Honey Brined Herb Roasted Turkey

"Allow 12 - 18 hours for the turkey to marinate in the brine. It's worth the wait as this process always assures a moist, flavorful turkey."
 
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photo by A Marsteller photo by A Marsteller
photo by A Marsteller
photo by A Marsteller photo by A Marsteller
photo by A Marsteller photo by A Marsteller
photo by Bri22 photo by Bri22
Ready In:
16hrs
Ingredients:
11
Serves:
16
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ingredients

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directions

  • Remove giblets and neck from turkey, reserve for gravy. Rinse turkey with cold running water and drain well. Blot dry with paper towels.
  • Prepare brine by mixing water, honey and salt in a large bowl. Stir until honey dissolves. Add half the thyme and sage along with the garlic and black pepper. Set aside. Add chicken stock.
  • Line an extra-large stock pot with a food-safe plastic bag. Place the rinsed turkey in the bag and pour brine over the turkey. Gather the bag tightly around the turkey, causing the turkey to be surrounded by the brine. Seal the bag and refrigerate the pot, bag and brined turkey for at least 12 hours.
  • Pre-heat oven to 350°F Remove turkey from brine and pat dry inside and out. Discard brine. Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a large shallow (about 2 1/2" deep) roasting pan.
  • Squeeze lemon juice into the main turkey cavity. Put the squeezed lemon halves into the cavity along with the rest of the thyme and sage. Coat turkey lightly with oil and sprinkle inside and out with salt, pepper.
  • Insert an oven safe meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, being careful the pointed end of the thermometer does not touch the bone. Roast turkey, basting with poultry stock every half hour or so.
  • Loosely cover with aluminum foil to prevent over browning, remove foil during last hour and a half of cooking time. Continue to roast until thermometer registers 180°F in the thigh, or 170°F in the breast.
  • Remove turkey from the oven and allow it to cool for 15-20 minutes before carving.

Questions & Replies

  1. How many calories
     
  2. Can i put this in brine on Thurs morning, and take out to cook first thing sat morning?
     
  3. Do you add stock to brine or is it just for basting
     
  4. Do you add stock to brine or is ot just for basting
     
  5. Do you add the chicken stock to the brine? Or is it just for basting?
     
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Reviews

  1. I had never brined the turkey before. Wow! What a difference. We loved this recipe! I left the turkey in the brine for 1 1/2 days and let the turkey dry in the refrigerator for another day. Before baking it, I made a mixture of garlic, fresh lemon juice, olive oil and lemon pepper seasoning and put it under the skin of the turkey. Then, I rubbed the exterior of the skin with a mixture of olive oil and fresh lemon juice. The whole family said it was the best turkey we've ever had. Thanks for a great recipe.
     
  2. This the best turkey I have ever made!It was so juicy,and the flavor was excellent.I skipped the lemons and just stuffed the bird.
     
  3. Yes, this recipe makes for a wonderful turkey. The bird was juicy, easy to carve, but most of all full of flavor. Even though my brining bag burst during the prep, I vow to brine all poultry from now on. It was so good that I can now laugh about having to mop up 6-8 quarts of briney water the day before Thanksgiving. :)
     
  4. This was the juiciest turkey we've ever had, I'll be brining my turkey every time from now on!
     
  5. I tried this recipe last Thanksgiving and it was the best turkey I have ever made in my life. Got such rave reviews from everyone. I am making it again this year, and probably will every Thanksgiving. It was so moist, tender and had a wonderful flavor. Try it and you won't be disappointed. Sheron Hosler - N. Ridgeville, Ohio
     
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Tweaks

  1. I cooked my first ever turkey with this recipe and it was a hit! Everyone loved it and was fighting over the leftovers...I'll definitely be coming back to this one. This first time I tried to stick as closely as possible to the recipe, but I think next time I'll use a little less water. The only substitution I made this time was 1 cup of noniodized table salt in place of the 2 cups kosher salt only because I didn't have any kosher salt. Next time I think I will go with the kosher salt since it's primarily for brining.
     
  2. My husband made this recipe for Christmas Eve. The turkey turned out really moist and flavorful. We didn't have fresh sage so just sprinkled in a generous amount of poultry seasoning instead. Thanks for posting!
     
  3. I found a resipe similar to this one five years ago and have never cooked turkey another way since. I do however use maple syrup instead of honey and add some cider for the liquid. The flavors take me back to New England. The sage and thyme are perfect and I continue the herbs into the dressing.
     
  4. I cooked my first ever turkey with this recipe and it was a hit! Everyone loved it and was fighting over the leftovers...I'll definitely be coming back to this one. This first time I tried to stick as closely as possible to the recipe, but I think next time I'll use a little less water. The only substitution I made this time was 1 cup of noniodized table salt in place of the 2 cups kosher salt only because I didn't have any kosher salt. Next time I think I will go with the kosher salt since it's primarily for brining.
     
  5. I've made this for probably the past 4 years for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Every turkey from 12 pounds to 25 pounds has been perfect. Everyone asks for the recipe. The only thing I do differently is put in black peppercorns instead of the ground black pepper because the pepper flakes stick to the skin and are hard to get off. Also, be careful when you use the broth off the turkey. You have to cut it with hot water or salt-free broth because it's so salty.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p><strong><span style=color: #ff0000;>Come and visit me on my blog:&nbsp; </span></strong></p> <p><a href=http://www.miriyummy.wordpress.com><strong><span style=color: #ff0000;>www.miriyummy.wordpress.com</span></strong></a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>October 2011: It's been 10 years since I came into Zaar one day at the recommendation of someone on another website. If you ask my husband (or my coworkers), I haven't logged out since! <br /><br /><a href=http://www.TickerFactory.com/><br /><img src=http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;15;0/st/20011021/e/I Joined Zaar%21/dt/6/k/f656/event.png border=0 alt= /></a> <br /><br />So what's happened in the ten years since I became addicted to Zaar? Well, I've been happily married, happily divorced, and happily married once again. (Wanna see wedding pictures? Click <a href=http://community.webshots.com/user/mirjamdorn>here</a>.) <br /><br /><a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=chuppah2.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/chuppah2.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> <br /><br />Originally from the Bronx, I've been living in Israel since 1983. I'm married to a brilliant man with the most yummy British accent (this is the part where he rolls his eyes and says, Yeah, yeah, yeah). Let's call him Sushiman, even though he hates that name. <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/member/52282>Chia</a> gave him that nickname when I was trying to create a dinner to show off my culinary talents. I posted here on Zaar with questions about the menu and since sushi was the main focus of the meal, he became Sushiman. That dinner was just the first of what I hope will become a lifetime of meals together. <br /><br />This is a picture of us taken in September 2005 in Kew Gardens in London. 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Not all eight live with us, but everyone is in and out all of the time, so we're thinking about replacing our front door with one of those revolving thingies.</p> <p>If you need help figuring out the whole complicated mess, you can check out <a title=Miriyummy -- A Guide to the Perplexed href=http://miriyummy.wordpress.com/about/ target=_blank>Miriyummy, A Guide to the Perplexed</a>.</p> <p>Here are my four beauties -- from left to right: Adiya, Sara, Nomi and Tehila <br /><br /><a href=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/?action=view?t=111.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mirj/111.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> <br /><br />On March 18, 2009, my oldest, Sara, got married to Ariel. 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