Posted on November 11 2019

What do you expect before taking a bite of Thanksgiving turkey? Do you think of tough, dry and stringy meat? Did you smoother the meat in gravy? Imagine, crispy, decadent golden skin and moist, juicy meat. When you cook your turkey sous vide, you wind up with a gorgeous platter of poultry that tastes even better than it looks. You can take it out whenever you are ready to serve it, plus it’s an almost entirely hands-off approach -- freeing you up to focus on getting that apple stuffing recipe just right. Trust us when we tell you there’s a better way to turkey. And once you try it, a new family tradition will be born.
SERVES: 6 to 8
PREP TIME: 25 Minutes
COOK TIME: 4 Hours
Ingredients
1 turkey, 10 to 12 pounds, cut into bone-in pieces (breasts, thighs and drumsticks)
8 tablespoon slices of unsalted butter (or ¼ cup duck fat; optional)
4 Sprigs of sage (or as desired)
4 Sprigs thyme (or as desired)
4 Sprigs rosemary (or as desired)
1 lemon sliced into 5 to 6 rounds
4 tablespoons (equal parts of olive and butter for searing)
8 tablespoon slices of unsalted butter (or ¼ cup duck fat; optional)
4 Sprigs of sage (or as desired)
4 Sprigs thyme (or as desired)
4 Sprigs rosemary (or as desired)
1 lemon sliced into 5 to 6 rounds
4 tablespoons (equal parts of olive and butter for searing)
For the Rub
2 tablespoons of kosher salt
2 tablespoons of coarse pepper
1 tablespoon of sage powder
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
2 tablespoons of onion powder
2 tablespoons of coarse pepper
1 tablespoon of sage powder
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
2 tablespoons of onion powder
Preparation
- Preheat the sous vide water bath to 145°F (63°C).
- For the Rub: Combine dry rub ingredients and mix well. Rub each piece of turkey generously.
- Using two, one-gallon size sous vide pouches, place the meat into each, side by side and be sure they lie flat. Place butter pads atop each piece of turkey and divide the fresh sprigs of sage, thyme, rosemary and lemon evenly throughout each bag and vacuum seal.
- Place the turkey in the sous vide bath and cook for 4 hours.
- If you are not serving immediately, prepare a large bowl of ice water. Remove all the unopened bags from the water bath and place into the ice water for 20 minutes.
- Prior to serving, preheat your combination of oil and butter into a hot skillet at about 375°F (190°C), (medium/high heat – a cast iron is great for this, but any skillet will do).
- Remove all the turkey pieces from the bags and pat dry. Working in batches, sear the turkey until golden and crispy, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Let rest about 10 minutes and transfer to a carving board and serve.
Tip: When placing cold turkey into the sous vide water bath, keep in mind that the water temperature will decrease. To compensate for this, try to leave your turkey out at room temperature for 1 hour prior to cooking. Dependent on the temperature of your turkey, you’ll need to add on an additional 15 to 30 minutes to compensate for the time it takes to bring your water bath back up to the correct temperature.
Optional: This recipe is very simple, but if you desire to add additional ingredients, then have fun and experiment! Try adding carrots, celery, onion, chicken stock, garlic, or other spices you prefer to make your holiday dinner exceptional!
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