Recipe: Sous vide turkey

This was the first Thanksgiving in 12 years that I did not serve a fried turkey for our family Thanksgiving meal. Since my mama-in-law shrinks away from fried foods, we decided to put the new PolyScience immersion circulator to good use and sous vide our turkey instead.The result? A deliciously cooked turkey. The breast meat, of course, was not as juicy as it would have been had we fried it, but it was still very tasty and, fortunately, healthier. Plus the prep and cleanup were less involved: no turkey injectors, no huge vat of oil to siphon and discard, no huge pot to clean.In the next few weeks, I’ll return to recipe posting—look out for recipes for all the dishes we made for Thanksgiving 2013, and recreate them for your holiday meal at the end of December. Remember, if the Blind can Cook it, you know you can too.

Recipe: Sous Vide Turkey

Summary: You'll need the following toys: (1) a PolyScience immersion circulator; (2) a vacuum seal system; and (3) a cooler or large bin.

Ingredients

1. 1 (10 lbs) turkey, butchered into 2 boneless breasts, 2 bone-in wings, 2 bone-in thighs & 2 bone-in legs
2. 1/2 lb rendered duck fat, divided
3. 1 head garlic, divided, peeled & crushed
4. zest of 2 lemons, divided
5. approx 10 leaves fresh sage
6. fresh thyme sprigs
7. kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Fill your cooler/bin with cold water, making sure there’s enough water to cover all the turkey parts completely with ample room in between. Place the PolyScience immersion circulator in the water, plug it in, and set it to 63°C.
2. Place each turkey part in its own bag, keeping the 2 wings in one bag, making sure all bags are roughly filled with the same amount of turkey. Divide duck fat (approx 3 tbsp each), garlic cloves, lemon zest, sage leaves, and thyme sprigs between the bags of turkey. Season the contents of each bag with salt & pepper to taste. Seal the bags, making sure there are no holes. Shake the sealed bags a little to get the goodness all around.
3. When the water bath has reached the desired temperature, submerge the bags of wings, thighs, and legs in the water. Set timer for 30 minutes.
4. After 30 minutes, drop in the remaining 2 bags of breast meat, and continue cooking for another 3 hours.
5. Turn off the PolyScience, fish out the bags. Let cool slightly before cutting open bags and removing the turkey. Over medium-high heat in an iron skillet, sear the turkey parts until the skin is crisp.

Preparation time: 30 minute(s)

Cooking time: 3 hour(s) 30 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 12

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