For the actual cooking process, I'm going old school. I was camping around Thanksgiving in 2006, and there was a pile of bricks nearby. So, I built up a small cooking pit, stuck a peice of bamboo through the turkey, with charcoal at the bottom, covered the open areas with aluminum foil, and let er rip! I turned it a quarter turn every 45 minutes or so. It was the best damn turkey I've EVER made. This year, I'm doing it again, except, I'm brining the turkey until tomorrow morning when I start the turkey. In 2006, I had a TV with rabbit ears hooked up to a power source at the campsite, and had the TV on top of my van and a cooler full of beer, and got to witness the Phins whip up on the Lions. So, how are you cooking your turkey?
in the oven. nothing crazy. but im using a brine. its the absolute best way to do it. 5 gallon bucket about 1 gallon of water about 1 gallon of stock, any kind 1 cup salt, dissolved 16 oz molasses handful peppercorns, some cracked if you wish allspice berries ice depending on your tastes and time wanting to brine, you can add any kind of flavors you like. i have used rosemary sprigs, crystallized ginger, thyme, etc a brine works by having the salt in the brine solution diffuse into the turkey. the salt breaks down some of the proteins in the turkey, "loosening" up the meat, that stays contained within the skin and cell membranes. unlike the salt, it cannot pass through into the brine. as the brine and liquid become of the same concentration on both sides of the turkey, the turkey meat (along with takng on some salt) can now receive a lot of water after the salt has done the work to break down the proteins. thats why you notice the turkey plump up quite a bit
My brine is 4 gallons of water, 4 cups of salt, 2 cups of sugar, 4 tablespoons of pepper, 1/2 cup of garlic powder, and 1/4 cup tarragon. I cooked it last night and let it cool to room temp overnight. I put the turkey in it this morning, and stuck it in the frige, where it will sit all night until about 8AM tomorrow, when I put it in my smoker pit.
oh wow. the smoker pit. sounds outstanding. yeah, garlic too. last year i took a whole bulb, smashed it and threw it in. problem for me this year is that its been really warm here. i have to use less water and will probably have to add in more ice tonight. my fridge wont be able to hold it all. i would give molasses a shot at some point. you get the sugar you want and deeper flavor. nice color too
The tarragon is pretty sweet too. I don't want to go overboard on sweetness. Not a big fan of sweet. After I pat the turkey down with paper towels, I'm going to put a light coat of olive oil over the outside to make the skin crispy with a nice brown color.
oh yeah. sounds great. after using it, my opinion is that a brine is essential to cooking a turkey. i use a brine for other meat now too. works good for pork especially since it has a tendency to dry out
Its my first time using a brine. I wish I had started this post 4 days ago when I made a pork roast. I'll try a brine with pork the next time I make one, will likely use salt, sugar, garlic and brown sugar. Sounds like that would go well with BBQ pork.. By the way, if people are reading this and want to try a brine for their turkey, keep in mind it will need to brine approximately 1 hour per pound. In other words, get on it now! lol
the only thing i would say is that it may be salty. i usually use about 1/2 cup salt per gallon. looks like you are using 1 cup/gallon. maybe just add some ice to be safe. imo molasses would be good for pork too i never used a brine before because the explanation people usually give as to why it works never made sense to me. then i did some research on it and figured out what the salt is actually doing ie, breaking down the proteins so that the meat can absorb more fluid
I just took a spoonful of it and tasted it (then spit it out and gargled with listerene) and it was VERY salty. So, I added another gallon of water, and took 2 cans of creamed corn and 1 can of water, cooked it, cooled it down with ice and added it, along with 2 trays oc ice. Should be fine now, and the corn should add to the flavor.
The wife. She gets the bird at 6:30am, cooks the bird at 10am, serves the bird at 3pm. I'm done by 6:35am, sleep until 9am, will greet my guests with unwashed hands and watch The Expendables.
Hotplate. I always cook pidgeon on the 'ole hotplate. I might get fancy this year and stuff it with the expensive mustard too.
I got a fresh turkey (first time that I've gotten a fresh turkey, we usually get frozen). I'm brining it. Most of the time I just do a basic brine of some allspice, sugar, salt, and chicken stock. This year I'm using a beer brine (Octoberfest / Martzen style). Along with that I've tossed in 3 onions, 2 carrots, 2 stalks celery, 2 bay leaves, 2 lemons, about 15 cloves of garlic, 2 cups of Kosher salt, 1 cup of sugar and some sprigs of thyme. I put the brine together last night and it smelled incredible. As for actual cooking I'll use my roaster for it (the one time a year I actually use a roaster oven) and cook it for about 4 hours or until it hits an internal temp of 160 degrees. I am trying to talk my wife into letting me get a propane burner - in which case I will be deep frying it next year.
Why do people insist on cooking Turkeys? Unless you're getting a wild bird they really are tasteless leathery things. Buy a goose instead.
We're gonna try it. My sis-in-law got a fryer from QVC. She's a pretty good cook, so I'm looking forward to it. Happy Thanksgiving y'all!