Apple brined turkey with pan gravy - cooked on a Weber kettle
Brine
4-6 quarts apple juice
1 cup canning or Kosher salt
2 T dried rosemary
2 T dried thyme
1 T dried sage
1 t coarsely ground black pepper
1 head of garlic put through the press
1 turkey, 10 to 12 pounds and save the neck/giblets and wing tips to put in the roasting pan
1/4 cup melted butter
1 t black pepper
6 cups or so chicken broth
1 large onion
2 large carrots
2 celery stalks
Apple wood chips or chunks
Gravy
4 cups reserved pan liquid
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 T parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste
Basically you combine all the brine ingredients well to dissolve the salt and put with turkey in a bucket or cooler for up to 24 hours. Remove turkey from brine and pat dry with paper towels, place
breast side down into a roasting pan or half size foil pan that has the chopped up vegetables, broth, gizzards and turkey neck in it. Don't go too full or else it will overflow and ruin a perfectly good fire.
Cook indirect over charcoal at 300-350 with apple wood for one hour. At this time flip the turkey breast side up and add more charcoal and apple wood to maintain the temperature for another hour. Cooking times of course will vary but usually go between 2.5 and 3.5 hours.
For the gravy, make a roux with the butter and flour and cook whisking constantly until it gets some color, how dark is really to your taste but do NOT burn it. Once you get it where you like it, add the wine and pan liquid and bring to a boil then simmer to the consistency you like. Add parsley and enjoy!
