Step By Step Instructions To Make Herb Roasted Turkey
Step 1 Brine Turkey:
Note: Skip to step 3 if you are not brining your turkey.
Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add salt and stir until dissolved. Pour into a medium cooler, 5 gallon bucket or large stock pot large enough to fit the turkey and brine. Add 1 gallon cold water and ice and stir to chill. Add the turkey (set the giblets aside) and cover the cooler tightly. Keep coller in a cool place or keep stock pot or bucket in the refrigerator for 10 to 16 hours.
Step 2 Remove the turkey from the brine:
After 16 hours remove the turkey from the brine so that it doesn’t get too salty. Discard brine and rinse turkey with cold water. Let drain.
Step 3 Dry Turkey:
If you are not planning to cook the turkey now, keep it refrigerated, uncovered. Leaving it uncovered will dry out the skin which will help the skin of the turkey become crispy as it roasts. Remove the turkey from the refrigerator to start to bring to room temperature for about 40 minutes. Pat dry with clean paper towels.
Step 4 Preheat Oven:
Position oven rack in the bottom-most position of the oven to accommodate the turkey. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Step 5 Make Garlic Herb Rub:
Mix garlic in a small dish with sage, thyme, rosemary and ground pepper. If using an un-brined turkey, add 1 ½ teaspoons coarse kosher salt. Reserve one tablespoon garlic herb mixture for the gravy.
Tip: if your herb mixture doesn’t stick to the skin, you can mix the herb mixture with olive oil or melted butter.
Step 6 Prepare Turkey For Roasting:
Rub the turkey all over and inside the cavity with the garlic herb mixture. Add the whole sage, thyme and fresh rosemary sprigs to the cavity. Tie legs together with kitchen twine and tuck wing tips under. Place turkey in a large heavy roasting pan, preferably fitted with a roasting rack.
Step 7 Roast The Turkey:
Transfer the turkey to the oven and roast undisturbed until light golden brown, and juices are dripping into the bottom of the roasting pan, about 1 hour.
Step 8 Lower the temperature and continue roasting:
Rotate the roasting pan so that the legs face the opposite direction in the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Pour two cups water into the pan. Continue roasting, checking the liquid in the pan every once in a while.
Step 9 Take Temperature:
Roast until the thermometer registers 165 degrees and skin is golden brown, about 1 hour 15 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes. Double check the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer in several spots and use the lowest temperature as your guide. Transfer the turkey to a carving board (or a cutting board with a channel) and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm. Let turkey rest 30 to 60 minutes before carving.
Step 10 While The Turkey Roasts Make giblet stock:
When the turkey is roasting, combine giblets and turkey neck (discard liver), 6 cups cold water, celery, carrots, onions, peppercorns and bay leaf in a large saucepan. If your turkey giblets are not included, you can cut off the wing tips and add them with the neck into the stock. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium low and gently simmer for 1 ½ hours. Strain and discard solids. You should have two or so cups stock. If you have slightly less, you can add a little water to it to make up the difference.
Step 11 Prep Gravy:
Mash the butter and flour together in a small dish until creamy and completely combined. Remove the rack from the pan. Skim the fat (or use fat separator) from the pan drippings. Add the defatted pan juices to the pan along with reserved 1 tablespoon garlic-herb mixture and set it over two burners on medium-low. Bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits, about 90 seconds to 2 minutes.
Step 12 Thicken The Gravy:
Add 2 cups turkey giblet stock to the pan, and continue whisking until the browned bits are all incorporated into the liquid. Bring to a simmer. Gradually whisk the butter-flour mixture into the simmering liquid, whisking constantly. Simmer, whisking often until the gravy is thick, 5 to 10 minutes. Strain gravy, if desired, through a fine-mesh sieve and transfer to a gravy boat.
Step 13 Carve The Turkey:
Carve the turkey by slicing the breast meat. Remove the legs, and slice them into chunks. Serve the turkey with the gravy.