Sous Vide Thanksgiving Turkey

The best Thanksgiving Turkey you have ever had will be this juicy Sous Vide Thanksgiving Turkey. It is never dry and is bursting with flavor, it will be the Thanksgiving table centerpiece your Thanksgiving fest deserves.

Sous Vide Thanksgiving Turkey

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, who doesn’t love a holiday that is food centric? But a lot of people are not big fans of the star of the dining room table on Thanksgiving, the turkey. And for good reason, everyone has had that Thanksgiving experience with a beautiful turkey, but the center is very undercooked or raw when it is carved. Or we have had the opposite experience, a turkey cooked so much that it takes gallons of gravy to be able to eat it because it is so dry. Cooking a whole turkey, especially a large one, is almost impossible to get to come out fully cooked without some pieces over cooked and dried out.

The answer is…don’t cook a whole turkey! By breaking down the turkey into large pieces and cooking the white and dark meat separately at different temperatures using sous vide you can achieve turkey perfection. It does take some extra time to sous vide a turkey but the results are worth it. And don’t worry about the “extra parts” that will result in breaking down the turkey. We will use those to make turkey stock. This stock can be used to make the Best Turkey Gravy.

Ingredients

• Turkey (any size can be used depending on how many people you are feeding. I used a 13-pound turkey for 4 adults & 1 child. (We had plenty of leftovers)

• 5 tablespoons Kosher Salt

• 2 tablespoons Sugar

• Lemon Zest from one lemon, large strips

• 4-6 bunches of Thyme

• 4 small pieces of Rosemary

• 4-8 sprigs of Marjoram

• 2 tablespoons Butter

• 1-2 tablespoons Olive Oil

Directions

1. Ensure that your turkey is fully defrosted before starting to break it down. Follow the defrosting directions on the packaging. For my 13-pound bird it took 5 days in the refrigerator to fully defrost.

   
   

   Break down your turkey into large pieces, 2 thigh & leg quarters, 2 breasts and 2 wings. Unless you have someone that loves the wings, those go into the pot to make turkey stock for the Best Turkey Gravy.

   
   
   

   

   
   
   

2. Mix the salt and sugar together in a small bowl. This mixture will be used as a dry brine to season our turkey.

3. Liberally season both sides of your turkey with the salt/sugar mixture.

4. Place both breasts in one large sous vide bag and both leg & thigh quarters in another.     

5. Add 2 large pieces of lemon zest to each bag along with the herbs, butter & olive oil divided evenly. Vacuum seal both bags.

   
   

   

   
   

6. Cook the bag of breasts at 131°F for 24 hours and the bag of leg & thigh quarters at 149°F for 24 hours.

   
   

   Now I know that seems like a low temperature since the turkey packaging says to cook until 170°F. But it is very safe, turkey needs to reach 170°F for 1 second to be safe & pasteurized but if it reaches an internal temperature over 130°F for a longer period it will achieve the same level of pasteurization.  With the 24-hour cooking time we will be more than safe.

7. Once the 24-hour cook time is reached, remove the bags from the sous vide. These can be used right away or placed in the refrigerator for a few days.       

8. When ready to use, bring back to the respective temperature, remove from the bag, remove herbs & lemon zest. Pat dry, being careful not to damage the skin. 

9. Place on a baking sheet and broil until the skin has browned and crisped up. Watch it carefully as it will go from brown and delicious to burnt in the blink of an eye.

   
   
   

   

10. Slice breasts across the grain and the remove the meat from the thighs. Baste with any juices that are on the pan after browning. Arrange on a serving platter and garnish with fresh herbs.

    
    

With some extra planning and time, we can take turkey from the disappointing centerpiece of the Thanksgiving table to the standout that it deserves to be. This Sous Vide Thanksgiving Turkey will turn even the skeptical into lovers of this delicious, juicy, flavorful turkey. Happy Thanksgiving to you & your family and remember life is too short to eat bad food.