Christmas Roast Turkey Dinner Recipe (Brined, Maple Bacon)

Ingredients

• 1 young butter-basted turkey of about 6 kg (13 lb), neck and giblets removed, thawed
• 24 cups (6 L) cold water
• 1 cup (250 ml) coarse sea salt or kosher salt (never fine salt, it salts almost twice as hard by volume)
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) brown sugar
• 3 bottles (341 ml each) fruity Belgian-style wheat beer, any of them, even the cheapest one
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) juniper berries
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fennel seeds
• 1/2 tablespoon (7.5 ml) coriander seeds
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 celery stalks, cut in big chunks
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• 1 red apple, quartered
• A big handful of fresh parsley
• Meat from 4 cooked confit duck legs, pulled
• 1 Honeycrisp apple, cored and cut in small wedges
• 1 red onion, cut in small wedges
• 5 fresh thyme sprigs
• 500 g (1 lb) maple bacon
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup
• Salt and freshly ground pepper