How do you cook your bird?

[majorminor]

This year just going to be 4 of us at the house. The in laws are bringing sides and my job is the bird and the dinner rolls. I have a small frozen Butterball about half thawed - I'm guessing 10ish pounds. Too late for me to do anything different really but just curious about your preferred method for cooking a turkey? I just season, make about 8 slits in the top and cram some butter in, pull all the gizzard packet stuff out and toss those and stuff the cavity with onion and apple chunks, pop the roasting pan in the oven at 350 with bird covered in foil, and an hour or hour and half before done take the foil off to brown the skin. Let it rest for 15 minutes or so on the counter while I make gravy from the drippings. I've never had a bad outcome.

I feel like an out of date old school loser because I'm constantly reading and hearing about brining, injecting, deep frying etc. and I've yet to have someone else's turkey that was any better then one I've cooked. Am I missing out on anything?

[Rob Hanesworth]

My neighbor, Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, comes over and stares at it for a few minutes. Don't know why that works, but it does.

[Cosmic Wonder]

Butterball are basically a pre brined bird. They inject some sort of salt/fat/sugar concoction into so you don’t have to. There is some concern over the health effects of what they use, but once a year it probably doesn’t do much.

For just the two of us, I do Inna Garten’ turkey breast recipe. It’s easy, and good. It’s some chopped up fresh herbs, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil spread under and over the skin, and roasted until done. Did I mention it was easy?

barefootcontessa.com/recipes/herb-roasted-turkey-breast

Mike

[drlj]

Nov 23, 2022 13:31:39 GMT -5 Cosmic Wonder said:

Butterball are basically a pre brined bird. They inject some sort of salt/fat/sugar concoction into so you don’t have to. There is some concern over the health effects of what they use, but once a year it probably doesn’t do much.

For just the two of us, I do Inna Garten’ turkey breast recipe. It’s easy, and good. It’s some chopped up fresh herbs, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil spread under and over the skin, and roasted until done. Did I mention it was easy?

barefootcontessa.com/recipes/herb-roasted-turkey-breast

Mike

That’s the one I do. I love it.

[billhammond]

One year instead of stuffing the bird with breadcrumbs, etc., I precooked a couple of extra drumsticks and stuffed them in there with some apple slices. No fighting over dark meat that year.


I ran across this last week in the Strib:

Don't hold the mayo: The secret to crispy skin? Chef Adam Eaton insists that it's mayonnaise. "I know that people like to rub butter on a turkey, but I like mayonnaise. It gives the turkey an even browning. It doesn't run down the side of the turkey, it sticks to it a little better than butter. And it keeps the inside extremely moist. I use tons of mayonnaise and rub it all over the bird, just a thin coating. It's kind of gross, for sure, but it works. You have to make sure that the skin is absolutely dry before you rub in the mayonnaise, and you have to use real mayonnaise." That means step away from the Miracle Whip.

[Cornflake]

I think brining significantly improves the flavor of turkey, chicken and beef. The first time I brined a turkey, our guests all commented that it was the best they'd had. Brining a turkey is a royal pain, though. If you haven't already made plans to do it, put it off until next year. You have to keep the turkey cool while it's brining. Our refrigerator won't accommodate one. I use an ice chest and add ice for cooling. You need a lot of brine and something to put on top of the turkey to keep it submerged. You need a humongous bag designed for turkeys. I'm not sure I'll ever do it again. I routinely brine chicken and roasts, though.

[billhammond]

Then there there was the year that my bachelor buddy Bob and I invited all the stranded newsroom orphans over to Bob's Milwaukee home for Thanksgiving dinner and, having test-roasted a turkey previously on his Weber grill, we went that route. A big ol' Butterball this time.

So big, in fact, that the little red pop-up thingie was too close to the kettle lid, and when it popped up, chem/butter sprayed onto the lid, caught on fire and incinerated the bird in minutes while we were indoors.

A cinder, couldn't salvage even a wing.

We ordered out for pizza.

On edit, I just remembered dessert. We had bought a supermarket pumpkin pie and Bob figured we needed Cool Whip for that, so he bought a tub of it. When it was time to have pie after the pizza, Bob brought out the tub of Cool Whip, which he had kept in the freezer, thinking it needed to be frozen.

So we used one of those backward-pull cheese slicers to harvest Cool Whip.

I told this story at Bob's memorial service last year. Lost that guy way too early, very rare form of cancer.

I was best man at his wedding and he was best man at mine. I miss him dearly.

wnanews.com/2021/09/07/robert-dye-journal-communications-obituary/

[Hobson]

Our house is a no brine zone. We use a Cookin' Bag. Stuff the turkey with a mixture of cooked wild rice, bread crumbs, butter, OJ, apple chunks, and raisins. Usually also add a whole onion.

We have a timetable so that everything comes out together. When to stuff the bird, when to start cooking potatoes, etc.

[coachdoc]

Nov 23, 2022 13:54:29 GMT -5 billhammond said:

One year instead of stuffing the bird with breadcrumbs, etc., I precooked a couple of extra drumsticks and stuffed them in there with some apple slices. No fighting over dark meat that year.


I ran across this last week in the Strib:

Don't hold the mayo: The secret to crispy skin? Chef Adam Eaton insists that it's mayonnaise. "I know that people like to rub butter on a turkey, but I like mayonnaise. It gives the turkey an even browning. It doesn't run down the side of the turkey, it sticks to it a little better than butter. And it keeps the inside extremely moist. I use tons of mayonnaise and rub it all over the bird, just a thin coating. It's kind of gross, for sure, but it works. You have to make sure that the skin is absolutely dry before you rub in the mayonnaise, and you have to use real mayonnaise." That means step away from the Miracle Whip.

[dradtke]

I'm like Steve. We shove an onion up its butt and put it in the oven. Our son is doing the turkey this year for the first time, I might suggest that mayo thing.

[jdd2]

Anyone remember that how-to post about tying up a turkey with guitar strings?

[Cornflake]

"Anyone remember that how-to post about tying up a turkey with guitar strings?"

D'Addario light gauge are best.

(Alternate response: what you and a consenting turkey do is none of my business.)

[Marty]

I'll ask DaWife.

[Village Idiot]

The best way to cook a turkey, from my experience it to not worry about it and put it in the oven at 350 degrees. Check it every now and then until it reaches 160 degrees. when it is done, take it out of the oven and let it rest for a while before cutting it up. It is not a magical bird that requires magical powers. It's a big chicken.