How to Make a Faster, Safer, More Salty Turkey
Don’t have an entire day to spend time cooking turkey this Thanksgiving? Try a trick from Fedora Chef Matt Griffin: Cook a turkey in a salted crust for a quick and juicy bird.
Here’s what you need:
- Turkey 10 to 12 pounds
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 4 cups egg whites
- 2 cups peppercorns
- 32 cups kosher salt Yes, you read that right. 32 cups.
Cover the wings with tin foil and brush the turkey with butter under and over the skin. Then choose a frosting (in this case, lemon zest, thyme, and honey) to keep the skin from getting too salty. Insert the filling, if available, and tie the legs of the turkey with twine to cook evenly.
Then beat the egg whites in a large bowl until frothy. Transfer it to a large container with salt and pepper and stir. Add a little water and stir well until the salt mixture looks like wet sand (about 4 glasses). We spread it in a thick layer in a pan, put the turkey on top and completely cover it with a salted crust.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and add turkey to it. The salt crust will trap moisture and speed up the baking process – the turkey should be fully cooked in just an hour and a half. When it’s ready, remove it and use a kitchen hammer to remove the salt crust and remove the excess with a damp cloth.
A turkey won’t have the perfect shiny skin that a turkey has to use all day, but once you separate it, it looks great, and it only takes an hour and a half. Not bad if you are short on time.