Can you believe that we are just 2 months till the end of the year?!? I don’t think I’ve ever been this anxious for a year to end ever!
It’s been such a crazy year and I’m ready for better things on the horizon. Though, I do know that just the clock turning another year older doesn’t necessarily change much, I am hopeful for what 2021 will bring.
Which is exactly what I am going to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Hopefully we’ll be able to get out more, see family, start traveling again, and get vaccinations to hopefully end this pandemic.
With just two short weeks before Thanksgiving, I thought it would be great to share my beer brined turkey recipe that I have been using for the past several years.
It creates such a juicy, succulent bird that I will never go back to the “regular” way of making turkey every again. Plus, everything is better with beer added to the recipe. Ha!
This does take a couple days to complete, so make sure you’re following along within the appropriate timeframe. You’ll need to take your bird out of the freezer and place in the fridge a few days before to let it properly thaw.
Once the turkey is 90% thawed, you’ll unwrap and remove all the gizzards and innards. Place the turkey, breast side down in a very large stockpot.
Make sure your stockpot is large enough to fit the bird and fill water to cover it completely. The stockpot I use, I found at Wal-Mart for about $12 and it’s prefect for our 20+ pound turkey that we do every year.
Once you have the turkey in the stockpot, pour over the beer and add salt, pepper, and the fresh poultry herb blend. Stir a little to combine and fill the pot the rest of the way with water.
Cover and place back into the refrigerator overnight but for no more than 24 hours.
The next morning, add the butter, poultry herb blend, garlic and salt to a bowl. Stir to combine and make sort of a herby butter mixture.
Remove the turkey from the stockpot and pat dry. Remember to also pour the water from the cavity of the bird before patting dry. I’ve forgotten to do this before and made a huge mess in my kitchen.
Take your herb butter mixture and spread evenly all over the breast side of the turkey. Place the turkey in a roasting pan with a roasting rack.
Tent with foil and roast at 350° F for about 2 hours. Remove the tenting and finish the turkey until cooked through and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the bird registers 165° F; about 8-10 minutes per pound.
Remove from oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.
Ever since I started making our turkey this way, my family always requests it now. However, this year instead of roasting we might smoke it!
I’ll for sure let you know how that turns out.
Beer Brined Roasted Turkey
Ingredients
- 16-20 lb turkey fully thawed
- 3 (12 oz) harvest ale beer or your favorite medium-bodied beer
- 1/3 cup salt
- 1/4 cup ground black pepper
- 1/2 oz fresh poultry herb blend rosemary, sage, thyme
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 oz fresh poultry herb blend rosemary, sage, thyme – chopped
- 1 Tbsp garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp salt
Instructions
- In a very large stockpot, place the turkey breast side down. Pour beer, salt, pepper, and add herb blend.
- Fill the pot the rest of the way with water and stir slightly to combine ingredients.
- Cover and place in refrigerator overnight to brine – no more than 12 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 350° F. In a medium bowl, add room temperature butter, herb blend, garlic, and salt; stir thoroughly to combine.
- Remove the turkey from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Rub generously all over with butter mixture and place bird, breast side down, in a roasting pan lined with a roasting rack.
- Cover/tent the turkey with foil and place in oven. Roast for about 2 hours then remove the tenting and continue roasting for the remainder of the time – until a thermometer inserted in the deepest part of the meat reaches 165° F.
- Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before carving and serving.