Salt Encrusted Turkey
3752 days ago
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From Certified Master Chef Fritz Sonnenschmidt
This is an old method of preparing turkey intended to be baked in the village or town ovens while the cook went to Sunday services. The beauty of placing the turkey in a salt crust was not only that it held in all the juices, but also that the crust could be sealed and marked and thus guaranteed against tampering.
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized (12-14 pounds) turkey
- 4 pounds kosher salt or rocksalt
- 4 pounds flour
- 6 cups of water, or as needed
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- Bay leaf
Directions
- Place the sprig of rosemary and the bay leaf in the cavity of the turkey.
- Knead the flour, salt, and water into dough.
- Roll out on a pastry board until large enough to wrap around the turkey.
- Place turkey in the middle of the dough and bring up the sides to wrap the turkey. Make sure that the crust is secure and that there are no holes. A little water can be used to patch holes if needed.
- Place the wrapped turkey on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a very slow oven at 240 degrees for 2-3 hours, until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
- Break open the crust and serve.
