How to Cook Tasty Thanksgiving Turkey

Thanksgiving Turkey.

You can cook Thanksgiving Turkey using 14 ingredients and 10 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Thanksgiving Turkey

1. You need 1 (18 lbs) of butterball turkey.
2. Prepare 2 cups of Kosher salt (brine).
3. Prepare 1/2 cup of melted butter.
4. You need 2 of large onions (peeled & quartered).
5. You need 4 of carrots (peeled and 1 inch diced).
6. Prepare 4 stalks of celery (1 inch chop).
7. It's 2 sprigs of fresh thyme.
8. It's 1 of Bay leaf.
9. You need 1.5 cups of dry white wine.
10. You need 1 of lemon.
11. Prepare 1 head of garlic.
12. It's 2 teaspoons of garlic powder.
13. You need 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.
14. You need 2 teaspoons of salt.

Thanksgiving Turkey step by step

1. Remove neck and giblets from inside of turkey. Rub the turkey inside and out with Kosher salt..
2. Place turkey in a large stock pot and cover with COLD water. Place covered stock pot in the refrigerator and allow the turkey to soak in the brine mixture minimum 12 hours, preferably overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove turkey from brine and place into a clean sink. THOROUGHLY rinse turkey inside and out. Discard the brine mixture..
4. Brush the turkey inside and out with 1 cup of the melted butter. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder on top and bottom of turkey..
5. Place BREAST side DOWN on the roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan. Make sure it’s on a rack so it’s elevated. Breast side down will allow the dark meat juices to drip down onto the white meat..
6. Stuff the cavity with the quartered onion, 2 of the diced carrots, 2 of the diced stalks of celery, 1 sprig of thyme, 1 quartered lemon, 3-4 cloves of smashed (not diced) garlic and the bay leaf..
7. Scatter the remaining celery, onions, carrots and thyme around the bottom of the roasting pan. Pour the 1.5 cups of dry white wine into the bottom of the pan..
8. Roast turkey UNCOVERED for 3 hours with thigh side facing up. Baste turkey with juices on bottom every 30 minutes..
9. After 3 hours of cooking CAREFULLY turn the turkey on the rack so the BREAST side will now be facing up. Baste turkey with remaining cup of melted butter and continue to cook for another hour or until internal temperature of thighs reach 180 degrees..
10. Once finished cooking allow turkey to rest 20 minutes before carving. KEEP drippings for a delicious gravy!.