The Christmas Turkey

I received an accidentally large turkey from the butcher this year so was determined to treat it well. I gave it a spa day prior to it's sauna and it was honestly the nicest turkey ever to grace our household. So juicy and the flavours really permeated throughout. The cut was butterfly too, so easy to carve. Will repeat next year without changing a thing.

Ingredients

Brine

• 200g Salt

• 200g Soft brown sugar

• 3 litres water

• ½ltr fresh orange juice

• 3 cinnamon sticks

• 4 bay leaves

• 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns

• 4 sprigs of rosemary

• 5 cloves garlic

• 2 oranges

Turkey

• 4.5kg boneless turkey butterfly

• 1 pack smoked streaky bacon (optional)

• Roughly chopped vegetables to stand the turkey on

• A couple of cups of stock

Brining

Start the brining process 24 hours before you cook the turkey.

1. Add the water, orange juice, salt, sugar, cinnamon sticks, bulbs of garlic, rosemary, bay leaves and black peppercorns to a large pot.

2. Halve the oranges, squeeze in the juice and throw in each orange half.

3. Gently heat this brine mixture to a low simmer and keep stirring gently until all the salt and sugar dissolve, do not let this boil at any point.

4. Once dissolved, switch the heat off and set it aside to cool completely, this may take a couple of hours.

5. Once fully cooled, fully submerge the whole turkey, then top up the container with water to cover.

Cooking

1. Season the skin with the seasoning of your choice.

2. Lay over strips of smoked bacon if using, for flavour.

3. Set your oven to 180C.

4. Use a tray with a trivet or use roughly chopped vegetables to sit the turkey on (I used potatoes, carrots and onions.

5. Add some liquid and any more aromatics you wish to add (I used chicken stock) to make sure you have enough liquid for gravy later.

6. Let the turkey cook for around 3-4 hours depending on weight, until the centre of each breast has reached a temperature of 70°C.

7. After 2 hours drain the meat juices from the tray for gravy and return to the oven.

8. If you want to crisp up the skin a bit more, increase the temperature for the last 30 minutes to around 220°C.

9. Remove the turkey from the oven and place it onto a board or serving platter to let it rest for around 30 minutes. Loosely cover it with some tin foil, with enough gaps to let any steam come out.