Talking Turkey

[Eddie]

I'm looking for some ideas on cooking up the bird in a couple of weeks.

I've tried the deep frying thing. It's pretty good, but labor intensive.

My wife turned me on to the "Ultimate Turkey Cooker" a couple of years ago, and it is now my favorite method of cooking the big bird. It's like an oversized dutch oven with a cone in the center that you place the cavity of the bird over. The thing cooks in about 90 minutes and comes out amazing.


What I'm really interested in is learning how to prepare the bird for cooking. To be honest, I've never done much in this regard. Maybe rub some butter on it and then shake some basic (very basic) spices over the top. They always turn out good, but I'm ready to try for something that will never be forgotten.

Anyone use a brine? What is the process? What does the brine do and how does it improve the bird?

What about "flavor injectors". They've got me curious, but not quite to the point of picking up a big needle yet.

What do you do to get the bird ready for cooking?

[MarkGrace]

Tandoori turkey.

[pellegrino]

Alton Brown has a good turkey brine recipe. There are sites out there that detail their results of using his method.

[Lost Student]

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[Eddie]

Alton Brown has a good turkey brine recipe. There are sites out there that detail their results of using his method.

Thanks - I'll have to take a closer look at that.

The Tandoori Turkey sounded intriguing, but ultimately it seems like I found too many examples of it not going well to experiment this time around.


Does the brine really make that big of a difference? Or is this one of those cooking things that just gives too little return on the investment of time and hassle to do it?

[TripletDaddy]

Eddie Jones, there is a turkey thread here or on CG. You may want to search for it because it had some great info in it. Does anyone else remember that thread? I think it went into more detail on the deep fry stuff, particularly.

[Moliere]

Eddie Jones, there is a turkey thread here or on CG. You may want to search for it because it had some great info in it. Does anyone else remember that thread? I think it went into more detail on the deep fry stuff, particularly.

[TripletDaddy]

Sorry!

I always mix up undead corpses and Laker guards.

[MarkGrace]

The Tandoori Turkey sounded intriguing, but ultimately it seems like I found too many examples of it not going well to experiment this time around.

Modern Family joke.

[happyone]

One thing I've done occasionally is instead of stuffing the bird, I place an orange and lemon in the cavity and then roast it as normal. It gives the meat an interesting flavor. I liked it.

The downside is if you use the drippings for gravy it gives the gravy an odd flavor.

[Eddie]

Modern Family joke.

Gotcha. Not a show I've ever seen, though I've heard it's good.

[Eddie]

One thing I've done occasionally is instead of stuffing the bird, I place an orange and lemon in the cavity and then roast it as normal. It gives the meat an interesting flavor. I liked it.

The downside is if you use the dripping for graving it give the gravy an odd flavor.

That does sound interesting. Unfortunately we'll be cooking the bird standing on end over a cone, so putting something else in the cavity isn't an option.

[Eddie]

Eddie Jones, there is a turkey thread here or on CG. You may want to search for it because it had some great info in it. Does anyone else remember that thread? I think it went into more detail on the deep fry stuff, particularly.

I found it - including a couple of brine recipes.

Thanks for the tip!

[Tim]

We're frying a turkey on Saturday. Can't wait!

[Pheidippides]

I've never found frying to be labor intensive. I am a solid convert to frying and do it every year at Christmas and thanksgiving. I am hauling up my set up to Utah to let the family partake too.