Post Tday thoughts

I posted this on my blog, but have no answers yet... So I thought it would work well here, too:

What did you do differently this year due to advice or reading from the Internet?

My main thing was to ice the breast of the turkey while the rest of the bird warmed up closer to room temp, allowing the whole bird to get done more evenly. I just put ice in a baking dish, covered with plastic wrap, and put the bird breast down on the ice.

I also tried what I found on a podcast and injected with olive oil, though I mixed in some Maker's Mark. I used the same to rub under and over the skin, too. The bird was the best turkey I've ever had.

It looks amazing, Kurt.


I found out on Wednesday night that I was going to do a bird after all, so I had no time to experiment. I rubbed the turkey down and let it cure overnight. The next day I beer-canned it.

It was moist and delicious!

Curt,
That looks so moist and delicious! I love the turkey leg 'booties'!!
I don't have many stories. My MIL does everything and won't allow help, and it's easier just to let her have her own way once in a while. I've gotten so used to my turkeys and chickens on the grill, that the oven roasted one she made didn't have much taste at all, so I learned how I don't want to do things anymore!
Laura

Great looking turkey Curt!!!

What I learned/experimented with this year-

Even if a turkey is enhanced you can still brine it. During the brine it will equalize the salt content. If the enhanced turkey has a higher salt content the brine will pull moisture out, but most turkey farms use a very light salt solution. Therefore brining will always pull flavor and salt in. I used a full dose of salt in my brine and the turkey was outstanding. I beleive a non enhanced would have had a little more flavor, but this was my best turkey yet.

I added fresh apples to the coals. I don't know if it added flavor, but it smelled amazing as the apples smoldered. I was also using apple wood for flavor.

I learned that Lazarris uses a plastic line in their lump coal bag. Do not try to put it out with your hand if it catches on fire. The melted plastic will stick on your hand and you end up with a healthy burn.

The final thing I learned was... Don't trust anything your father in law or brother in law build. I picked up a marble paper towel holder. the base fell off and hit my mother in law on the head, causing a fairly big bump and a MIL that did not talk to me for an hour (is that a bad thing? )

All I can say is that after 5 turkey dinners in less than 2 weeks, I am sick to death of turkey.

Smoked Turkey at home
Fried turkey with Jeep club
Smoked turkey at wife's Grandma's
Oven turkey at sister in laws
Oven turkey at moms

I've never done a tureky before this year, but with all the advice I found on here, it was the best turkey I had this Thanksgiving. Ready for some beef now.

Curt wrote:

What did you do differently this year due to advice or reading from the Internet?

The one thing that I did differently this Thanksgiving was to accept an invitation from family to join them for dinner and just bring dessert. I also decided to keep it simple! I love to challenge my cooking skills and gravitate toward complex dishes that require exotic spices or ingredients and hours of prep and assembly. This year, I made a basic Pecan Pie and Fudge which family enjoyed very much.

Since I knew that I was not cooking the main meal, I did not pick up any new meat tips (until reading Curt's post). I am eager to learn from my fellow board members since Christmas is just around the corner....

Rg

Griffin wrote:

All I can say is that after 5 turkey dinners in less than 2 weeks, I am sick to death of turkey.

I hear ya. We've been eating off the same bird since Thursday, so I'm sick of it. Dinner tonight was beef fajitas, to clense the palate. I guess that's why turkey isn't popular the rest of the year.

My mother prepares Thanksgiving, and like Laura's, doesn't want to share duties. What I learned, though, was some techniques for when I try one in the future.

1. Brine the bird.
2. Inject/rub for flavor.
3. Ice down the breast meat for more even cooking.
4. Baste while cooking.
5. Some apples in the cavity and on the coals for flavor.
6. *Watch for giblets.*

Rob - TX Sandman

Good info here so I thought I would bring it back

bump