I am happy to report that our Thanksgiving feast for two turned out magnificently! Anyone who tells you that brining is useless CLEARLY has not brined! OMG the chicken was the best chicken I’ve ever had, hands down. Here’s my brine recipe (I’m sure it would be just as good for turkey but you’ll have to scale the volume up, of course) and how I cooked the chicken:
7# roaster chicken
5 cups water
5 cups apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup kosher salt (NOT table salt!)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2Tbl mixed peppercorns
4-5 bay leaves
Warm up the brine until the salt/sugar has melted. Cool it down to room temp before putting on the bird. I used a (too big) brining bag. Rinse your bird and put into a brining bag or vessel of some sort. Weigh it down if it floats. Let it brine for 4-8 hours in the fridge. Any longer and it’ll make the meat too salty. I brined this chicken for 4 hours. A turkey would need at least 8 hrs due to its size.
Pull out the bird for at least 30 mins before cooking to get the chill off. Remove from brine, rinse and pat dry.
I don’t put stuffing in the bird because it increases cooking time and therefore will make your bird too done. What I do is put the giblets back in the cavity along with lemons, rosemary, garlic and peppercorns. I also make a paste of garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, lemon zest and olive oil to put under the skin. A final touch is to put olive oil on the outside of the bird and season with S/P.
I roasted at 400ºF for about 30 mins, then turned down to 350F and tented with foil for about 2-2.5 hrs more. I use a thermometer to check that it’s 170F or more. Once you hit that, you’re done. The official recipe for chicken is 25 mins per pound of bird at 350F, but mine was a bit quicker due to the 400F start. Use a thermometer.
The chicken turned out succulent, flavourful and downright awesome. It was tangy and citrusy and perfectly seasoned. The only photos I have are semi-crappy from my iPod:
Chicken is on the back left, brussels sprouts back right, green bean casserole front right, boiling potatoes front left.
Clockwise from top right: chicken, sausage dressing, green bean casserole, sauteed brussels sprouts and smashed potatoes.
Everything was totally delicious and I’m glad I didn’t bother with the chocolate lava cakes! NO WAY we could have eaten them! I’m going to make them today instead. Since I’m a horrible baker, it’ll be interesting to see if they turn out.