Best Cider Glazed Turkey Recipes

CIDER-BRINED-AND-GLAZED TURKEY

Steps:

• For brine:
• Simmer 1 quart apple cider, salt, allspice, and bay leaves in 20-quart pot 5 minutes, stirring often. Cool completely. Add remaining 3 quarts cider and 4 quarts water. Place turkey in brine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Drain turkey and rinse. Arrange on several layers of paper towels in roasting pan. Refrigerate uncovered overnight.
• For broth:
• Simmer all ingredients in large saucepan 30 minutes. Strain sage broth into bowl.
• For glaze:
• Boil cider in saucepan until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 15 minutes. Whisk in butter. Cool completely.
• Set rack at lowest position in oven; preheat to 350°F. Remove paper towels from roasting pan. Pat main and neck cavities of turkey dry; stuff loosely with stuffing. Place turkey in pan, tuck wings under, and tie legs together loosely.
• Roast turkey 1 hour. Brush with some of glaze. Roast until beginning to brown, about 1 hour. Cover with foil. Roast until thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 175°F, brushing with glaze every 30 minutes and adding up to 1 cup water to pan if drippings begin to burn, about 3 hours longer. Transfer turkey to platter; tent with foil. Let stand 30 minutes.
• For gravy:
• Pour pan juices into large measuring cup. Spoon off fat. Reserve 3 tablespoons fat and degreased juices. Pour sage broth into roasting pan. Bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Combine flour, sage leaves, and reserved 3 tablespoons fat in heavy large saucepan; stir over medium heat 1 minute. Whisk in broth from roasting pan and reserved pan juices. Add applejack and cream and boil until gravy thickens slightly, whisking often, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Strain into sauceboat. Serve turkey with gravy.

CIDER GLAZED TURKEY

Steps:

• Brine:
• In a large pot with a lid that is big enough to fit the turkey, add all but 2 cups apple cider and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the salt, 3 sprigs of thyme, 3 sprigs rosemary and stir to dissolve the salt. Remove from the heat, add 5 cups of ice, 6 cups water and stir. Put the turkey in the pot with the brine and hold it down so that the cavity fills with the brine. If the turkey is not completely submerged in the brine, add another 2 to 3 cups of water to the pot until covered. Cover the pot with a lid and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Remove the turkey from the brine, rinse and pat dry. Arrange it, breast side up, in a roasting pan. Stuff the remaining thyme and the bunch of sage into the cavity and tuck the wings back underneath the bottom of the breast. Tie the legs together with a piece of butcher's twine.
• In a small bowl combine the canola oil, poultry seasoning and pepper. Brush the turkey liberally until completely coated. Put in the oven and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. About 30 minutes before the turkey is done, liberally baste the bird with the cider glaze. Baste with the remaining glaze 2 more times at 10 minute intervals. Remove from the oven and let rest at least 15 minutes before carving. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.
• Glaze:
• In a small saucepan combine the reserved 2 cups of apple cider and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Simmer until reduced to about 1/2 cup.

MOLASSES-AND-CIDER-GLAZED TURKEY WITH RYE-AND-BLACK-WALNUT STUFFING

Steps:

• Turkey: Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with rack in lower third. Boil 1/2 cup cider in a small saucepan until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in molasses until combined. Season body and neck cavities of turkey generously with salt and pepper. Rub butter evenly over skin; season with salt and pepper. Let stand 30 minutes.
• Stuffing: Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add onion, celery, apple, and garlic; season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Add wine; bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; toss with bread, walnuts, parsley, and 1 cup broth until combined. Fold in eggs.
• Lightly pack half of stuffing into body and neck cavities of turkey. Toss remaining stuffing with remaining 1 cup broth; transfer to a lightly buttered 2-quart baking dish and cover with parchment-lined foil. Tie turkey legs together with twine. Transfer to a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Pour broth and remaining 3/4 cup cider into pan.
• Roast turkey 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Brush turkey with some of cider-molasses glaze. Continue roasting, brushing with more glaze every 20 minutes, until a thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh (avoiding bone) and into stuffing registers 165 degrees, 1 hour, 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on size of bird. (Add more broth as needed to prevent bottom of pan from scorching.) Transfer turkey to a carving board. Let stand 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bake extra stuffing in baking dish 15 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until top is crisp and golden brown in spots, about 15 minutes more.
• Gravy: Remove rack from roasting pan; skim excess fat from pan drippings with a large spoon. Heat pan across two burners over medium-high. Add wine and bring to a boil, scraping browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. Add 2 1/2 cups broth; return to a boil. Whisk together remaining 1/4 cup broth and flour in a small bowl. Slowly pour flour mixture into pan, whisking constantly, until gravy thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in butter until combined. Strain gravy through a fine-mesh sieve; transfer to a gravy boat.
• Remove twine from turkey and transfer to a platter. Garnish with apples, pears, and fennel. Carve turkey and serve, with stuffing and gravy alongside.

CIDER-GLAZED TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in lower third.
• Rinse turkey inside and out and pat dry. Put turkey on rack in roasting pan and season inside and out with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Put apple, onion, and thyme in large cavity. Fold neck skin under body, then tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks together with string.
• Add water to pan and roast, without basting, 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, boil cider and sugar in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar has dissolved, until reduced to about 1/4 cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until emulsified. Let glaze stand until ready to use.
• After turkey has roasted 1 hour, rotate pan 180 degrees. Roast, without basting, 40 minutes more.
• Brush turkey all over with all of glaze and continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into fleshy part of each thigh (test both; do not touch bone) registers 165 to 170°F, 5 to 15 minutes more (total roasting time: 1 3/4 to 2 hours).
• Carefully tilt turkey so juices from inside large cavity run into pan. Transfer turkey so juices from inside large cavity run into pan. Transfer turkey to a platter (reserve juices in roasting pan) and let rest, uncovered, 30 minutes (temperature of thigh meat will rise to 170 to 175&Deg;F). Discard string.
• Strain pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve into 2-quart measure and skim off fat (or use a fat separator), reserving fat.
• Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners, then add wine and deglaze pan by boiling over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 2 minutes. Strain through sieve into measuring cup containing pan juices.
• Put 1/2 cup reserved fat (if there is less, add melted butter) in a 4-quart heavy saucepan and whisk in flour.
• Cook roux over medium heat, whisking, 3 minutes. Add pan juices and stock in a fast stream, whisking constantly, then bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. Briskly simmer, whisking occasionally, until gravy is thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve turkey with gravy.