It's off topic but everyone loves to eat turkey and watch some football. Didn't know where to put it but thought some on the forum might like it. Mods can move to where they think it fits if they like. Below is a recipe that I've been doing for a couple of years. Here's a recipe for your turkey if you're looking for one. Its part Alton Brown and part Jeff Phillips (http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/). Ingredients 1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey For the brine: 1 cup kosher salt 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1 gallon vegetable stock (you can make your own - I do but its time consuming) 1 tablespoon black peppercorns 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger 1 gallon heavily iced water For the aromatics: 1 red apple, sliced 1/2 onion, sliced 1 cinnamon stick 1 cup water 4 sprigs rosemary 6 leaves sage Canola oil Cheese Cloth Bacon Butter Recipe 5 strips of bacon, cut up into smaller pieces (1/2 inch or so) 4 TBS of your favorite rub 1/4 lb of butter (1 stick) 3 garlic cloves Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and run it until the butter is smooth. You may be able to use a blender for this if you don't have a food processor butits not as easy. Stop occasionally and scrape down the sides to make sure the end product is well blended and smooth. You could make this ahead of time if you wanted, form it into a log then store it in the fridge until you needed it. I make mine while the turkey is brining. 2 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. Brining I use a Home Depot bucket with lid for this part which works really well and is easy to move if you are cooking at another location. 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 half way through brining. I place outside in the garage and that keeps it plenty cold. Add ice if required. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine. Bacon Butter under Skin In order to get the bacon butter under the skin, use your hands to separate the skin from the meat all along the breast. The skin is pretty tough but be gentle enough so as to not tear it if possible. Once you can get in there with your hands, begin stuffing the soft bacon butter under the skin by the handfuls. Push it down into the areas all around the breast and even onto the legs if you can. Reserve some of the bacon butter. Roasting Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. I put all of the aromatics in a cheese cloth to get them out easier (optional). Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin and coat the entire outside of the bird with the reserved bacon butter. Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. 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. To get that really nice mahogany color and more good flavor on the outside of the skin baste the turkey with the pan drippings every ½ our or so. Enjoy!
Sounds delicious! And like a lot of work. Not to derail the thread but to share a simple recipe I've done every year for about the past 5: Grilled Teriyaki Turkey Couldn't be easier. Remove giblets/neck. Rinse turkey. Salt and pepper and butter up the skin. Slice up an orange and put a few slices under the skin. Cut up 2-3 other oranges, squeeze juice over the turkey and put the remains in the body. You can also fill with stuffing, but it doesn't come out as great on the grill. Dump 1-2 jars of your favorite teriyaki sauce on the turkey. Put 1 jar of water in the bottom of the roasting pan. Set your grill to it's lowest setting and cook low and slow for about 4 -5 hours depending on size of the bird. Baste every 30 minutes. If skin starts to get to dark, cover with foil. I've never enjoyed a holiday turkey because no matter how it's cooked, whether in a deep fryer or oven it always tastes dry to me. But this comes out extremely juicy. And I don't even like Teriyaki all that much, but the flavor is not overpowering.
Will brine my bird in a salt/sugar/spice bath overnight Then smoke for 6 hours or so, it will be halved, and come out delicious!
Omg you had me at Bacon Butter...I use Alton Browns brine recipe when I do turkey...plus I also throw in some other stuff kickin around just to be creative...but the BACON BUTTER OMFG....
I love turkey, and eat a lot more than most people. I have turkey sandwiches 3 or 4 days a week for lunch, and my family and I have turkey for dinner a few times a month. That being said, all the work that goes into a traditional turkey is completely unecessary to me. We love to get these little butterball turkey breasts that are boneless. They're about the size of a nerf football, take very little work, and if you only want white meat (which we do), it feeds our family of four perfectly. I tried to convince my mom to do the same thing the last time we visited, and she refused because she's stuck in her ways and wanted to cook the whole turkey, so she spent half the day on it.
Yeah, those are the only ones I buy. I only eat the breast, anyways. I might have to try one of the recipes on this thread with my next one on Thursday.
That SOUNDS OUTSTANDING, Thank you sir. I have been frying turkey for the last 3 yrs, and i usually use a Mojo sauce injected into the bird. This yr i might use that bacon butter recipe.
