The easiest way to cook turkey with apple juice is to braise it. Braising involves cooking food -- either meat or vegetables -- in an enclosed environment with just enough liquid to provide humidity within the enclosure. You can brown meat before braising it if you'd like. You can also brown vegetables to add to the braising liquid. Browning caramelizes the sugars in meat and vegetables, making the flavor richer. Consequently, browning is often the first step in braising.
Step 1
Thaw and wash the turkey.
Step 2
Heat the oil in the roaster on top of the stove. Chop the onions, carrots and four ribs of the celery coarsely. Add them to the roaster and saute them until they are lightly browned.
Step 3
Remove the roaster from the burner. Put the turkey on top of the vegetables. Core and chop the apple into eighths. Chop the remaining celery rib into quarters and put both apple and celery inside the cavity of the turkey. Pour the apple juice into the roaster.
Step 4
Close the lid of the roaster. At this point you have two choices. You can transfer the roaster to a 325-degree to 350-degree Fahrenheit oven and roast the turkey for 1 3/4 to 3 3/4 hours depending on the size of the turkey. Or you can return the roaster to the burner and simmer it very gently for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
Step 5
Check the turkey after the first hour. If the liquid has dropped to 1 inch or lower, add more water to bring it to about 2 inches. Baste the turkey with some of the liquid in the pan. Check the turkey at least every half hour after that, more often if the liquid seems to be evaporating rapidly.
Step 6
Check the temperature of the turkey after two hours. A meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh should read 185 degrees Fahrenheit when the turkey is done.
Step 7
Transfer the turkey using a turkey lifter to a cooling rack and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
Tips and Warnings
- If your roasting pan is too small to hold a whole turkey, you can cut the turkey into pieces and split it between two roasters. If your roaster doesn't have a lid, you can use aluminum foil to cover the pan provided you can create a seal as tight as a lid would make on your pan. If you like your turkey salted, you can add salt to the apple juice before braising.
- Don't use poor-quality apple juice. If you wouldn't drink it, don't use it for cooking. If it's mostly sugar and artificial flavoring, don't use it for cooking. Good apple juice will give your turkey a good flavor that fake apple juice won't.
Things You'll Need
- Turkey, whole or cut up
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil or butter
- A large stove-top-safe roasting pan or Dutch oven with a tight lid
- 2 onions
- 2 carrots
- 5 ribs of celery
- 1 tart apple
- 1 1/2 qt. of 100% apple juice
- Water
- Instant-read meat thermometer
- Turkey lifter
- Cooling rack
Member Comments