Comments on: The Turkey Torch Has Been Passed

By: Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week | Endless Simmer - A Food Blog

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week | Endless Simmer - A Food Blog — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:32:04 +0000

[...] may be more than a month away, but the ES commenters have already begun planning for their turkey prep . The consensus is that brining the bird is the way to go. And the benefits of that salty bath [...]

By: Lyndsey

Lyndsey — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:51:48 +0000

I saw that recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. I might just try it, although it seems a little overwhelming. I’m a big fan of their recipes, and they haven’t failed me yet!

By: La Morgan

La Morgan — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:06:29 +0000

Cook’s Illustrated (December) has what is possibly the most ridiculously complicated recipe for turkey I’ve ever seen, but with one particularly intriguing suggestion for crisping the skin without overdrying the meat: Draping strips of salt pork over it while baking. I would love to try this, but I have a dwarf oven that barely fits a roast chicken, so I’m looking forward to hearing about your turkey adventures!

By: Tia

Tia — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:47:14 +0000

I have to agree that brining is the way to go. I use the big ol’ cooler as well.

For last year’s turkey we did a sun-dried tomato/rosemary/butter rub under the skin. It was delicious!

Good luck with whatever recipe you decide to use.

By: erica

erica — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:27:08 +0000

i’m vegi but don’t mind the meat cookin… a few xmases ago i did the butter under the skin thing with some cornish game hens (i wasn’t going to spend hours on a turkey) and people loved it.

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:29:23 +0000

Best of luck with the turkey!
My husband and I (Philly ‘burb kids that now live in Nova-yuck) Host a “Rogue Thanksgiving” for all of our friends and some other Marines that couldn’t get home. After serious time spent research we ended up making sage butter and rubbing it all under the turkey skin…WAY TO GO! Everyone loved it and we are doing it again this year. The only odd thing is the green gravy that you end up with.

GO PHILLIES!!

Lindsay

By: Summer

Summer — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:07:46 +0000

I love turkey so much that I will buy as many frozen turkeys as possible when they go on sale around the holidays — at one point, I cleaned out my chest freezer and found I had FIVE, which didn’t even count the one in the fridge-freezer or the one I’d stashed in my mom’s freezer. I’ll cook turkeys for no special reason or occasion, just because turkey is delicious. And the reason that my turkeys are so delicious that I’ll ignore how ridiculous it is to cook a 12-lb.animal for a family of three: BRINE. It DOES make the best turkey. It doesn’t have to be a fancy brine; it’s the salt that does the trick.

A few tricks and tips:
1. Some people will tell you that “flavor injected” frozen turkeys shouldn’t be brined. Ignore that. Brine them anyway.

2. The best container to brine a large turkey is a big hard-sided cooler. The evening before Thanksgiving, fill the cooler with brine, ice and your turkey. You can even stick the cooler out on your porch, balcony or in your garage.

3. Brined turkeys don’t simply yield the most succulent, delicious meat — they make awesome gravy, too. Just remember that the drippings will be salty, so don’t add any extra salt, and use plain water rather than broth. All it will need is a little bit of fresh-ground pepper. I make gravy right in the roasting pan, just whisking in flour and warm water.

4. This isn’t brine-specific, but if you’re working with a frozen turkey, accept that it is going to take FOREVER to defrost in the fridge. The bigger the turkey, the longer it will take. A week, at least. I can’t tell you how often I’ve thought I was going to cook a turkey, and then discovered it was still too frozen… not such a problem when you’re cooking a turkey for an ordinary Tuesday, but a big one when you’ve got a Thanksgiving deadline! The turkey will defrost more once you get it into the brine, but it’s got to be defrosted enough that you can get the giblet-bag out of it.

This is making me hungry. Good thing I have a turkey breast in the fridge, ready to become tonight’s dinner!