Let's Talk Turkey

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I put a splash of Amaretto in my string beans almondine.

Oh yes... brilliant!

I will have to do that now.

originally posted by: Boadicea
Are these folks ever cited for recklessness? Fire hazards? Anything?

Not that I'm aware of, he's mostly dealing with stupid stuff like that daily.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Thankfully when we deep fried our turkey we knew how to do it. Lol btw I love your new avatar.

a reply to: Rekrul

It's old and it's gonna get worse after Thanksgiving when I use the piece of crap that Zazz made for me. You'll hate it.

ETA: Little preview....

a reply to: ketsuko

We put an herb/lemon/butter rub underneath the skin too before roasting....

I might have to try that! Maybe I'll pick up a turkey breast in a few weeks. I've done a garlic lemon butter chicken dish forever, but never thought to try it with turkey.

...(it just depends on what all needs roast turkey dripping goodness)....

There's never enough turkey dripping goodness!!!

a reply to: Boadicea

It's something we picked up from Ina Garten I think. She did it with a turkey breast, and we figured it would probably work with a whole bird. Seems to do pretty well.

She took her herbs, salt/pepper, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic and made a paste that she rubbed up under her turkey breast skin right next to the meat. We've played with it some over the years, but it's mostly the same concept.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Boadicea

It's something we picked up from Ina Garten I think...She took her herbs, salt/pepper, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic and made a paste that she rubbed up under her turkey breast skin right next to the meat. We've played with it some over the years, but it's mostly the same concept.

I've only recently learned about rubbing butter and herbs under the breast skin like that. I can see how that would create the most perfect crispy skin. Although I'd use butter like you instead of the olive oil.

This year, I may just do half my bird with the butter slathered on the outside of the skin, and the other half with the butter slathered underneath the skin, and compare and contrast. Yup! I think so -- that'll be fun!

I will brine ours for 14 hours before cooking. It is a fresh turkey so it has no solutions added to it.

We generally BBQ-smoke our turkeys. This year I'll be using the Traeger, but most years in the past I just use a regular Weber and use the "indirect method" with a pan in the middle to catch the drippings. Times vary by weight, but I usually keep a pretty close eye on internal temperature.

This year we're going to do a Cajun turkey. The brine we're using is just a simple brine (mainly just salt water). Once brined we will inject it with a mixture of equal parts butter and amber maple syrup with Cajun spices mixed in (about 4 tablespoons per cup). We will probably inject about 1-1/2 cups into the thighs and breasts, and reserve 1/2" cup for basting. We will also season the outside of the turkey with the cajun seasoning.

We generally do not stuff birds we BBQ-smoke. Cooking time is about half as a result. I do generally put some apples and onions in the cavity for moisture.

The Traeger, for those not familiar, is a pellet grill/smoker. For wood we will be smoking with a mixture of oak, maple and hickory wood with a touch of rosemary spices.

So that's it for the turkey.

Sides will include cornbread stuffing baked in muffin pans (so basically cornbread stuffing muffins), green bean casserole with a twist (green bean mixture will be baked in cupcake pans with shells made out of the crushed fried onions and an egg). Homemade cranberry sauce. Mashed taters. And the wife made a cranberry cheesecake for dessert.

We are doing something kind of cool for an appetizer though. The wife ordered some lobster tails, and she's going to cut those up and tempura fry the pieces and make a Creole remoulade dipping sauce. We did a trial run on her plan with some scallops the other night and it was fantastic!

ETA - Oh, and I cook the turkey breast side down for the 1st half, then flip breast side up and baste for the 2nd half of the cooking period.

a reply to: Boadicea

Oh, we baste it during roasting too.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I'm jealous. Not all of us have actual trained chefs in our houses. Some of us are largely self-taught home cooks.


We do the best we can.

a reply to: ketsuko

Yeah, I will be doing that as well, but I will just inject the butter maple syrup mixture just under the skin. Same result.

It definitely works very well.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I don't want to derail the thread because all of this sounds delicious, but you're new avatar looks very attractive.

I personally like the ornament earring.

a reply to: Rekrul

I'm gonna leave it up now, just for you.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

All of this sounds soooooooo yummy! It also sounds like a lot of thought and work... but worth it

We generally do not stuff birds we BBQ-smoke. Cooking time is about half as a result. I do generally put some apples and onions in the cavity for moisture.

Augustus mentioned doing the same. What a great idea! If I didn't stuff mine, the bird getting dry would be my biggest concern. This is a perfect way to prevent drying and add more flavor. I love my stuffing, so I'll probably never have to worry about this, but I'll remember this if I ever do.

The trick with frying turkeys is to get a long pair of welding gloves (or similar) so you can lower the turkey s.l.o.w.l.y into the hot oil.

This is the mistake many make, and their wrists and arms start to get too hot and they wind up dropping the turkey into the oil which causes the oil to foam up and boil over...which results in a big fireball. And the situation goes downhill from there, usually with the pot getting knocked over while attempting to extinguish the blaze, and now you have a raging inferno.

All could have been avoided with just a good pair of gloves.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Boadicea

Oh, we baste it during roasting too.

LOL!

Of course you do!!!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Also, turn the damn flame off before lowering the turkey down so any oil that gets spilled doesn't ignite.

a reply to: FauxMulder

Good point!

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus
Everything is amazing in this. Delicious food, and harmony.

Smoke'em low and slow.
Save the drippings to use in the bbq sauce.
Save the giblets for brown gravy on the mashed taters and green bean casserole.
Leave some room for the pumpkin/pecan pie.