Ingredients:
A very tall stock pot
18-lb Turkey, remove giblets
7 Quarts water – or enough to cover the turkey in the bag
¾ C Coarse sea salt or ½ cup fine sea salt
1 C molasses
2 bunches fresh thyme, roughly chopped
1 bunch fresh sage, roughly chopped
2 large onions, chopped
4 garlic, halved
The rub
3 Tbs oil
1 Tbs ground black pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 Tbsp chopped fresh sage
The Baste
4 C low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 C orange juice
Directions:
Step 1
- Line very large bowl or soup pot with 2-30 Gal plastic bags, one inside the other.
- Rinse turkey inside and out. Place turkey in plastic–lined bowl.
- in another large bowl, combine water, salt, agave, molasses, 1 bunch thyme and ½ bunch sage.
- Stir until salt dissolves.
- Pour mixture over turkey. Gather tops of bags together and press out any trapped air.
- Seal bags and refrigerate turkey for up to 24 hours.
Step 2
- Remove turkey from brine and rinse off brine residue. Discard brine.
- Pat Turkey dry inside and out. Fill cavity with remaining 1 bunch thyme, ½ bunch sage, onions and garlic.
- Stir oil, pepper, chopped thyme and sage in small bowl to form paste; smear all over outside of turkey.
- Roast turkey 1 hour, tenting loosely with foil or cheese cloth if turkey starts to brown quickly.
- Roast turkey 30 min. Pour 1 C of broth over turkey then re-tent.
- Baste with ½ C of broth every 30 min until thermometer registers 175°F about 2 hours longer.
- Let turkey stand 20 minutes before carving.
