I am hosting Thanksgiving this year for the first time. So Turkey. Wet brine dry brine something else? How long? Advice
Thinking 16 lb frozen Turkey needs 4 days in fridge to thaw then brine then cook but I am looking for advice.
Our best have been brined following Alton Brown’s instructions. However if you are stuffing the bird then the foil turkey triangle, 500 degree blast followed by lower heat is not appropriate (he also did a stuffing version though I think he still thinks stuffing is evil, but for me its tasty wonderful goodness).
The last time he updated his methods it was a dry brine. I haven’t tried that one but the bird was spatchcocked and cooked on an over rack over a tray of root veggies to catch the drippings.
Butterballs are essentially ‘pre-injected’ with fluids (not the same as brining) so a different beast enturely to cook.
@moonhat if you’ve ever had the Boston market one, it is so yummy! Looking at the recipe, now I remember that I used canned yams(sweet potatoes) instead of fresh. I think I had quick oats on hand instead of the regular rolled oats. I just didn’t blend it as much. It was all improvisation, but it was very, very tasty at the end.
@moonhat@RiotDemon Since we have a small number of eaters, we’ve enjoyed some sides from Honey Baked Ham (which has a store nearby): Loaded Smashed Potatoes, Cheesy Potatoes au Gratin, & Tuscan-Style Broccoli.
@moonhat We always have: Candied yams, mash potatoes, turkey gravy, bacon/onion stuffed mushrooms, cornbread stuffing, green beans in bacon sauce, fresh potato rolls, cheese log, pumpkin pie and an apple, cherry, blueberry, blackberry or pecan pie, fresh veggies to dip and wine or microbrew.
My wife starts cooking everything from scratch early in the am & goes all day. The basic menu has been unchanged for probably 25+ yrs. Sadly, we only have one other person over, but I like leftovers & we’ll give them a lot to take home.
@moonhat luckily, sweet potatoes are pretty easy. As long as there is enough sugar, they usually taste good. I definitely recommend trying that oat topping. I’m looking forward to having it again.
I don’t brine. I don’t have time nor patience. I just shove a lot of butter and herbs under the skin if cooking in the oven, or I inject it if I’m frying.
I spatchcocked my birds for a few years until I got the Big Easy infrared cooker.
/youtube how to spatchcock a turkey
It was quicker, more evenly cooked, and not dry at all. So delicious.
Instead of stuffing the turkey, I just use the drippings to add flavor to the stuffing/dressing.
@compunaut I inject the bird with butter and some seasonings. Mostly butter. It’s very tasty. I’ve never been a huge fan of turkey until I started cooking it myself.
The biggest thing I’d suggest, no matter how you cook it, when you cut it, actually take the entire breast off the bird and slice it on a cutting board. It might not look as pretty on the table being served sliced on a platter, but it works out better in my opinion.
We brine our birds overnight.
Also, we don’t get one injected with ‘stuff’, that ‘stuff’ ain’t butter…
Also, she puts no stuffing inside the bird. She does put onions, celery, spices etc. inside the bird to flavor but the bird is not fully ‘stuffed’. Baste the bird occasionally. It’s OK to wrap the legs towards the end with foil so they don’t burn.
Stuffing is cooked separately in a container with some of the giblets. Cornbread stuffing is best. She makes cornbread a day or two ahead of time & dries some out for the stuffing.
Actually, I help baste & pulling the bird in/out of the oven. My wife does everything else. She actually loves cooking!
@duodec She’ll put some of the dressing in the bird sometimes, then mix it all together later. That would make it stuff/dressing I guess. I always call it stuffing though…
Decided to let someone else do the work and got pre-fabbed cranberry sage sausage stuffed breasts from costco. Roast to temp and slice. Kids all grown up. They’re just here to mooch now.
The real airing of grievances is yet to come. Usually after some Goslings & Catdaddy Moonshine Mules.
Then we’re making fruitcake cookies for all the feels that come with making them and then shipping them off to the relatives. Both the cookies and the kids.
I get a prebrined turkey, used to do it ourselves, but never got good enough to be fast at it. My work gives use a free Jenny-O turkey every year. I thawed out last years and roasted it to make stock this last weekend. Infuriatingly enough, it was the prettiest I’ve ever gotten a turkey to come out of the oven. It did get basted every 30 min with chicken broth. We stuff the cavity with apple/orange/onion/carrot and the sage/rosemary/thyme bouquet. It made really good stock.
I don’t brine either. And I get a perfect bird every time. Stuff it. 325. Tent it for the first while. Baste with butter and then it’s own juices. Cook longer than the prerequisite 15 mins per lb. Comes out great. I think most people over think it.
I don’t brine. Ain’t nobody got time for that. I I also don’t stuff the bird, I make stove top dressing. I don’t want stuffing soaking up all that nice juice that I will make gravy with. I never buy frozen turkeys, only fresh. A little more expensive, but well worth it as far as I’m concerned.
Here’s an online thingie https://www.butterball.com/about-us/turkey-talk-line
Our best have been brined following Alton Brown’s instructions. However if you are stuffing the bird then the foil turkey triangle, 500 degree blast followed by lower heat is not appropriate (he also did a stuffing version though I think he still thinks stuffing is evil, but for me its tasty wonderful goodness).
The last time he updated his methods it was a dry brine. I haven’t tried that one but the bird was spatchcocked and cooked on an over rack over a tray of root veggies to catch the drippings.
Butterballs are essentially ‘pre-injected’ with fluids (not the same as brining) so a different beast enturely to cook.
Its hard to go wrong using one of AB’s options…
We always brine, for 2 or 3 days. And by we, I mean my husband. He’s the turkey cooker in our house.
Anyone have a good thanksgiving salad/side dish that you love and recommend?
@moonhat I believe this the recipe I used last year for a copy cat Boston market sweet potato casserole.
https://copykat.com/2011/12/13/boston-market-sweet-potato-casserole-2/
I do the usual. Green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, salad with homemade ranch, mashed potatoes, gravy.
Edit: might of been this recipe.
https://topsecretrecipes.com/boston-market-sweet-potato-casserole-copycat-recipe.html?category_id=46
@RiotDemon ooh! those look good. thanks!
@moonhat if you’ve ever had the Boston market one, it is so yummy! Looking at the recipe, now I remember that I used canned yams(sweet potatoes) instead of fresh. I think I had quick oats on hand instead of the regular rolled oats. I just didn’t blend it as much. It was all improvisation, but it was very, very tasty at the end.
@moonhat @RiotDemon Since we have a small number of eaters, we’ve enjoyed some sides from Honey Baked Ham (which has a store nearby): Loaded Smashed Potatoes, Cheesy Potatoes au Gratin, & Tuscan-Style Broccoli.
@RiotDemon I’m jealous that you can just improvise and have things still turn out great. That never works for me.
@moonhat We always have: Candied yams, mash potatoes, turkey gravy, bacon/onion stuffed mushrooms, cornbread stuffing, green beans in bacon sauce, fresh potato rolls, cheese log, pumpkin pie and an apple, cherry, blueberry, blackberry or pecan pie, fresh veggies to dip and wine or microbrew.
My wife starts cooking everything from scratch early in the am & goes all day. The basic menu has been unchanged for probably 25+ yrs. Sadly, we only have one other person over, but I like leftovers & we’ll give them a lot to take home.
@moonhat luckily, sweet potatoes are pretty easy. As long as there is enough sugar, they usually taste good. I definitely recommend trying that oat topping. I’m looking forward to having it again.
@daveinwarsh that sounds like the perfect dinner right there Dave!
I don’t brine. I don’t have time nor patience. I just shove a lot of butter and herbs under the skin if cooking in the oven, or I inject it if I’m frying.
I spatchcocked my birds for a few years until I got the Big Easy infrared cooker.
/youtube how to spatchcock a turkey
It was quicker, more evenly cooked, and not dry at all. So delicious.
Instead of stuffing the turkey, I just use the drippings to add flavor to the stuffing/dressing.
@RiotDemon That looks so… wrong.
@sammydog01 when I did it to a chicken at a friend’s house, I wobbled the spine around. Not sure she liked that, haha.
@RiotDemon @sammydog01
/giphy splayed out
@RiotDemon @sammydog01 @therealjrn
I think you mean …
/giphy played out
@RiotDemon We brine AND use Big Easy infrared ‘fryer’. Might even try injection one of the years…
@compunaut I inject the bird with butter and some seasonings. Mostly butter. It’s very tasty. I’ve never been a huge fan of turkey until I started cooking it myself.
Penzey’s has this stuff on sale- it’s supposed to be great on turkey. But we’re going out.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/bicentennial-rub/c-24/p-339/pd-s
The biggest thing I’d suggest, no matter how you cook it, when you cut it, actually take the entire breast off the bird and slice it on a cutting board. It might not look as pretty on the table being served sliced on a platter, but it works out better in my opinion.
We brine our birds overnight.
Also, we don’t get one injected with ‘stuff’, that ‘stuff’ ain’t butter…
Also, she puts no stuffing inside the bird. She does put onions, celery, spices etc. inside the bird to flavor but the bird is not fully ‘stuffed’. Baste the bird occasionally. It’s OK to wrap the legs towards the end with foil so they don’t burn.
Stuffing is cooked separately in a container with some of the giblets. Cornbread stuffing is best. She makes cornbread a day or two ahead of time & dries some out for the stuffing.
Actually, I help baste & pulling the bird in/out of the oven. My wife does everything else. She actually loves cooking!
@daveinwarsh If its not in the bird, its dressing, not stuffing. That can still be good food though.
@duodec She’ll put some of the dressing in the bird sometimes, then mix it all together later. That would make it stuff/dressing I guess. I always call it stuffing though…
Decided to let someone else do the work and got pre-fabbed cranberry sage sausage stuffed breasts from costco. Roast to temp and slice. Kids all grown up. They’re just here to mooch now.
The real airing of grievances is yet to come. Usually after some Goslings & Catdaddy Moonshine Mules.
Then we’re making fruitcake cookies for all the feels that come with making them and then shipping them off to the relatives. Both the cookies and the kids.
@mike808 I do not know what this catdaddy stuff is but I am intrigued, is it pretty good?
@moonhat It’s the bee’s knees.
It’s a spiced moonshine from North Carolina, similar to Captain Morgan is a spiced rum.
This is a picture of a cocktail called “The Cardigan”. Looks yummy for the holidays, and just in time, too.
I get a prebrined turkey, used to do it ourselves, but never got good enough to be fast at it. My work gives use a free Jenny-O turkey every year. I thawed out last years and roasted it to make stock this last weekend. Infuriatingly enough, it was the prettiest I’ve ever gotten a turkey to come out of the oven. It did get basted every 30 min with chicken broth. We stuff the cavity with apple/orange/onion/carrot and the sage/rosemary/thyme bouquet. It made really good stock.
I don’t brine either. And I get a perfect bird every time. Stuff it. 325. Tent it for the first while. Baste with butter and then it’s own juices. Cook longer than the prerequisite 15 mins per lb. Comes out great. I think most people over think it.
I don’t brine. Ain’t nobody got time for that. I I also don’t stuff the bird, I make stove top dressing. I don’t want stuffing soaking up all that nice juice that I will make gravy with. I never buy frozen turkeys, only fresh. A little more expensive, but well worth it as far as I’m concerned.