Alton Brown's Turkey Brine

Directions2 to 3 days before roasting:Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

The night before you'd like to eat:Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once halfway through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500F for 30 minutes. Note that the skin will brown during this part. If it appears that it is browning too fast or is brown enough, loosely cover those parts with foil for the remander of the cooking time.

Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350F. Loosely cover the legs and breast with foil if you haven't already. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting.

Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.