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How to Roast Napa Jack’s Holiday Turkey + Video

Holidays are the time for turkeys, but for me, I love roasted turkey and could enjoy it any time of the year, especially when this recipe for How to Roast Napa Jack’s Holiday Turkey is used.

How to Roast Napa Jack's Holiday Turkey - cookingwithkimberly.comThere’s nothing like a golden brown, roasted turkey with crispy, tasty skin, and moist, juicy turkey meat. The savory aroma carries throughout the house, making taste buds dance & mouths water.

Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other special occasion your family serves turkey, this recipe will dazzle everyone with it’s perfectly seasoned turkey.

Roasted Napa Jack’s Holiday Turkey:

Type: Entrée Recipe

Prep Time: 40 min
Brine Time: 48 hrs
Roast Time: 3 – 4 hrs
Rest Time: 5 – 10 min
Yield: one 10.5 lb turkey

The ingredients & instructions are listed below the video for measurements & directions. Please enjoy this webisode of Cooking with Kimberly:

Brining Turkey:

Brining does wonderful things for your turkey, because brining allows the turkey meat to absorb all the fabulous flavors of the spices and herbs, contained in the brine.

Bayou Classic Stockpot with Lid & Boil Basket - shop.cookingwithkimberly.comIt is essential to use a large stock pot big enough to hold your turkey and the brining liquid. The turkey needs to be completely immersed in the brine, so you need to make sure there is enough water in the brining pot.

Also, during the brining period, the turkey should be kept weighed down with a large plate, covered, and kept in a cold area – either in a refrigerator, in a cold garage, or in a cooler big enough to hold the large brining pot. If it’s no higher than 50 to 55 degrees F outdoors, you can keep it in a spot outside where it won’t be disturbed. The turkey can be kept brining overnight, and up to 48 hours, as long as you keep the brining liquid cold.

Web Chef Review: Napa Jack's Poultry Rub for Chicken & Fish - cookingwithkimberly.comTo really kick up the flavors, I am using Napa Jack’s Poultry Rub for Chicken & Fish, which will permeate the turkey meat, improve texture and keep the turkey moist. This fantastic rub contains garlic, salt, onion, orange peel, spices, sugar, parsley, green bell pepper, paprika, and cilantro. Napa Jack’s Poultry Rub for Chicken & Fish is made by Wine Country Kitchens:

How to Make Napa Jack's Holiday Turkey Brine - cookingwithkimberly.comIn addition, I will be adding some more spices and herbs to snazz up the brine flavors, for the Holidays. Also, the delicious, moist turkey will have nice crispy, golden brown skin and the roasting time will be somewhat reduced, from the usual time needed, for an unbrined turkey of the same weight.

Gizzards:

Vollrath 4qt Sauce Pan - shop.cookingwithkimberly.comI like to cook the gizzards and neck in a medium sauce pan, with enough water to cover them, plus another inch of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Then, I remove all the meat from the neck, and chop up the neck meat and giblets, excluding most or all of the liver.

The liver usually gets eaten by Mom while I am cooking. Sometimes, I include about 1 tsp of the chopped liver in my stuffing. I don’t use too much of the liver in the dressing because it can get a little bitter. The neck meat without the skin, and the remaining giblets are chopped up and included in the gravy, along with the cooking liquid, to add extra flavor.

Brine Ingredients:

Optional:

Brine Instructions:

  1. Place 2 trays of ice cubes into the bottom of a large stock pot.
  2. Need bay leaves? shop.cookingwithkimberly.comAdd the following ingredients into the brining pot: Napa Jack’s Poultry Rub, tea bag, kosher salt, brown sugar, bay leaf, peppercorns, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, chili flakes, and whole cloves.
  3. Add in the turkey, breast side down.
  4. Add enough water to cover the turkey and give it a good stir to dissolve the sugar and salt, and distribute the spices throughout the brine.
  5. Weigh the turkey down, using a large plate – upside down, to make sure the turkey is totally immersed in the brining liquid at all times. Cover with a lid.
  6. Place the turkey in the brine, into the refrigerator, or in any location where it will be kept cool – 50-55 degrees F. Check from time to time to make sure whether or not you need to add more ice cubes to maintain a cold enough temperature.
  7. Turkey should brine overnight or up to 48 hrs.
    • Tip: After 24 hours, it is a good idea to turn the turkey over, and then continue brining as above.

Turkey Ingredients:

Fox Run Olive Oil Mister - shop.cookingwithkimberly.comTurkey Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
  • Have ready a large roasting pansprayed or greased with butter, pork or bacon fat, chicken fat or vegetable oil.
  1. Remove plate and turkey from brine, remove giblet bag and neck from inside the turkey. Rinse the brine from the turkey with cold water, inside and out, to remove salt. Rinse giblet bag contents, and neck too.
  2. Place giblets or gizzards and neck into a medium sized sauce pan, bring to a boil and allow to simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. Then remove skin from neck and discard. Remove all meat from the neck and chop it up to include it in the gravy.
  3. The giblets or gizzards, excluding the liver, are chopped up finely and included in the gravy. About 1 tsp of the liver is chopped finely and included in the dressing. The remaining liver is Mom’s treat while cooking.
  4. After the turkey is rinsed thoroughly, drain off excess liquid and either pat dry completely, with a paper towel, or allow to sit and air dry, until completely dry, so the butter or other fat will adhere to the skin.
  5. If you are planning on stuffing your turkey, this is the time to prepare the stuffing of your choice. I decided to make a stuffing using my recipe for How to Cook Bread Stuffing with Vegetables & Cranberries.
  6. Cuprinox Rectangular Roasting Pan - shop.cookingwithkimberly.comLightly coat the inside and outside of the turkey with fat, as you desire. You could use butter, vegetable oil, bacon fat, chicken fat or pork fat and massage well by rubbing the fat into the skin, concentrating on the breast side, because the turkey will be placed into the roasting pan, breast side down.
  7. With breast side facing up, sprinkle half of the pepper and poultry seasoning, over the turkey and the other half into the cavity.
  8. While the turkey is still on your counter, breast side up, this is a good time to stuff the bird with any dressing of your choice.
  9. apple halvesWhen cavity is full, plug the cavity opening with an apple, orange or grapefruit.
    • Tip: If the opening is especially large, you could use both halves of the apple side by side, a large potato cut in half, or a large grapefruit half.
  10. With a skewer, secure the tail by passing the skewer through the tail, and then through the grapefruit and into the turkey near the breast bone, which will hold everything in place, so no dressing will spill out and into the roasting pan. You could also stuff the neck cavity, using a small skewer, to close the neck skin over the stuffing.
  11. Transfer turkey into the roasting pan, breast side down. Finish seasoning the turkey back by sprinkling with additional pepper and poultry seasoning.
  12. Hamilton Beach Meat Thermometer - shop.cookingwithkimberly.comInsert meat thermometer into a fleshy part of the turkey.
  13. Place turkey to roast, into a 500 degree F oven for 8 – 10 min to crisp up the skin on the back of the turkey.
  14. In 10 – 15 min, when the skin on the back is golden brown and crispy, cover the turkey with a loose tent of aluminum foil, shiny side down, and reduce heat to 350 degrees F.
  15. Roast for about 3 – 4 hrs, when the turkey has reached an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, and the joints are easily moved back and forth. Baste the turkey with your choice of fat, every 35 – 40 minutes.
  16. Remove turkey from oven and check the skin. If it isn’t crisp enough for you,, place it under the broiler, on the low setting and keeping a constant eye on your turkey, allow it to broil until skin has reached the amount of crispiness you desire.
  17. Remove turkey from oven and transfer to a tray, allowing it to rest for about 5 – 10 min.
    • Note: Do not remove the thermometer until the turkey has rested.
  18. Using the drippings and juice in the roasting pan, prepare any gravy you like. I will be using my recipe How To Cook Holiday Turkey Gravy, which is very delicious. I use the cooking liquid from the giblets, added to the turkey juices that accumulated in the bottom of the roasting pan, to make the gravy.
  19. When turkey has rested, check to see that turkey is now at 180 degrees F. Remove thermometer, and peel crispy skin off of the back of the turkey, to serve to those diners who love the skin.
  20. Turn turkey over, remove stuffing, and place in a covered serving dish.
  21. How to Roast Napa Jack's Holiday Turkey - cookingwithkimberly.comCarve the turkey and arrange on a serving platter.
    • Note: I like to place the pieces of crisp skin on top of the meat, after the turkey has been carved, and arranged on the serving platter, because it looks so pretty.
  22. Garnish with a little spray of parsley to brighten up the platter, along with a few cherry tomatoes.

Serve this fantastically flavorful recipe to your appreciative diners during the Holidays.

Wine Country Kitchens: winecountrykitchens.comThis show is brought to you by Wine Country Kitchens:

This beautiful Roasted Napa Jack’s Holiday Turkey had plenty of nice crispy skin, moist and tender, white breast meat and fantastic, hearty dark meat on the legs and thighs to satisfy a hungry crowd, with lots of leftovers for sandwiches and snacks.

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Author: Kimberly Turner

Kimberly Turner is the web-chef behind CookingWithKimberly.com. Food writer, food consultant and general lover of the delicious treats on our planet, Kimberly brings you hearty content, delicious offerings, fun antics, and some down-home cooked love with her mom making cameos. Internet entrepreneur and marketer, International model, and Editor-in-Chief of a number of online publications. Be a Champion in Your Kitchen & Eat Deliciously!

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  1. November Food Holidays & Events | The 'How to Cook' Blog - Cooking with Kimberly - […] How to Roast Napa Jack’s Holiday Turkey […]
  2. How to Make Napa Jack's Holiday Poultry Brine + Video | The 'How to Cook' Blog - Cooking with Kimberly - […] what? Check out my recipe for How to Roast Napa Jack’s Holiday Turkey, and enjoy your brined, succulent, beautifully…

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