This year I decided to try a dry rub that Fine Cooking Magazine featured in last year’s Thanksgiving issue. I’ve tried Trader Joe’s pre-brined turkey as well as brined a turkey myself in the past. TJ’s brined turkeys are great…no fuss, no mess, convenient. BUT their turkeys are not very large and this year I needed a 24 lb. turkey. . . . waaay too big to brine easily! So I ordered a Distel Turkey from Whole Foods and picked it up 5 days before Thanksgiving.
The dry rub has an herbal rub that is tucked underneath the turkey’s skin, breasts and thighs/legs. It’s just a combination of a little EEVO, thyme, sage, rosemary and parsley…or maybe I should sing “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme?” The salt is then rubbed inside and on the skin. It is then twice bagged into plastic bags and refrigerated for 3 days, turning the turkey once a day. On the night of the third day, take the turkey out of the bags, pat dry and let it air dry in the refrigerator. The recipe did not say to rinse the bird of all the salt but I did, inside and out. And then thoroughly dried it, using paper towels.
I took the bird out of the refrigerator 5 hours before roasting it to allow it to get to room temperature AND to stuff it. YES, I stuffed the bird…something that we aren’t supposed to do with brined turkeys.
Roast the turkey at 425º for 30 minutes and then lower the temp to 325º and cook for the defined time according to the number of pounds. The roasting chart said 6 hours for a 24 lb turkey but it only took 3.5 hours because I brought the turkey to room temperature before putting it into the oven. Interior temperature was 160º.
The Verdict? Well, I must admit, it is all hearsay since I came down with a cold and sent the turkey to my uncle’s home with Bill. BUT, even my mother loved the turkey and my cousins’ all said it was the best tasting turkey they’ve ever eaten. I can tell you that you will get the best, browned & crispy skinned turkey you will ever roast! The skin was not only crispy but NO FAT…just thin, crispy evenly browned skin. The herb rub gave the turkey wonderful flavors and the salt rub created juicy, tender and soft meat. I did use a roasting rack but put the rack on top of a jellyroll pan instead of the roasting pan that may have contributed to the overall browning. I used the basting bulb to siphon off the juices after the turkey roasted for about 2-3 hours. One of my cousin's took these photos of the turkey, both while being sliced and the platter of turkey meat so you can get an idea of how dark the skin gets when prepared this way.Given the hassle with brining (huge bucket and finding space in the refrigerator for it), the dry rub is 10 times easier. And, it got RAVE reviews…something my brined turkeys did not get in previous 2 years.
I also made a very simple herb stuffing using “Wonderbread”…no gourmet breads for this traditional stuffing! I tore the bread into small pieces (2 loaves fill the cavities of the turkey; 3 loaves will give you more to bake in a separate baking dish). I sautéed finely chopped onions, celery, parsley, turkey giblets and heart in butter. I chopped fresh sage leaves and added some freshly ground pepper and golden raisins to the pan and then added it all to the bread pieces. I did not salt the stuffing at all assuming that the salt from the dry rub was enough to season it. Some years I add chestnuts but this year, I did not. I used the neck from the turkey to make a broth to use in the gravy.The down side to this was that everyone liked it so much that I’ve been elected to roast the turkey every year! I hope your thanksgiving feast was as memorable and delicious.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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