Poultry Brine Turkey & Gravy is not just a meal, it’s a Holiday experience that will transform your festive dinner table into a show-stopping feast. This recipe uses a flavorful Poultry Brine to elevate the Turkey, ensuring every bite is juicy, tender, and infused with incredible taste. But it doesn’t stop there, the same Brine is the secret to an irresistibly rich Turkey Gravy, perfect for smothering over the Turkey, Buttery Mashed Potatoes, or Crispy Fries. You can make a Hot Turkey Sandwich or the Newfie Poutine too with leftovers.
This is a 3-day process: Day 1: Brine the Turkey. Day 2: Cook the Turkey and make the Stock, refrigerate both overnight. Day 3 (Day of Feast), Reduce the Stock until good flavor, reheat the Turkey and make Turkey Gravy.
What makes this recipe truly special is its practicality. It takes the stress out of hosting, by preparing the meal ahead of time and with minimal effort at each stage. Plus, the Turkey is beautifully arranged on a holiday presentation tray, and stays juicy because of the drippings or added stock. It’s a Holiday Feast recipe designed for ease and to make your Holiday Feast unforgettable. All while keeping your time in the kitchen stress-free and allowing every one to help themselves to what they want. Tell everyone to grab a plate and line up to build their own custom meal. With Hot Turkey & Gravy and all the sides.
Summary of Steps
- Brine the Turkey overnight, 2 days before the holiday meal.
- Cook the Turkey & make the Stock with the leftover Poultry Brine, Bones, and Trimmings, the day before the meal. Refrigerate both the Turkey & Stock overnight.
- Warm the Turkey meat while you prepare the Gravy, on the day of the meal.
Poultry Brine Turkey & Gravy ingredients
Turkey, Poultry Brine (Water, Maggi Chicken Bouillon Cubes, Salt, MSG, Cream of Tartar, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder), Onion, Carrot, Celery, Garlic, Seasoning(Parsley, Sage, Savory, Thyme, Bay Leaf, Clove, with a Salt & Pepper blend), Flour.
Cornstarch can be used for a Gluten free Gravy.
Poultry Brine
Everything starts with the Poultry Brine and a Turkey. Combine 1 Cup of water with the Bouillon cubes to heat in a pot until the bouillon cubes are completely dissolved. Assist by mashing with a fork while heating up. Once completely dissolved, add the remaining ingredients using very cold water to cool everything down. This will be the main Turkey Brine/Marinade.
Feel free to add additional Herbs such as Savory or Sage, which works exceptionaly well with Poultry. A bit of Black Pepper can be added too. These are also added to the stock for flavoring.
Poultry Brine Ingredients
- 5 C Water
- 3 Cubes Maggi Chicken Bouillon
- 1 1/2 Tbl Sea Salt & MSG – each
- 2 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder & Onion Powder
Turkey
The Turkey goes through the process of being chopped down into pieces and brined overnight. The day before, it is cooked and stripped off of the bone. With the breast sliced thinly and all the meat placed into the tray with the drippings to keep everything moist and flavorful. The bones with the Poultry Brine is used to make the Broth. Which in turn is used to make the Turkey Gravy.
The Poultry Brine can do up to about a 14 lbs Turkey. Which is enought to feed about 8-10 people with side and leftover Turkey Meat for follow up meals.
Chopped Turkey
Chop the Turkey into pieces; Quarters, Breast & Wings. The back and neck, along with any trimmings, can be saved for when the broth is being made. Just place into a Ziploc bag or bowl and refrigerate. You can also chop the Quarters to separate the Legs & Thighs if you want.
The Turkey is chopped down just the same as a Whole Chicken. If you need more information on how to do this, visit How to Prepare Chicken, which will walk you through the whole process. Once you got all your pieces, it’s time to brine!
Brined Turkey
The Turkey Quarters, Breast & Wings are tossed into the Poultry Brine to refrigerate overnight. Use a Turkey Roasting Pan with a cover or a large pot to brine the Turkey.
Reserve the back, neck, and trimmings, for when making the Turkey stock. These can be refrigerated separately or just placed on top of the Turkey and Brine. The Brine won’t completely cover the Turkey and this is fine. Just rotate the pieces so that everything gets a chance to sit int the brine and keep it covered while refrigerated. I’ve done up to about 14 lbs of Turkey quite a few times with this Poultry Brine.
You can also use a food grade bag to brine the Turkey pieces. Add the Poultry Brine and your Turkey pieces. Squeeze as much air out as you can and tie the bag off. Place into a large pot and refrigerate overnight.
Cooking Turkey Pieces
The Turkey pieces are then placed on a large sheet to bake at 375 F until they are done. About 1 Hour or until the Breast reach an internal temp of 157F to 165F and the Thighs at 175 F or higher (preferrably over 200F), depending on the size. The Poultry Brine is saved and emptied into a stock pot in order to make Turkey Broth.
If the Turkey is particularly large, you can cook the Breast & Wings together, separately from the Quarters. After resting, slice the Breast meat and strip the remaining Turkey down to place into a presentation tray, with the natural juices from cooking, poured over the meat in the tray to retain moisture and flavor.
Turkey Pieces Cook Time & Temps
Set the oven to 375F with the rack in middle position. The cook times will vary from Turkey pieces and the size of the Turkey. Set the Turkey aside to cool down before handling.
The below Turkey cook times will vary and are for a Turkey that has been broken down into Breast (2 pieces:separated), Wings (2 pieces:separated) & Quarters (2 pieces:separated).
- Turkey Breast: Anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 Hour plus, until an internal temperature of 157F to 165F. Measured at the thickest part away from bones. Wings are cooked alongside Breast.
- Turkey Quarters: About 1 Hour or slightly more, or an internal temperature of at least 175F or higher. Measured in the thickest part of the Thigh away from any bones.
Stripped Turkey
Once the Turkey is cool enough to handle, strip the meat off of the bones. Add the bones and any cartilage into the pot of Poultry Brine. Place the meat into a presentation tray divided by Breast meat, Wing meat and dark meat from the Quarters.
Save any drippings to pour over the meat in the presentation tray to help keep everything moist and flavorful. Cover the tray with tinfoil. The Crispy Skin on the Quarters & Wings, well that’s the Chef’s Treat!
Thinly Sliced Turkey Breast
The cooled down Turkey Breast are placed on a cutting board and sliced across the grain into thin slices. Ensure you sharpen your knife for nice clean cuts. Once all sliced, use the knife to scoop up the meat and transfer to the presentation tray. Any pieces of meat still on the breast bone can be scraped off and placed beside the Breast meat to include with the Wing meat. Throw the bones into the simmering stock pot.
Stripped Turkey Wing Meat
Strip the meat off of the Turkey Wings and place beside the breast meat. Throw the Bones and Tips into the pot for Stock.
Stripped Turkey Quarters
Strip the Turkey Quarters and place them in last. Throw the Bones and Cartilage into the stock pot.
Turkey Seasoning
Once you have your Turkey Tray prepared, use Salt & Pepper to season the meat to taste, if needed. Add in choice Herbs such as Savoury, Sage, Thyme or even Poultry seasoning. Toss the dark meat around to spread out the seasoning. Cover the tray with Tinfoil and refrigerate until ready to reheat.
Salt & Pepper Blend
Use the below as a Salt & Pepper Seasoning blend to season both the Turkey & Gravy if needed.
- 1 Tbl Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp White Pepper
Poultry Brine Turkey Stock
The Poultry Brine is initially used to brine the Turkey. After bringing the Turkey, it is emptied into a stock pot along with the back, neck and any trimmings from the Turkey. This is brought to a boil and the heat reduced to simmer while the Turkey is cooking. When the Turkey is done cooking, rested and stripped. The bones and cartilage from the stripped down Turkey are added, to continue simmering until reduced by half.
When reduced by half, strain out the broth through a fine sieve and fill the pot with cold water to help it cool down faster and transfer to the fridge to chill overnight. Any meats attached to the bones can be stripped and placed into a bowl to refrigerate. This can then be added to the Gravy for bits of Turkey meat thoughout the gravy.
At this point, the Turkey has been cooked and stripped, laid out in the presentation tray, covered and refrigerated. As well as the Turkey stock prepared, strained and refrigerated overnight. The next day we focus on the Gravy, and Side Dishes and the Holiday Turkey Tray can go into the oven to heat up until warmed through, right before serving.
It is the Turkey Stock that takes the longest to make and is reduced twice. At about 4 hours or more each time, I tend to leave it all day. We also need the bones and trimmings from the Turkey, which is why the Stock is prepared the day before, where it can simmer all day and extract the most flavor. Early in the day of the meal, it is reduced again until good flavor is achived. A total cook time of at least 8 hours, usually more. The Turkey itself only takes about 1 hour.
How to make Poultry Brine Turkey Stock
The day before you plan on having the Holiday Turkey Feast. Remove the Turkey and cook it. Empty the Poultry Brine into a stock pot, along with the Turkey Back, Neck, Trimmings. Skip the gizzards as these can yeild an unpleasant taste to the stock. Although if you like the flavor, they can be included. Don’t include the liver though. Instead use the liver for another recipe of simply fry it up as a Chef’s Treat.
Combine all the Ingredients
Empty the Poultry Brine into a pot with the Backbone, Neck and Trimings. Fill with Water and add in the following.
- 1-2 Onions, chopped in half, skin on
- 1-2 Carrots, broken into pieces
- 1-2 Celery, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp of Savory, Thyme, Parsley, Black Pepper
- 1-2 Bay Leaf
- Pinch Clove
Simmer
Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium or slightly below and leave it simmer, while you cook the Turkey.
After the Turkey has cooked and is rested. Strip the meat down and place all bones and cartilage into the stock pot. Continue to simmer until reduced by half.
Chill & Refrigerate: Strain out the Stock and place back into the pot. Fill the pot up with Cold water to cool it down quickly. Once cooled, about 1 hour, refrigerate the stock pot overnight. To cool it down even faster, 2 trays of ice cubes can be added along with cold water to fill the pot right to the top again.
Skim the Fat
The next day, skim the solidified fat at the top. This will be used to make the roux later on for the Gravy.
We’re looking for about 1/2 C. If you don’t get enough, it can be topped up with added lard or neutral oil.
Simmer Again
Place the stock pot back over max heat to bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium or slightly below and simmer until reduced about half or until good flavor is achieved. Strain and place back into the pot. This is the Turkey Stock we will use to create the Turkey Gravy. Along with the skimmed fat to create the roux.
Reduce it until good flavor, perhaps even a strong flavor. You can always add water if the Stock is too strong to dilute. But going the other way, where the Turkey Stock is too weak is no good.
Poultry Brine Turkey Gravy
With the strained Turkey Stock on standby, we ready to make some Turkey Gravy!
- Roux: Add the skimmed off fat to a sauce pot over medium heat. Top up the fat if needed with lard or Neutral Oil to get about 1/2 C worth, and add 1/2 C of Flour to create the roux. Keep whisking the roux around to cook until it turns to a brown peanut butter color.
- Gravy: Once the Brown roux is achieved, add in the Hot Turkey Stock, a little at a time, and whisk. Repeat until the gravy is a bit thinner than you would like, and keep simmering for 10–15 minutes.
- Seasoning the Gravy: Add Sage, Savory & Black Pepper to taste. Poultry Seasoning, along with Salt & Pepper to taste can be used too.
Save any leftover stock, it can be used to thin out the gravy if it has to sit for any length of time or for when reheating before serving. A small amount can also be drizzled over the meat if you need more moisture. This is the very neat thing about this way of preparing a Turkey. Even if you overcook the meat, dry meat will absorb any liquids added. This ensures your Turkey meat is always juicy and flavorful, even if accidentally overcooked.
Gravy Adjustments
There are so many adjustments that can be made to gravy and really depends on what you’re after. It helps to know how to make various adjustments and below are some of the ways.
How to adjust Gravy Consistency
- Thinout the Gravy: Add more Stock or if the Gravy flavor is too strong, add more water to dilute the flavor.
- Thicken the Gravy: Keep simmering until thickened to the desired consistency.
- Lumpy Gravy: When straining out the solids from the Stock. Go through and pick at the small bits of meat from the neck bone and backbone to include in the stock for making Gravy. Add to a bowl to refrigerate overnight and add the bits of Turkey Meat last, after the Gravy has been made.
- Smooth Gravy: After preparing the Gravy, strain it through a fine sieve and return to the pot.
How to adjust Gravy Color
- Creamy Gravy: Add a bit of Milk or Cream for a Creamy version.
- Dark Turkey Gravy: Cook the roux until dark brown. Careful not to burn and whisk it often. As it gets darker, lower the heat for more control or go back and forth taking it off and back on the heat. Optionally add in Kitchen Bouquet for coloring darker.
- Light Turkey Gravy: Cook the roux only a few minutes, until the blonde stage before adding in the Stock to make the gravy. Added Creams will also lighten the Gravy.
Gravy Flavor Adjustments
- Seasoning: Adjust the seasoning with Salt & Pepper. Adding to it whatever desired Herbs & Spices to shape the overall flavors. Some ideas may include Sage, Savory, Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, or Poultry Seasoning.
- Stronger Broth Flavor: Add Chicken Bouillon. You can also reduce the Turkey Stock more and add it to the gravy.
- Reduce the Salt content: Add a peeled and chopped Potato to the gravy and simmer. Potatoes absorb Salt extremely well.
Gluten Free Turkey Gravy
Instead of using Flour & Fat to Create a Roux. use a Cornstarch Slurry to thicken the Gravy. Combine equal amounts of Cornstarch and Cold water and mix. You may want to include Kitchen Bouquet to color the gravy darker.
- Add to the Pot the rendered fat scooped off of the top of the Stock along with about 3-4 Cups of Stock. Mix well while bringing it to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium to keep simmering.
- Combine about 1 Tbl of Cornstarch with 1 Tbl of Cold Water for every 1 C of Stock.
- Mix well before and while pouring into the simmering stock. If more is needed make the starch slurry again and slowly add a small amount while mixing, until thickened to the desired consistency.
Reheating the Holiday Turkey Tray
The Turkey & Turkey Stock are made the day before. On the day of, we reheat the Turkey Tray while making the Turkey Gravy so that both can be served hot. Along with other Hot & Cold dishes already laid out.
Warm the Turkey meat in a 250F oven while making Turkey Gravy and serve both hot, along with your other Hot & Cold Dishes. If the Turkey meat looks a bit dry, ladle over some of the leftover Turkey Stock to ensure the meat is juicy and flavorful.
Equipment
- 1 Large Stock Pot
- 1 Large Sheet Pan For cooking the Turkey, large enough to fit all the pieces.
- 1 Fine Sieve
- 1 Turkey Roasting Pan for Brining or use the large Stock Pot
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Sauce Pot For the Gravy
- 1 Presentation Tray This is where the cooked meat will be placed, covered, and to go back into the oven to reheat. The large Sheet Pan can also be used with Tin Foil to cover.
Ingredients
- 14 lbs Turkey - Chopped into pieces, see notes
Poultry Brine
- 5 C Water
- 3 Cubes Maggi Chicken Bouillon
- 1 1/2 Tbl Sea Salt & MSG - each
- 2 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 tsp Garlic & Onion Powder - each
Turkey Stock
- Leftover Poultry Brine
- Turkey Neck, Backbone and any trimmings
- Turkey Bones - after the Turkey is stripped
- 1 Large Onion
- 2 Med Carrots
- 2 Stalks Celery
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Black Pepper, Parsley, Savory & Thyme
- 2 Bay Leaf
- Pinch of Clove
Turkey Gravy
- As Needed Turkey Stock
- 1/2 C Rendered Turkey Fat & Flour - each
- To Taste Sage, Savory, Black Pepper, & Salt
Instructions
- Brine the Turkey: Prepare Poultry Brine and empty into a Turkey Roasting Pan or large pot. Cut the Turkey into pieces (breast separated, quarters separated, wings). Place the neck, trimmings, and backbone into a container to refrigerate until ready to make the stock. Marinate the Turkey pieces in the brine overnight.
- Cook the Turkey: Remove Turkey from the brine and cook at 375F with the rack in middle position on a large sheet pan. Cook Breast & Wings to 157F to 165F and Quarters to 175F or higher (preferably over 200F). Remove and let cool to strip the meat off. Empty any drippings into the presentation tray to help keep the meat moist when we add it later. The cook time depends on how big the Turkey pieces are, but generally about an hour for Turkey Breast and about 1 hour or so for the Quarters. Check the internal temp at about 45 minutes to an hour in and remove when target temps are achieved.
- Make Turkey Stock: Combine all the ingredients together in a stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer. Start this at the same time you start cooking the Turkey.
- Holiday Turkey Tray: Once the Turkey is cool enough to handle, start stripping the meat down. Breast: Slice away the Breastbone and throw into the simmering stock pot. Thinly slice the Turkey Breast across the grain and place into a presentation tray.Wings: Strip the Wings and place it into the tray beside the thinly sliced breasts. Throw the bones and wing tips into the simmering stock pot. Quarters: Strip the Quarters and place into the presentation tray beside the Wing meat. Toss the bones and cartridge into the stock pot. Cover the tray and refrigerate overnight.
- Refrigerate the Stock: Simmer Stock until reduced by half. Strain and place back into the pot. Fill the pot with very cold water to help cool it down fast, about 1 hour. Refrigerate the entire pot overnight. You can even add trays of ice cubes to cool it down faster.
- Skim the Fat: Early the next day, skim the fat from the stock. This will be used to make the Roux. Return the Stock to max heat to bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium to reduce by half or until good flavor is achieved.
- Strain the Stock: Strain the Stock through a fine sieve, discarding the very bottom liquids where there is a lot of debris. Return the Stock to the pot and keep warm on the back burner over low heat. You can always add more water, if the stock gets too strong.
- Reheat Turkey: When ready to serve, warm the Turkey meat, while still covered, in a 250F-300F oven while making the Gravy. If more moisture is needed for the meat, add some stock into the tray to help keep the meat moist.
- Make Turkey Gravy: Roux: Add the skimmed off fat to a sauce pot over medium heat. Top up the fat if needed with Lard or Neutral Oil to get about 1/2 C worth, and add 1/2 C of Flour to create the Roux. Keep whisking the Roux to cook until it turns to a brown peanut butter color.Gravy: Once the Brown Roux is achieved, add in the Turkey Stock, a little at a time, and whisk. Repeat until the gravy is a bit thinner than you would like, and keep simmering for 10–15 minutes.Seasoning the Gravy: Add Sage & Savory to taste. Adjust the Seasoning with Salt & Pepper, if needed. Serve the Hot Holiday Turkey Tray along with Hot Turkey Gravy for everyone to help themselves.
Notes
- Turkey Breast: About 45 minutes to 1 Hour, an internal temperature of 157 F to 165F. Measured at the thickest part away from bones. Wings are cooked alongside Breast.
- Turkey Quarters: About 1 Hour, an internal temperature of at least 175 F or higher (preferably over 200F). Measured in the thickest part of the thigh away from any bones.