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Roasted Turkey with Orange Glaze

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5 from 4 votes
Cook Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Brining Time 6 hours
Total Time 7 hours 45 minutes
Yield 10 –12 servings
Category Dinner
Cuisine Amercican, Holiday

Description

This orange and rosemary glazed turkey is juicy, flavorful, and perfect for Thanksgiving. Brining in a simple orange juice brine and roasting breast side down for part of the time ensures a bird that's evenly cooked and juicy.

Ingredients

For the Turkey

  • 2 gallons cold water
  • 1 cup salt
  • 2 (12-ounce) cans frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
  • 2 tablespoon black peppercorns
  • 2 dried bay leaves
  • 1 (12-pound) turkey, trimmed, neck, giblets, and tailpiece removed and discarded or reserved for gravy
  • 1 –1½ cups low-sodium chicken broth, bone broth, or white wine

For the Glaze

  • ¾ cup orange marmalade
  • ⅓ cup fresh orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
  • 2 sprigs rosemary

Instructions

For the Turkey

  • In a large container whisk together water, salt, orange juice concentrate, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Submerge turkey in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 6–12 hours.
  • Transfer turkey, breast side up, to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Pat turkey dry, inside and out, with paper towels then refrigerate, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
  • Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400°F. Coat a V-rack with nonstick spray then set inside a large roasting pan. Tuck tips of drumsticks into skin at tail end to secure (or tie together with kitchen twine), and tuck wings behind back. Transfer turkey, breast side down, to prepared V-rack. Pour broth into bottom or roasting pan and roast turkey 30 minutes.

For the Glaze

  • Meanwhile, combine marmalade, orange juice, Dijon, garlic, and rosemary sprigs in a saucepan over medium heat for the glaze. Bring glaze to a boil, stirring occasionally, and cook 1 minute, then remove from heat and let cool; discard rosemary sprigs.
  • Remove pan from oven. Using 2 wads of paper towels, rotate turkey breast side up then brush turkey with glaze. If broth has evaporated from bottom of pan, pour in an additional ½ cup.
  • Return pan to oven and continue roasting turkey until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the breast, but not touching the bone, registers 160°F and inserted into the thighs, but not touching bone, register 175°, 65–75 minutes more, brushing turkey with remaining glaze every 20 minutes until all glaze is used.
  • (To properly temp a turkey, insert the thermometer tip deep into the meat in several places and pull it back out slowly. Watch the numbers change on the screen. If you see a number that is below 160°F in the breast, return the turkey to the oven for more cooking.)
  • Remove pan from oven and gently transfer turkey to a carving board and let rest, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Slice and serve with favorite gravy.

Equipment

8 Qt Food-Safe Container
V-Rack Roasting Pan
Pastry Brush
instant-read thermometer
Cooking Alarm Thermometer

Video

Notes

Don’t have room in your refrigerator to brine a big turkey? If it’s cooler than 40°F outside, you can store it outside!
Prep ahead tip: 
You can brine the turkey 2 days ahead. Here's the schedule: 
  1. Brine on the turkey on Tuesday
  2. Remove from brine on Wednesday and chill overnight
  3. Roast turkey on Thursday and enjoy!
Thawing a frozen turkey: It can take days to thaw a turkey in the refrigerator—so get a head start on this! Account for 1 day of thawing for every 4 pounds. If you forget to thaw the turkey ahead of time, you can speed the process up by thawing in cold water.
Brine up to 2 days in advance: While the turkey shouldn't sit in the brine for more 12 hours, it can be brined ahead of time. Simple remove the turkey from the brine, pat dry and place on a wire rack set inside a sheet pan. Transfer the sheetpan and turkey to a refrigerator and store until ready to roast.
Basting is optional: Basting is a well-known cooking method that helps to keep the turkey nice and moist during roasting. To do this, use a baster to suck up any pooled drippings and pour them over the top of the turkey. Because we brined the turkey, this step is optional—you'll get a moist turkey regardless. Also, do not baste once the glaze is being brushed on.
Covering the bird when roasting: Do not cover the turkey while roasting. You want to allow the turkey skin to brown. Once the glaze is added, if the skin looks to be getting too dark, you can tent it with foil.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 pound meatCalories: 200kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 33gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 1135mgSugar: 6g
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