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basic turkey


Bier Meister
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This year I'm having people over to my place for Thanksgiving for the first time, and for the first time I will be in charge of the turkey action. I'm a bit nervous. Armed with a brined bird and my probe thermometer I figure I can't mess it up too badly, but I'll be embarrassed for weeks if I serve an inedible turkey.

 

Any of you have tips for getting that nice even brown across the whole bird?

 

I roast mine under a loose foil tent and remove it the last half hour. Rub with herbed butter to start and thoroughly baste with more butter and drippings as they come available every half hour. This makes the most beautiful turkey I've ever seen - best tasting skin too.

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cooking everything except the bird this year. mom has a small kitchen and oven, and determined it would take up too much time and space (would not be able to cook multiple items in oven at the same time). making:

 

- roasted apple/butternut squash soup

- stuffing with sausage and dried fruit (currants, cherries, apricots, golden raisins)

- caramelized brussel sprouts with bacon and onions and sherry vinaigrette

- orange/rum cranberries

- pumpkin chiffon pie (everyone voted for a pumpkin)

- port poached pear cobbler

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hmm, I was thinking I'd brine our turkey, but...any comments on this?

 

Many turkeys have already been brined. Your basic frozen Butterball turkey that populates the grocery stores for $.49 a pound during Thanksgiving has already been "enhanced with up to 8% with broth" has already been brined. Just chuck that sucker in your oven.

 

Brining is for fresh turkeys. It's all the rage on cooking shows, where they use nicer ingredients, rather than the Butterball on 90% of American tables. But if you do have a fresh turkey, it's very helpful.

 

Partly, it's a way to get extra moisture unto the bird, so that it doesn't get dry in the oven. (And also to weigh more, which lets them charge more for salt water, but it's a good thing anyway.)

 

It also adds salt, and salt does more than add saltiness. Salt underlies a lot of other flavors, and food tastes bland without it. You even add salt to cakes, enough to enhance flavor but not taste salty. If you brine a "moisture enhanced" bird, it will be way too salty. (I speak from experience.)

 

If you've got a fresh bird, though, brining it does make it a lot better. Chickens aren't pre-brined, and the same recipe applies to them, for a shorter time, and it's much recommended.

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Brining the fresh turkey I got today, and then frying it

 

- Mushroom & Sausage stuffing

- Whipped garlic potatoes

- bourbon sweet potatoes and Bartlett pears

- Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and granny smith apples

- Mustard and brown sugar glazed ham

- Green bean casserole

- Dill carrots

- Chinese neighbors that we have invited over bring the best potstickers and steamed buns evah, plus a "chines black fungus salad" :wacko:

- Pies bought from the Elegant Farmer (Wisconsinites know what I am talkin about here)

 

I cheat and have my chef make me two quarts of sage gravy ahead of time.

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hmm, I was thinking I'd brine our turkey, but...any comments on this?

 

Brine it.... when you freeze a turkey water gets pushed out of the cells and when you brine it the cells rehydrate. At least thats what I remember.

 

I always brine my turkey and put cheese cloth saturated in basting sauce over the breast while the turkey cooks at a high temp. for the first 30 minutes at high heat, I will then put foil over the breast to keep the white meat from over cooking and pull it up each time I baste the cheese cloth. I think Alton does the foil thing to...

 

I am going to try a bird in the pizza oven this year and look forward to the crispy skin the fire will give me! The indoor oven will also have bird in it just in case!

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Huddle peeps!

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cooking everything except the bird this year. mom has a small kitchen and oven, and determined it would take up too much time and space (would not be able to cook multiple items in oven at the same time). making:

 

- roasted apple/butternut squash soup

- stuffing with sausage and dried fruit (currants, cherries, apricots, golden raisins)

- caramelized brussel sprouts with bacon and onions and sherry vinaigrette

- orange/rum cranberries

- pumpkin chiffon pie (everyone voted for a pumpkin)

- port poached pear cobbler

 

 

have to work until about 10-11 tonight, so got the cranberries done (used some 10 cane and navan in there), poached the pears, made the vinaigrette, blanched the brussel sprouts. tomorrow is going to be a breeze.

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Not sure if this was mentioned, but one tip I read about was to put an ice bag atop the turkey's breast for about 20 minutes prior to cooking. This lowers the starting temp for the breast and helps ensure the white meat and dark meat are done at the same time.

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Sooo we had a Christmas story moment this morning. Each Thanksgiving eve, I put the turkey in a bucket to brine out on the back porch ... done it for the last 5 years. Well, this morning, I go out to get it, and the bucket is overturned and the raw turkey is laying on the deck, thoroughly gnawed on by our dogs. :wacko::rofl::tup::lol:

 

Lucky for us, i was able to find a new turkey at the grocery store first thing this morning, and it was thawed. I'm going to give Bier's herbed bird a try this year since there is no time to brine. :bow:

 

Today, I am thankful for Lowe's foods, which still had thawed turkey's available on Thanksgiving Morning, and The Huddle Food & Beverage Forum. :rofl:

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Sooo we had a Christmas story moment this morning. Each Thanksgiving eve, I put the turkey in a bucket to brine out on the back porch ... done it for the last 5 years. Well, this morning, I go out to get it, and the bucket is overturned and the raw turkey is laying on the deck, thoroughly gnawed on by our dogs. :wacko::rofl::tup::lol:

:rofl:

 

Hope the rest of your day is better

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Sooo we had a Christmas story moment this morning. Each Thanksgiving eve, I put the turkey in a bucket to brine out on the back porch ... done it for the last 5 years. Well, this morning, I go out to get it, and the bucket is overturned and the raw turkey is laying on the deck, thoroughly gnawed on by our dogs. :wacko::rofl::tup::lol:

 

Lucky for us, i was able to find a new turkey at the grocery store first thing this morning, and it was thawed. I'm going to give Bier's herbed bird a try this year since there is no time to brine. :bow:

 

Today, I am thankful for Lowe's foods, which still had thawed turkey's available on Thanksgiving Morning, and The Huddle Food & Beverage Forum. :rofl:

 

Bumpuss's!!!!!

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do you have an estimated time on your bird? the sweet potatoes won't take too long. cook bird until it is a little under temp. pull it and tent it (it will keep cooking slowly). pop in your sweet potatoes. place bird back in oven when sp are done if necessary.

Edited by Bier Meister
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do you have an estimated time on your bird? the sweet potatoes won't take too long. cook bird until it is a little under temp. pull it and tent it (it will keep cooking slowly). pop in your sweet potatoes. place bird back in oven when sp are done if necessary.

 

Sounds easy enough. It's a smaller bird and I'm not stuffing it, so it shouldn't take more than 2 1/2 hours. Thank ya.

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Bier, this thang is a life savor, THANKS AGAIN :rofl: what will 2-12# birds in the same oven do to my time?anything

 

should take about 2-3 hours. check temp at the 2 mark.

 

Sooo we had a Christmas story moment this morning. Each Thanksgiving eve, I put the turkey in a bucket to brine out on the back porch ... done it for the last 5 years. Well, this morning, I go out to get it, and the bucket is overturned and the raw turkey is laying on the deck, thoroughly gnawed on by our dogs. :wacko::rofl::tup::lol:

 

Lucky for us, i was able to find a new turkey at the grocery store first thing this morning, and it was thawed. I'm going to give Bier's herbed bird a try this year since there is no time to brine. :brew:

 

Today, I am thankful for Lowe's foods, which still had thawed turkey's available on Thanksgiving Morning, and The Huddle Food & Beverage Forum. :bow:

 

:yay:

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Sooo we had a Christmas story moment this morning. Each Thanksgiving eve, I put the turkey in a bucket to brine out on the back porch ... done it for the last 5 years. Well, this morning, I go out to get it, and the bucket is overturned and the raw turkey is laying on the deck, thoroughly gnawed on by our dogs. :wacko::rofl::tup::lol:

 

Lucky for us, i was able to find a new turkey at the grocery store first thing this morning, and it was thawed. I'm going to give Bier's herbed bird a try this year since there is no time to brine. :bow:

 

Today, I am thankful for Lowe's foods, which still had thawed turkey's available on Thanksgiving Morning, and The Huddle Food & Beverage Forum. :rofl:

 

I think I might have been roasting some dogs if I was in your situation.

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Well I brined my first bird last night because in the past my wife was always worried about me ruining the thing. This year I insisted on brining, followed the instructions here and it was the bomb. They all agreed that it made a huge difference. The breast was just amazingly tender and juicy. :wacko: (and yes, I'm referring to the turkey)

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