at desired strength, then season accordingly.
-Stir your cornflour mixture thoroughly to ensure all the flour is dissolved (it can clump if left to stand), then while your stock is is boiling, get a whisk and start whisking, slowly drizzing in about a quarter of your cornflour mixture. Keep whisking until it is fully incorporated, then allow to boil and thicken. Repeat this process until the gravy is at the desired thickness, then turn of the heat, but leave on the stove to reheat when you are ready to serve you turkey.