Greg ’81 and Karen (Setterberg) Langmo ’82, owners of Langmo Farms, which raises turkeys in Litchfield, Minnesota.
Minnesota is the top producer of turkeys in the nation—18 percent of turkeys produced and sold in the U.S. come from here.
Some come from Langmo Farms, a family farm owned and operated by Gusties Greg and Karen Langmo.
For a cookbook made for the Class of ’81, the Langmos, who certainly know how to grill and/or roast a bird—“we make one about once a month,” Karen says—offered up their best turkey recipe, just in time for the beginning of the holiday season.
Special note from Karen and Greg, for before you start:
“It’s a two-to-three day process. We have found that a 12-13lb turkey takes around 2 ½ hours to roast and a 14-15lb turkey takes around 3 hours or a little over. However, it can vary based on what type of pan you use. When we cook this on a grill, we do not use the cheesecloth and scrape off the herbs before cooking and place them in the cavity. Using hickory charcoal adds a nice flavor also. Cooking time also speeds up. “
Recipe below.
Langmo Farms Roast Turkey
12-14 lb turkey
1 ¼ cup Kosher Salt
Fresh herbs chopped—rosemary, thyme, sage, chives
Garlic salt and lemon pepper
1 cup olive oil
½ red onion sliced
3-4 carrots sliced
Chicken broth – 3-4 cups
Cheesecloth – folded 3 times
2 sticks of butter
5-gallon pail or cooler (or a brining bag) big enough to submerge the bird
Directions
48 hours before cooking, brine the turkey. In a 5-gallon pail or cooler or brining bag mix the kosher salt and water. Use enough water to cover it. (If you use a brining bag, lay the turkey breast side down.)
Place it in a cool area or in a refrigerator and let it brine for 12-18 hours.
After brining, wash off the turkey and pat dry.
Place the turkey in a roasting pan large enough to hold the bird, likely a 9×13 pan or larger. Pour half of the olive oil over the turkey rub in. Season with garlic salt and lemon pepper. Place the chopped herbs over the turkey and pour remaining olive oil over the herbs. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for another 12-24 hours.
The day of serving, place turkey in a roaster with the carrots and onions on the bottom. Melt one stick of butter. Inject butter into the turkey using an injector or syringe (we use an injector from Williams–Sonoma, but you can go to your vet and get a large syringe). Pour 2-3 cups of the chicken broth in the roaster. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. When oven is preheated turn down to 350 degrees. Place turkey in oven.
Make sure you have a meat thermometer in the turkey. I take out the pop-up indicator that comes with turkey and place the thermometer in that hole.
Melt the remaining butter. Fold cheesecloth three times and soak it in the melted butter until all of it is absorbed. After cooking the turkey for 30 minutes, place butter soaked cheesecloth over the breast. At this time, you should also bast the turkey with the chicken broth in the pan. You will baste with the chicken broth every 20-25 minutes till done.
Cook turkey to 160-165F, no more.
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