Recipe from P. Allen Smith
Adapted by Kim Severson
- Total Time
- About 4 hours, plus brining
- Rating
- 5(186)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Heritage turkeys can be tricky to roast; the flesh is firmer than that of a supermarket bird. P. Allen Smith, the Southern cooking and lifestyle expert from whom this recipe is adapted, suggests a day in a brine sweetened with apple cider and then roasting the bird on a bed of rosemary. Roasted giblets and a chopped hard-boiled egg add texture and depth to his country-style gravy. “The eggs and giblets make it a little more rustic and a little more interesting,” he said. “It’s the gravy that saves that dry turkey.” —Kim Severson
Featured in: The United States of Thanksgiving
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Ingredients
Yield:10 to 16 servings
- 116- to 20-pound heritage-breed turkey
- 1quart apple cider
- 1cup kosher salt
- 2lemons, quartered
- 5bay leaves
- 1medium apple, quartered but not peeled
- 1medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered
- 6garlic cloves
- 1bunch thyme
- 8tablespoons/1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 6sprigs rosemary
- 1tablespoon salt
- 1tablespoon pepper
- 1cup red wine
- 3cups turkey or chicken stock, plus more if needed
- 4tablespoons cornstarch
- 1hard-boiled egg, chopped (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (14 servings)
668 calories; 28 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 80 grams protein; 1265 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
A day ahead of roasting, remove neck and giblets from turkey. Mix cider, salt, lemons, bay leaves and 3 quarts water together in a large bowl or stockpot; stir to dissolve salt. Submerge turkey in the bowl or pot, cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours. Alternatively, put turkey and brine in two clean, unscented plastic garbage bags (one bag inside the other), tie well and place in a cooler with ice or ice packs.
Step
2
When you are ready to roast, heat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse turkey and pat dry. Stuff apple, onion, garlic and most of the thyme into turkey. Lift skin at neck and gently use your hand to separate skin from breast meat. Rub half the butter under skin and slip in remaining thyme and two rosemary sprigs. Use remaining butter to rub outside of bird, then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
Step
3
Set a rack into a roasting pan and place four rosemary sprigs on top of the rack. Place bird on top of rosemary. Add turkey neck and giblets to bottom of pan. Take two pieces of heavy foil cut to the length of the pan. Fold the two together to create a single sheet to tent the bird.
Step
4
Transfer to oven and roast. Roasting time will be 3 to 3½ hours for an 18-pound bird. Add 10 minutes per pound for larger birds. Subtract 10 minutes per pound for smaller birds. Midway through cooking time, remove giblets and neck and add wine and 1 cup water. Twenty minutes before roasting time is complete, begin to test for doneness with a digital probe thermometer inserted at the deepest part of the thigh. It is done when thigh registers 160 degrees. Remove bird from oven and transfer to a serving platter.
Step
5
Place roasting pan over low heat on the stovetop and add 2½ cups stock. Scrape all the browned turkey bits from bottom of pan. Skim ⅔ of the fat from top of drippings and discard. Bring drippings to a boil; reduce to a simmer. You may wish to strain at this point to remove stray bits, but they add character to the finished gravy.
Step
6
Finely chop giblets and neck meat. Dissolve cornstarch in ½ cup stock. Add slurry to drippings, stirring constantly, until thickened. If gravy seems too thick, whisk in a bit more stock. Add chopped egg and giblets and neck meat. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Ratings
5
out of 5
186
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Cooking Notes
Math Student
Directions are to roast 3-3.5 hours, or 180-210 minutes, and to subtract 10 minutes per pound for a smaller bird. Even using the longer amount, this would give 70 minutes total for a 14 pound bird. Is this correct? Sounds too brief.
Lisa
The turkey was good but a little saltier than I like. I prepared the brine as per recipe, brined for a bit less than 24 hours, rinsed it well and followed the directions to roast the turkey. The gravy was quite salty but still edible. I've brined before and run into the same problem with final product being salty
Belle
Way back in the 60s, my dad would brine his turkey in a salt brine for two to three days (+/- 20 lbs.) & then float it in a sink-full of cold water and ice overnight. Thinking back, his idea was to draw the water into the bird via the salt & then reduce the salinity of the bird prior to cooking. Dad's Thanksgiving Turkey & Gravy were ALWAYS big hits, tender, juicy, and flavorful. I still follow dad's method, with great success, so give it a try.
Math Teacher
Check your math again.
J T Kirk
Why use a faster oven for a "firmer" bird, when store-standard birds roast at 325°F? I guess the tenting and liquid add. . .
Vicki
I have been making a heritage turkey for years and mine is NEVER dry. I separate the skin from the breast and as far as I can up the thighs and the wings. I then place as much stuffing as I can in that space. It is a sausage, butter corn bread stuffing and very wet. I then cook the turkey at 375 degrees for about 10-15 mins/lb. I have done this with turkeys from 14-24 lbs.
Dan
I recommend against following this recipe. Instead, use a recipe based on one from 100+ years ago when heritage turkeys were common and before the standard Broad Breasted supermarket breed took over. Those recipes treated them closer to wild turkey.I looked at a number of recipes including this one before I made mine. I ended up adding bacon over the breasts instead of tenting it, starting at 450 degrees for the first 30 minutes then dropping to 400 degrees to finish it out. Bird was great.
AD
I used this brine recipe on an 8.5 lb heritage turkey. Absolutely delicious.7qt water1.5c kosher salt6 bay leaves2TB coriander seeds1TB fennel seeds2TB peppercorns1tsp mustard seeds6 crushed garlic clovesBring 1 quart water, the salt, bay leaves, and spices to a simmer, stirring until salt has dissolved. Add remaining water to cool.
Allison
If I am not making the gravy, does anyone know if the red wine is still necessary to add midway through cooking? Can another liquid work in its place (broth, water, cider?).
Lakelady
For my first experience with a heritage turkey, this was a great recipe. EXCEPT the roasting time is too short! Using this calculation, my 15-pound bird would only take 2 1/2 to 3 hours. At 2 1/2 it wasn’t nearly done, and at 3 I yanked it out and put the legs back in to cook more. Regular turkeys always cook in a shorter time than given. But the heritage turkey meat was flavorful and tender and NOT dry! It’s interesting and worth doing.
Vicki
I have been making a heritage turkey for years and mine is NEVER dry. I separate the skin from the breast and as far as I can up the thighs and the wings. I then place as much stuffing as I can in that space. It is a sausage, butter corn bread stuffing and very wet. I then cook the turkey at 375 degrees for about 10-15 mins/lb. I have done this with turkeys from 14-24 lbs.
Mark
Stuffing between the skin and the meat?? No thank you.
Dan
I recommend against following this recipe. Instead, use a recipe based on one from 100+ years ago when heritage turkeys were common and before the standard Broad Breasted supermarket breed took over. Those recipes treated them closer to wild turkey.I looked at a number of recipes including this one before I made mine. I ended up adding bacon over the breasts instead of tenting it, starting at 450 degrees for the first 30 minutes then dropping to 400 degrees to finish it out. Bird was great.
AD
I used this brine recipe on an 8.5 lb heritage turkey. Absolutely delicious.7qt water1.5c kosher salt6 bay leaves2TB coriander seeds1TB fennel seeds2TB peppercorns1tsp mustard seeds6 crushed garlic clovesBring 1 quart water, the salt, bay leaves, and spices to a simmer, stirring until salt has dissolved. Add remaining water to cool.
JZ
I️ am a bit confused. Do you tent the Turkey for the entire toasting time, or do you remove it a some point?
Lisa
The turkey was good but a little saltier than I like. I prepared the brine as per recipe, brined for a bit less than 24 hours, rinsed it well and followed the directions to roast the turkey. The gravy was quite salty but still edible. I've brined before and run into the same problem with final product being salty
Belle
Way back in the 60s, my dad would brine his turkey in a salt brine for two to three days (+/- 20 lbs.) & then float it in a sink-full of cold water and ice overnight. Thinking back, his idea was to draw the water into the bird via the salt & then reduce the salinity of the bird prior to cooking. Dad's Thanksgiving Turkey & Gravy were ALWAYS big hits, tender, juicy, and flavorful. I still follow dad's method, with great success, so give it a try.
J T Kirk
Why use a faster oven for a "firmer" bird, when store-standard birds roast at 325°F? I guess the tenting and liquid add. . .
Math Student
Directions are to roast 3-3.5 hours, or 180-210 minutes, and to subtract 10 minutes per pound for a smaller bird. Even using the longer amount, this would give 70 minutes total for a 14 pound bird. Is this correct? Sounds too brief.
Math Teacher
Check your math again.
david
If you roast a 16 lb bird 180 minutes and subtract 10 minutes a pound for smaller birds, then a 14 lb bird would be 160 minutes (180-[16-14*10]).
Rebecca
David I think your math is right but your premise is wrong - the recipe says 3-3.5 hours for an 18 pound bird, not a 16 pound bird. So I calculate
180 - ( (18-14) *10 ) = 140 minutes on low end
to
210 - ( (18-14) *10 ) = 170 minutes on high end.
I'm doing a 10-12 pound bird, so I read the recipe 3 times and then scratched it out on a bit of paper, since it pays to be sure!! Estimating for an 11 pound bird, mine came out at 110 to 140 minutes.
s
Looks great!
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