No-Fail Roasted Turkey

Ingredients

• 1 (20 lb)  whole turkey, thawed (I buy either Butterball or Honeysuckle White brand)

• 4 gallons water
• 1 1/4 cups kosher salt
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 24 ounces beer, not lite (I use regular Budweiser or Miller's)
• 6 dried bay leaves
• 1 cup salted butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paul prudhomme's Vegetable Magic seasoning (or, "Poultry Magic," or, poultry seasoning)
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt (I use Lawry's)
• 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash seasoning mix, original blend
• cooking spray (I use olive oil type but any brand will do)
• 8 lbs ice
• 1 large onion, peeled and quartered
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Directions

1. 1

   NOTE: You can skip the brining step if you wish -- the turkey just will not be quite as juicy.

2. 2

   Prepare the brine. In a large, well-cleaned cooler, blend 4 gallons of water, the kosher salt, the brown sugar, the beer, and the bay leaves. Stir until all the salt and sugar has been dissolved. There is no need to boil this blend.

3. 3

   Trim up the turkey. There is usually excess fat and skin around the neck and around the body cavity opening. Just trim off this excess tissue, remove any giblets from the inside of the turkey and rinse it in cold water, inside and out.

4. 4

   Place the turkey in the brine and dump in the ice. Close the cooler and allow the turkey to brine for 12-24 hours. Check it after 12 hours to see if it needs more ice. If you don't have a long time before baking, even 4 hours of brining will improve the turkey.

5. 5

   After brining, remove the turkey from the cooler, (discard the brine), and pat it dry with paper towels, inside and out. Blend the Vegetable Magic seasoning, the seasoned salt, and the Mrs. Dash seasoning and then rub the turkey all over with this blend, inside and out. Use all the seasoning.

6. 6

   Place the onion and parsley inside the body cavity. Mash chunks of butter with your hands and carefully shove it under the skin of the breast of the turkey.

7. 7

   Preheat the oven to 350-°F -- you will roast the turkey at this temperature.

8. 8

   Line a roasting pan with wide aluminum foil. Spray it with the cooking spray. Place the turkey in the lined roasting pan, breast up, tie the legs together with some cotton string, and then cover the top loosely with another piece of aluminum foil. Do not seal it shut. Cover the roaster and place it in the oven. I use the second rack from the bottom but ovens vary -- you want the roasting pan to be near the middle.

9. 9

   Bake the turkey for 4 1/2 hours and then remove the turkey from the oven and check it with a thermometer, if you have one, by shoving the probe tip to the deepest part of the meat. In my experience, it is best if your turkey has an interior temperature of 185°F If your turkey has been brined, this temperature will yield a juicy and tender turkey and all the meat is done nicely at this point.

10. 10

    If your thermometer registers anything less than 185°F, or if you don't have a thermometer, bake the turkey, (again, covered), for one more hour, increasing the oven temperature to 375°F If it's 185°F or better at the end of the 4 1/2 hours, allow the turkey to "rest", uncovered for at least 30 minutes prior to carving.

11. 11

    If you have returned your turkey to the oven for a final hour, then remove it from the oven at the end of that time and allow it to "rest" for at least 30 minutes prior to carving. My turkeys usually end up somewhere around 190°F when they come out of the oven and mine always take the full 5 1/2 hours. If the wings are so tender that they fall off, I just stick them inside the body cavity to keep them from drying out any during supper. (Some people will argue that 190°F is too hot, but if your turkey is tender, very juicy, delicious, and nicely done all the way through at that temperature, what makes the difference?).

12. 12

    NOTE: I'm not a big fan of stuffing the turkey with dressing, but if you do, be aware that this alters the cooking time.

13. 13

    Enjoy your perfect turkey.