Best Awesome Marinated Roast Turkey Recipes

GOOD EATS ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Two to three days before roasting: Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.
• Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
• The night before or early on the day you'd like to eat: Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
• Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.
• Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.
• Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture. Set aside.
• Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.
• Roast the turkey about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let rest for 20 minutes.
• Slice the turkey and serve.

JUICY TWO-STAGE THANKSGIVING TURKEY MARINADE

Steps:

• On the Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving, whisk together salt, orange juice, brown sugar, a cinnamon stick and water in a large nonreactive container with a cover, such as a large stainless steel stockpot. Stir until salt and sugar dissolve, about 5 minutes. Place the turkey into the brine, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, remove turkey from the first marinade, shake off excess, and pat the bird dry. Discard the brine. Clean the stockpot or brining container.
• In the clean stockpot, make the marinade by stirring together together sliced oranges, sliced lemons, onion, green bell pepper, parsley, cloves, garlic powder, cinnamon sticks, paprika, olive oil, and pepper. Place the turkey into the stockpot and rub the marinade into the turkey. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• On Thanksgiving Day, remove turkey from the marinade and shake off the excess. Discard the remaining marinade. Roast the turkey using your favorite method.

AWESOME MARINATED ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Trim off any excess fat/skin. Wash bird well, remove all innards/giblets, turkey neck; save if you are going to use them to make gravy, otherwise discard, pat bird dry, inside and out.
• Blend all marinade wet and dry ingredients, heat to warm and blend either in microwave or on stove but do not let it scorch.
• Put 1 TBS of flower in a turkey roasting oven bag, shake to coat insides. Put a cake cooling rack (coat w/ cooking spray to keep from sticking) inside of bag to help raise bird off bottom, set inside of turkey roasting pan.
• Pour/rub marinade ingredients all over, making sure to get between skin, inside cavity of bird.
• Fold back wings, let legs lay free, put bird breast up in bag.
• Tie off bag and trim any excess beyond tie;.
• Puff up bag to keep it off skin as much as possible.
• Let bird marinate overnight in bag, in the pan ready to go in oven.
• Remove middle rack and put rack/roasting pan in lowest oven position. Preheat oven to 325, cook approximately 11 minutes per LB until core is up to 160 degrees, Before putting pan on oven, put 6 @ 1/2" long knife slits in bag around perimeter of breast to allow for venting.
• At half way point turn pan around 180 degrees in oven to allow even cooking in case oven has hot spots. Oven bag will suggest 350, I have found this cooks the bird too hot, too fast with less forgiveness.
• Pull out of oven, use scissors to cut slit in bag across top to allow it to sit for 30 minutes, tent a piece of aluminum foil over bird to help trap heat and moisture back inches.
• I usually go top down, starting with removing each breast half, and the cross cut against grain into portion slices, then cut drumsticks and present them whole, then remove thighs and wings and proceed to scrape and cut into portions.
• I will drizzle just a little of the pan drippings over cut portions in pan, helps to give the white meat a little more flavor and moisture.