Slow-Roasted Turkey With Apple Gravy
Updated Nov. 17, 2021
- Total Time
- About 6 hours, plus 2 days’ brining
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 8fresh bay leaves
- 2½quarts buttermilk
- ½cup granulated sugar
- ½cup coarse sea salt
- 1tablespoon black peppercorns, toasted and ground (see Tip)
- 1½teaspoons ground cayenne
- 1(14-pound) fresh or thawed frozen whole turkey, neck and giblets removed
- 20fresh bay leaves
- 3small Fuji or Honeycrisp apples, cored and cut into wedges
- 2small Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into wedges
- 2small fennel bulbs, sliced
- 1medium red onion, sliced
- 1medium yellow onion, sliced
- 1small bunch thyme
- 10slices fresh ginger
- 12garlic cloves, sliced
- 1orange, cut into 1-inch wedges
- Coarse sea salt
- 1½tablespoons black peppercorns, toasted (see Tip), plus more toasted and ground for seasoning
- 1lemon, quartered
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- ½cup unsalted butter
- ¼cup all-purpose flour
- 2tablespoons brandy, preferably Pomona or Calvados (optional)
- Salt and pepper
For the Brine
For the Turkey
For the Gravy
Preparation
- Step 1
Brine the turkey: Tear the bay leaves to release their natural oils. Place in a large bowl with the buttermilk, sugar, salt, black pepper and cayenne, and stir to dissolve the sugar. Place the turkey in a brining bag or clean unscented garbage bag, pour in the buttermilk mixture and tightly tie the bag closed. Place in a pot or bowl that holds it snugly, making sure the legs are fully immersed in the brine, and refrigerate for at least 48 hours and up to 72 hours.
- Step 2
Make the turkey: Position a rack at the bottom of the oven and heat oven (not convection) to 450 degrees. Tear the bay leaves to release their natural oils. Spread the apples, fennel, onions, 12 bay leaves and half of the thyme, ginger, garlic and orange across the bottom of a large roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and the whole peppercorns.
- Step 3
Drain the turkey and wipe dry. (Discard the brine.) Place the turkey in the pan breast side up, and rub its cavity with salt and ground pepper. Stuff the cavity with the lemon and the remaining bay leaves, thyme, ginger, garlic and orange. Tuck the wings underneath and tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Sprinkle the turkey with salt and ground pepper, and drizzle everything with oil. Drizzle more oil all over the turkey and rub to generously and evenly coat the skin. Transfer to the oven and roast until browned in spots all over but not burned, 20 to 40 minutes. (Ovens vary widely in how quickly they brown such a large bird, so start checking at 20 minutes and keep going until it’s spotted all over.)
- Step 4
Pour 2 cups water into the pan, cover the turkey with foil and loosely crimp around the edges of the pan. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees and slide the pan back into the oven. Slow-roast until the turkey is almost cooked through (a meat thermometer will register 150 degrees in the thickest part of the breast and 160 degrees in the thigh), about 4 hours.
- Step 5
Uncover, baste all over with the pan juices and roast uncovered until the skin is more evenly browned and the meat registers 155 degrees in the breast and 165 degrees in the thigh, 30 to 45 minutes. The internal temperature will continue to rise as the turkey rests. Let cool slightly in the pan, then transfer the turkey to a serving platter.
- Step 6
Make the gravy: Smash the fruits and vegetables in the roasting pan. Set a colander with small holes or a medium-mesh strainer over a bowl or pot, and pour in everything from the pan, working in batches if needed. Press hard on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible along with fruit and vegetable pulp. Discard the solids in the colander; scrape any strained pulp into the bowl. Skim and discard fat from the strained juices.
- Step 7
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk until deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. While whisking, add the defatted pan juices a little at a time, whisking until smooth, then stir in the brandy. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Keep warm over low.
- Step 8
When ready to serve, season the gravy to taste with salt and pepper. Carve the turkey and serve with the hot gravy.
- Ms. Lakshmi toasts her peppercorns dry in a metal ladle held and swirled over a medium flame on a gas stove until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. You can do the same or use a small skillet instead. She pounds her pepper in a mortar with a pestle. You can as well or use a spice grinder.
Private Notes
Comments
A 22-24 lb turkey usually means overcooked outer meat as the innermost part gets cooked. My physicist husband noted years ago that I could cook 2 12 lb turkeys simultaneously in our standard oven by aligning the 2 pans with the narrow ends facing the door. He was right. In about 3 hours I have 24 lbs of stuffed succulent turkey, none of which is dry... and we love the extra dark meat!
Does the turkey just sit on the apples and fennel, etc., covering the bottom of the pan or should it rest on a roasting rack in the pan? The bottom doesn’t get soggy if it’s not raised above?
Do not brine your turkey in a garbage bag! They are not made from food-safe plastic and can leach toxins into your food.
I just made this for my family for Christmas dinner, and I was faithful to the recipe. It resulted in an extremely tasty main meat dish, and the gravy was amazing. Guests were competing for pieces of the crisp, tasty skin. It's not as hard to make as it might seem from the list of ingredients, because most of it is just chopped and dropped in the pan. And I liked starting it in the morning and then leaving it be (to fill my home with delicious aromas!) all day untouched -- low and slow is the way to go. My only comment is that I don't think that I needed to buy apple brandy -- a shot of whiskey or bourbon would have done just as well. What a wonderful recipe. Thank you!
For once, I followed a recipe very very closely. This is so easy and delicious. Started with a 14lb fantastic farm raised bird who ate worms and acorns and ants and things. So we were ahead from the beginning. I thought the citrus was a bit overpowering in the gravy and added a bit of fish sauce to umami it up a bit. That helped. Plus a glug of Mosto Cotto which helped a lot. The 450 early browning is a winner of a technique and the buttermilk brine is genius. Messy, but well worth it.
Just made today. Highly recommend! I think this is the best roast turkey that I have ever eaten. Moist, tons of umami, craveable. It's a very forgiving recipe. I am lazy and love to improvise so didn't brine the turkey. Instead, softened a stick of butter, added pressed garlic cloves and course kosher salt. Rubbed over and under skin. Brought bird to room temp. Only used 2 apples and basted every 30-40. 16.5 lb took 5 hours. Kept foil off for most of bake. Tested w/thermometer (165F).