Since Thanksgiving is next week

[Puddy]

Can someone tell me the best way to cook a turkey? I'm not looking to deep fry it or smoke it, just the best way to cook it in the conventional oven.

[Bier Meister]

preheat oven to 425.

 

finely chop garlic, thyme, sage, parsley, sage (2 tsp of each)......

 

rinse turkey inside and out.... dry it.

 

rub it down with olive oil. then some salt and pepper.

 

create a pocket between the membraine and muscle of the bird..... rub herbs inside that pocket. you will also want to season the main cavity.

 

truse the bird (tuck wings under body, and tie legs together loosely). start roasting for about 20-30 min. turn heat down to 325. every 15-30 min pour chicken broth over bird and baste with pan drippings. after about an hour, cover with foil (prevents further browning).

 

check for doneness by inserting thermometer into thickest part of the thigh..... should get 175 and clear juices

 

 

edit: so many alternatives..... i like to stuff the cavity with roughly chopped onion, celery, carrots, and lemons.

Edited November 19, 2005 by Bier Meister

[Azazello1313]

i like to stuff my cavity with celery, carrots, zucchini, corn-on-the-cob, cucumbers, and lemons.

 

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[untateve]

Can someone tell me the best way to cook a turkey?  I'm not looking to deep fry it or smoke it, just the best way to cook it in the conventional oven.

 

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I prefer smoked, but deep fried is also delicious. I do both on Thanksgiving. A basic garlic butter injection for the fried bird and I brine the smoked one. It is, indeed, the best of both worlds.

[untateve]

Can someone tell me the best way to cook a turkey?  I'm not looking to deep fry it or smoke it, just the best way to cook it in the conventional oven.

 

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sorry, misread your post. Here's how I roasted a turkey in the oven before I became enlightened.

 

I cut two garlic HEADs in half and stuffed them in turkey cavity.

 

I created a basting 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup butter and mixed in a bowl with lemon pepper, black pepper, a touch of orange juice, italian herbs, and chopped rosemary. I'd spoon some of this mixture under the skin--careful, don't tear it.

 

Rub the outside of the bird with the baste and baste it about every hour. Roast at 350 degrees. If the turkey starts to get to dark, tent it with tin foil until done. Also, don't let the bird touch the bottom of the roasting pan. Put it on a v-rack in your pan. Then you also have some nice drippings for gravy.

[Deacon Bill]

I prefer smoked, but deep fried is also delicious.  I do both on Thanksgiving.  A basic garlic butter injection for the fried bird and I brine the smoked one.  It is, indeed, the best of both worlds.

 

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I've been hearing a lot about soaking/marinating your turkey in brine for 24 hrs. Can you explain that process and ingredients untateve? What's involved? Thanx.

[untateve]

I've been hearing a lot about soaking/marinating your turkey in brine for 24 hrs. Can you explain that process and ingredients untateve? What's involved? Thanx.

 

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First--the chemical reason that this works from my friend, Alton Brown:

 

Meat is made up of cells.  Cells are surrounded by membranes, which function like borders between countries:  they are discriminating.  Any substance that wants in or out of the cell must present papers and pass a rigid inspection.  the substance that moves across this border most often and most freely is water.

 

The micromilieu of meat is all about balance.  Inside the cell there are dissolved solids--salts, potassium, and the like--and outside there's...well, it depends.  Drop a pork chop in a bucket of distilled water and there's nothing but H2O outside the border.  In this case, the border officials are unhappy because there'a a lot more salt inside the cell than outside, thus no balance.  So the border temporaily opens, and the guards allow some water to move into the meat and some salt to move out into the water.  Eventually, the meat will lose a good bit of its native flavor to the water.

 

However, if there's salt in the water (even as little as a few hundred parts per million), the border guards, ever desirous of equilibrium--will throw open the borders and allow both salt and water to move across the membranes.  Now this is where things get really interesting:  after 8-24 hours there's more salt in the meat, and more water has to be retained to balance it--that's just the osmotic way.  So now you've got cells that are perfectly seasoned with salt and nicely plump with water, which if you think about it is something of a paradox:  salt pulls liquid out of meats, yet the right brine can pump water into meat.

 

But wait, there's more.  Like a molecular Trojan horse, the water can harbor other substances, specifically water-soluble flavors like brown sugar or various herbaceous elements whose flavors have been extracted via brewing.  This means you can sneak various and sundry flavors and seasonings into the meat.

 

And yet there's more.  When salt gets into meat cells it runs into certain water-soluble proteins.  {My book shows a pic of a meat cell slowing opening up} Notice that they've gone from tight little separate springy things to big loose coils that have managed to get all tangled up with each other.  During the cooking process, this tangled-up structure traps water almost like a gel, which means two things:

 

1.  Brined meats are jucier when cooked

2.  Since they hold more moisture, brined meats are more forgiving of overcooking

 

 

Now this year, I'm trying a different brine from my friend, Alton.

 

1 gallon hot water

1 pound kosher salt

2 qts vegetable broth

1 pound honey

1 7-lb bag of ice

Turkey (giblets removed)

(although it doesn't call for it, I'll be adding garlic--I love garlic)

 

Combine the hot water and the salt in a 54 qt cooler (I just use a 5 gallon bucket from home depot). Stir until the water dissolves. Stir in the vegetable broth and the honey (and the garlic). Add the ice and stir. Place the turkey in the brine, breast side up, and cover with the cooler lid (or place into the refrigerator if using my bucket method). Brine overnight, up to 12 hours.

 

 

Also from Alton:

 

Temperature matters:  meat proteins are more extractable around 34 degrees meaning that the tissues in question will hold on to more water if brined at refrigerator temperatures.

 

And that is the story of brining.

[devilwoman]

preheat oven to 425.

 

finely chop garlic, thyme, sage, parsley, sage (2 tsp of each)......

 

rinse turkey inside and out.... dry it.

 

rub it down with olive oil.  then some salt and pepper.

 

create a pocket between the membraine and muscle of the bird..... rub herbs inside that pocket. you will also want to season the main cavity.

 

truse the bird (tuck wings under body, and tie legs together loosely).  start roasting for about 20-30 min.  turn heat down to 325.  every 15-30 min pour chicken broth over bird and baste with pan drippings.  after about an hour, cover with foil (prevents further browning). 

 

check for doneness by inserting thermometer into thickest part of the thigh..... should get 175 and clear juices

edit: so many alternatives..... i like to stuff the cavity with roughly chopped onion, celery, carrots, and lemons.

 

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Dang Bier would you come and be my personal cook. Everytime I read one of your posts my mouth starts watering. You must be one heck of a cook/chef!!

[sundaynfl]

About the only thing I would add to Bier's recipe is the brining Unateve mentioned... I don't think I will be stuffing my turkey this year... I am going to try a turkey version of Beer Butt Chicken...

[Savage Beatings]

Here is a link to a Dressing recipe. It sounds weird at first, but trust me, we tried it once and it is phenomenal!

 

Enjoy!

[Deacon Bill]

First--the chemical reason that this works from my friend, Alton Brown:

Now this year, I'm trying a different brine from my friend, Alton.

 

1 gallon hot water

1 pound kosher salt

2 qts vegetable broth

1 pound honey

1 7-lb bag of ice

Turkey (giblets removed)

(although it doesn't call for it, I'll be adding garlic--I love garlic)

 

Combine the hot water and the salt in a 54 qt cooler (I just use a 5 gallon bucket from home depot).  Stir until the water dissolves.  Stir in the vegetable broth and the honey (and the garlic).  Add the ice and stir.  Place the turkey in the brine, breast side up, and cover with the cooler lid (or place into the refrigerator if using my bucket method).  Brine overnight, up to 12 hours.

Also from Alton: 

And that is the story of brining.

 

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Thanx for the info untateve...will give it a try

[Seattle LawDawg]

I have some applewood planks on the way. I haven't figured out the logistics of it, but I'm determined to "plank" a turkey this year.

[broncosn05]

 

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[Jimmy Neutron]

preheat oven to 425.

 

finely chop garlic, thyme, sage, parsley, sage (2 tsp of each)......

 

rinse turkey inside and out.... dry it.

 

rub it down with olive oil.  then some salt and pepper.

 

create a pocket between the membraine and muscle of the bird..... rub herbs inside that pocket. you will also want to season the main cavity.

 

truse the bird (tuck wings under body, and tie legs together loosely).  start roasting for about 20-30 min.  turn heat down to 325.  every 15-30 min pour chicken broth over bird and baste with pan drippings.  after about an hour, cover with foil (prevents further browning). 

 

check for doneness by inserting thermometer into thickest part of the thigh..... should get 175 and clear juices

edit: so many alternatives..... i like to stuff the cavity with roughly chopped onion, celery, carrots, and lemons.

1159379[/snapback]

 

 

My favorite method is close to this, but I use butter and include it between the skin and breast meat.

 

Drape a thin layer of cheese cloth over the bird and bast with more butter or drippings every half hour. Try apple slices in the body cavity in addition to what Bier reccomended. Hmmmm, turkey...... :homerdrool:

[Bier Meister]

My favorite method is close to this, but I use butter and include it between the skin and breast meat.

 

Drape a thin layer of cheese cloth over the bird and bast with more butter or drippings every half hour.  Try apple slices in the body cavity in addition to what Bier reccomended.  Hmmmm, turkey...... :homerdrool:

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yeah...i like using butter too.... i wanted to give a straightforward, easy method....

 

if you would like to use butter, i'd recommend using a 1/2-1/4 inch dice.

[Savage Beatings]

yeah...i like using butter too.... i wanted to give  a straightforward, easy method....

 

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Dude, if this wasn't the food and beverage forum...

[chiefjay]

Puddy: I'll come over Thursday at 6am to help you. Just kidding.

 

It's not too hard dude, just follow the directions from the other huddlers. I will say old fashion stuffing is the best. Stale bread toasted in the over mixed with a bunch of garbage like Onion, Greep Peppers, Butter, Thyme, Chicken Broth, at least it's something like that.

 

Have to give moms a call and get the recipe again. I guess I should write it down this year.

[twiley]

Can someone tell me the best way to cook a turkey?  I'm not looking to deep fry it or smoke it, just the best way to cook it in the conventional oven.

 

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I've found that this is the best way:

 

Pick up phone, call parents or relative, ask what time dinner starts.

[Puddy]

Puddy:  I'll come over Thursday at 6am to help you.

 

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Cool. I called AAA, but they said they couldn't help.

[Azazello1313]

this is reminding me of the don imus radio skit where someone impersonating wilford brimley talks about stuffing a turkey with warm quaker oatmeal, grabbing onto both drumsticks and using the big brimley bird baster

[Big F'n Dave]

Sold my business, so this is the first time in 10 years I won't fry 120 turkeys this week I will, however, fry one. And it will be delicious.

[Clubfoothead]

I brine almost everything before smoking it. I've got a maple syrup brine I use on pork that is pretty good. Its on the fridge I'll get it.

 

When doing a turkey in the oven this is all you need. Trust me.

[Azazello1313]

I brine almost everything before smoking it. 

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seems like that would harsh the buzz a little