Buttermilk-Brined Roast Turkey Recipe (2024)

Does this method still produce plenty of drippings for gravy?

I also wondered about gravy. Could you still use the drippings for gravy or would the buttermilk and salt brine affect the taste?

Could you still use this recipe without spatchco*cking the turkey? I always brine my turkey whole by putting it in a large plastic garbage bag with the brine & ice & putting it in a cooler. I like having the stuffing in the turkey. Do you think this would still work that way?

Could you also provide the amount of kosher salt, particularly Morton? Thanks!

For all roast poultry, whole bird or parts, always bend back the joints to the knees and hips until they pop. With this easy step, the cooking times are equalized between the light and dark meats.

I actually (ahem) did this last year. Just regarding gravy: the drippings are concentrated in BOTH flavor and salt. When done I skimmed the fat, made roux with it, deglazed the roasting pan with some of the salt-free stock I had made from the backbone, wing tips and gizzards, strained that, then added this concentrated stock and the salt free stock to the roux to balance the salt. Don't worry about having enough flavor. And if you go over on the salt you can always add cream.

We're cooking a 20lb turkey this year. Any suggestions on how to tweak this recipe to account for the larger bird?

Also a note to the person who brines their turkey in a garbage bag. Don't do that. Use only food grade plastic to keep your food in. Garbage bags have a bunch of nasty chemicals that you should not be eating.

Salt: It looks like she is going for a 4.3% brine. If you have a scale weigh your liquids (the buttermilk) and then multiply that number by 0.043 and that's how much salt you need. For example, if you have 4000 grams of buttermilk you will need 172g of salt (4000 * 0.043 = 172). This way you can scale it up if you need to. Converting from grams to tablespoons depends on the type of salt you are using. Please use google to help with this conversion as different brands vary the weight by volume.

For those wondering about different types of salt, it doesn't matter so long as you weigh it. Different types of salt can vary a lot in "saltiness" when measured by volume, because the fluffier/coarser salts end up with so much more air in a cup than the finer/denser salts. They also differ in how they dissolve during cooking. But by weight the difference in saltiness is negligible (some have more trace minerals, but it's still just traces) and it's meant to completely dissolve in the brine.

Would the brining work effectively with buttermilk made from powdered buttermilk ( e.g. SACO) ?

I make wing turkey wing gravy with two turkey wings purchased separately in addition to the bird. Roast the wings the day before, saving a few tablespoons of the fat, create the stock, refrigerate. Make the actual gravy on the Big Day using the saved fat. Great time saver during that last-minute crush.

To the question on safety of leaving the turkey out for 3 hours, you’re fine unless your kitchen is unusually warm or contaminated. 3 reasons: first, the turkey is cold to start and warms up slowly so it’s not exposed to heat too long. Second you will cook it long enough and hot enough to be safe. Third, the pH of buttermilk is 4.4-4.8, which is low enough to slow the growth of microbes.

You can add aromatics to this. I have been doing a buttermilk brined turkey for years - I use star anise, lemongrass, ginger and so forth to give it more flavor. Any hard spices need to have their flavor extracted before adding to the brine though - so simmer them in 1 cup of the buttermilk for a while (like 20 minutes) and then add everything back to the rest of the buttermilk. You don't cook all of the buttermilk as you'll destroy the enzymes you are counting.

I'm happy about any recipe that has 3 ingredients and uses the verb "squish."

Best turkey I ever made!Didn’t want to do the plastic bag thing so I put it all into my 12 quart stock pot and put a plate on it with a jug of water to weigh it down, in the fridge for three days.

I used this recipe again this year. I put fresh garlic, rosemary, sage, and thyme mixed with melted butter under the skin before roasting. Delicious. I am wondering if three quarts of buttermilk are necessary. It seemed like too much for a 12 pound turkey so next year I am going to try two or perhaps even one quart, adjusting the salt accordingly.

I just used this technique again this year. The turkey was moist, well seasoned, and delicious. My only thought is are three quarts of buttermilk really needed? I think one or two quarts, reducing the salt proportionately, would be enough to coat the turkey and brine it.

Excellent results. So grateful for this recipe!

Can this be done with a thawed turkey? Where I live only frozen turkeys are available.

As much as I enjoy recipes by Samin Nosrat, this one did not work for us. On the plus side, the spatchco*cking made brining easy, and the turkey cooked in less than 2 hours (for a 12 lb bird). However, the turkey flavor and texture were not to our liking. The buttermilk seemed to impart a dominant flavor that masked the turkey's flavor. Next time I may do the spatchco*ck part again, but with a more traditional brine.

winner every yr

Prettiest, juiciest turkey ever. Simple and almost impossible to mess up!

This recipe is a winner. I cooked a 16# turkey. I adjusted the salt weight (16/14 X original recipe amount). Added some skim milk to stretch the buttermilk. Used a large pot to brine. Turkey cooked in 1 1/2 hours. Tented after 45 minutes. Rotated pan and moved to middle rack for last 45 minutes. Our guests were impressed.

I did a side by side Buttermilk vs Dry Brined Thanksgiving this year. Both 12lbs and stuffed but otherwise true to the recipes. Buttermilk was moister but blander. It yielded no usable drippings for gravy. Parchment or liquid to prevent burning your pan. I will be doing Dry Brined (my usual go to) with a seasoned buttered cloth for part of the roasting next year to keep it moister.

An absolutely perfect turkey - maybe the best in my many years of turkey making. Used the drippings for half the fat in the gravy, homemade stock and shallots and Nutritional Yeast and it was also excellent. Do not skimp on the brine time and don't forget to tent - it gets brown fast.

You really have to keep your eye on the oven because the skin goes from beige to black VERY quickly once it reaches browning stage. Very moist breast (even the next day as leftovers), but the breast was done way before the thighs, which had to go back into the oven while the breast was served, so the turkey was served in two sequences, which wasn't the worst thing to happen as the turkey arrived piping hot in both rounds. Not as sloppy getting it out of the brining bag as I expected!

I made a turkey for the first time in my life using this recipe and it slayed so hard… rave reviews 10/10 no dryness whatsoever so proud of my work tbh big slay…

I have made this several Thanksgivings in a row now. It's always great! I took a reader's advice and made gravy from the drippings, using non-salted turkey stock and white whine. Absolutely perfect! Everyone loved the turkey and the gravy, and now I know I don't need to pre-make gravy for this brined turkey.

worst turkey I ever made! Uneven browning on the outside, odd taste and rubbery texture.