We named her Loraine. 15 pounds and 4 ounces, and gloriously delicious. To quote our seasoned food critic Gary: “That’s the juiciest breast I’ve ever tasted.” And for the Austrian: “I hate to say this but it’s better than my grandma’s turkey on New Year’s Eve.” 😏 😏 😏

Thanksgiving is centered around the turkey and in my kitchen the turkey is centered on one question: to brine or not to brine. But before we get to Table For Six method of how to roast the perfect bird, we have several more steps and about 2 days to go.

Now, important steps to a perfect turkey:

— 1.5 days before Thanksgiving —

1. The bird: Pick a fresh (not frozen) organic (not just cage-free) heritage bird or at least a half heritage (sometimes they are called heirloom). From heritage to heirloom to organic to non-organic cage-free to a regular frozen turkey, the flavor profile decreases significantly as the price tag gets smaller by a logarithm of 1/2. I suggest a second best to a heritage bird, which would be between 60-80 dollars for a 14 lb. Don’t bother the rest of the steps if you bought a frozen turkey that hasn’t been thawed yet.

2.0. Remove neck and giblets. With a paper towel, pat the skin and the cavity dry.

2.1. Do not name the bird. (Although I couldn’t help it as I was massaging truffle oil on its skin. Loraine, after the chicken in BMO noir from Adventure Time.)

3. Brine. After reading articles after articles about the pros and cons of brining, I decided to try a two step brining. First prepare a buttermilk brine with salt, bay leaves, juniper berries, thyme, onion, fennel seeds or whatever spices you would like to add – to Thomas Joseph’s recipe I added about a cup of dried orange peel. With a paper towel, dry the bird free of blood and excess water. Use a brining bag and a bucket big enough to hold the bird and all the liquid. For each pound of turkey, you need 1 full hour of brining. (i.e. 15 hours for a 15 lb bird). Keep the bird bath in the refrigerator the whole time. (Time to clear and clean the fridge!)

4. Post-brine drying. Take the bird out of the brine, discard the brine and rinse the bird under running water for about 1-2 minutes. This is to remove excess salt from the skin. Pat dry with paper towel, then back into the fridge with a damp paper towel covering the breast, for another 1 hour/pound. (about another 15 hours for Loraine)

–5 hours before guests arrive–

5. Take the bird out of the fridge and leave under room temperature for at least an hour. This step is very important for a crisp skin. Make your cranberry sauce and mulled wine while waiting! 

>>>super easy NY Times recipe for lime zest cranberry sauce
6. Oil. While waiting for the oven to pre-heat  to 400 degrees: massage the bird with herbed butter and drizzle with truffle oil. Onion, lemon, herbs and apple into the cavity. Tug the wings under and truss the legs with twine. (Always cook the stuffing separately.)

7.  Put the bird into the oven breast down for the first 15 minutes, and lower the temperature to 375 for another half an hour. Flip the bird to be breast side up (ask a friend to help if you have a big bird!) and back to the oven for another 3 hours.

7.01 Bask the turkey (pour juice over the breasts) every 30 – 40 minutes, cover the breasts with aluminum foil if the skin starts to burn.

(Time to set the cheese and wine station!)

8. Stab an instant thermometer into two locations: the deep end of the breast and legs. When both read 165 degrees, the bird is done.   Garnish and serve. For carving techniques, one must understand the turkey’s anatomy. I used Chef Steps super awesome video diagram. See link below –