Who is cooking Thanksgiving?!

[BreezyBrew]

So this year I've decided to take the plunge and cook for 6 of us at Thanksgiving. I've always wanted to cook a turkey, because I have heard of techniques that can make your turkey awesome, which are different than traditional methods. Here's what I've got so far:

- Younger and non frozen turkeys are more tender
- Organic / free range may taste more natural
- Brine the bird 24 hours before cooking.
- Cook the bird 2 days within purchase
- Do NOT use stuffing in the chest cavity, it dries it out. Apples and spices are a good alternative
- Cook the turkey for some time uncovered to make the skin crispy.
- tie the legs close to the body for even cooking
- Cook about 1 to 1.5 lbs per person
- Use a rack to circulate the air under the turkey for even cooking
- Baste a few times during cooking

I'm going to make a couple of trial runs with chicken before the big day.

Anyone else have tips they have learned along the way?

 

[The Pol]

Brining and smoking a turkey this year.

 

[Beernik]

Believe it or not, after doing a couple really juicy fried turkeys, I kind of missed dried out white meat. It's funny the things you can get nostalgic for.

We're going on vacation this year. I don't know what we will be eating. Maybe deli turkey sandwiches.

 

[max384]

I switched to deep frying the turkey about six years ago and haven't looked back since.

This will be my first Thanksgiving spent with my fiance's family, and they just can't believe that a deep fried turkey can be better than her mom's (her mom is a ridiculously good cook). So, we're having a cook-off. She'll be slaving over the oven all day baking one. I'll be standing outside drinking beer for an hour watching the turkey fry. I have no doubts I'll win!

What I'm trying to say is that you should skip the oven and fry your bird!

 

[Whut]

I switched to deep frying the turkey about six years ago and haven't looked back since.

This will be my first Thanksgiving spent with my fiance's family, and they just can't believe that a deep fried turkey can be better than her mom's (her mom is a ridiculously good cook). So, we're having a cook-off. She'll be slaving over the oven all day baking one. I'll be standing outside drinking beer for an hour watching the turkey fry. I have no doubts I'll win!

What I'm trying to say is that you should skip the oven and fry your bird!

This. Absolutely this!!!!!

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

So this year I've decided to take the plunge and cook for 6 of us at Thanksgiving. I've always wanted to cook a turkey, because I have heard of techniques that can make your turkey awesome, which are different than traditional methods. Here's what I've got so far:

- Younger and non frozen turkeys are more tender
- Organic / free range may taste more natural
- Brine the bird 24 hours before cooking.
- Cook the bird 2 days within purchase
- Do NOT use stuffing in the chest cavity, it dries it out. Apples and spices are a good alternative
- Cook the turkey for some time uncovered to make the skin crispy.
- tie the legs close to the body for even cooking
- Cook about 1 to 1.5 lbs per person
- Use a rack to circulate the air under the turkey for even cooking
- Baste a few times during cooking

I'm going to make a couple of trial runs with chicken before the big day.

Anyone else have tips they have learned along the way?

I had hoped to get the honors of cooking this year, but it might end up being next.
In anticipation, I smoked a turkey breast a few weeks ago, and I'm not sure I'd ever make turkey a different way. Super easy, hands off and incredibly tasty (assuming you've got a smoker of course).
I used this as a great guide (if you've got hours to spend reading ). The two big things I got from it that I've applied successfully to chicken is to do a dry brine and don't tie the legs.

 

[JBOGAN]

Brining and smoking a turkey this year.

Second year doing this! Family pretty much insisted that we host Thanksgiving.

 

[The Pol]

I bought this in February, and I absolutely love it. It will free up the oven for other things, and make a better turkey. I've had friends switch from frying, which I also love, to smoking, as they actually prefer it.

I'm pretty excited! I love the holidays. I have 4 pounds of green coffee beans enroute from Sweet Marias to roast, and will have the fridge stocked with good beer.

 

[glenn514]

My wife and I have been married for 45 years. I believe that for 43 of them, I have either cooked the turkey on the Weber, or deep-fried it. Marie made the turkey in the oven our first year of marriage...and that was the last one we did indoors! Our oldest daughter cooked for the family one Thanksgiving, but we were sad because there were few leftovers!

The plan for THIS Thanksgiving: I will deep-fry TWO turkeys. One we will devour, and the other I will carve up, Marie will boil the carcass for turkey stock, and we'll send that entire bird home with our second daughter.

glenn514

 

[unionrdr]

My wife & I both dominate in the kitchen for turkey day! We roast it in the oven under a foil tent till done & then brown it up a bit after. Stuffing in th neck cavity doesn't dry it out. You just have to keep it moist & baste occasionally. We use an old stuffing recipe from her grandma that I like to add milled English walnuts to. The oils from the nuts darken the flavor ever so slightly & help keep it moist. And of course real cranberry sauce, also from her grandma & candied yams with home made pies. She also does this mandarin orange salad with crushed pineapple & sour cream that is very addicting when properly chilled! I've also smoked 12-13lb turkeys in the BBQ pit that come out juicy & golden brown after BBQ'ing all day. Stuffing on the side with that one & no larger than 12-13lbs if you want it to cook through low & slow. I like cottonwood from our tree by the driveway for a lighter side of medium smokiness. I'm thinking of smoking the smaller turkey for Christmas, so maybe some pics then. I also love to make stock with the stripped carcase, especially if it's been smoked! Great flavors for stew or chunky turkey soup.

 

[Hello]

I wanted to try and smoke the turkey this year but now I have a couple family members coming and I don't want to F that up. I'll be deep frying a small turkey, just enough for 3, and all the fixings. Last year I oven-baked the turkey and did the fixings while brewing beer.

Until I left my home state, I had never made anything for thanksgiving. In fact, I just showed up and was fed. When I moved I realized if I wanted turkey dinner then I had to get off my butt and figure it out.

 

[The Pol]

I do plan on smoking it breast up, some aromatics in the cavity, no trusses...

 

[unionrdr]

Yup. We learned cooking, fishing & hunting from our parents. But getting out on your own, starting a family, etc forces you to put on your big boy pants & git-r-done. We all go through it. Smoking a turkey is relatively easy. No stuffing & mix seasonings with some tub butter/margarine. Use fingers to slowly loosen skin on breasts & put the seasoned butter under the skin, squeezing it around as evenly as possible. Oil the outside of the bird lightly & use some of the same seasoning from the butter as a rub. Put in BBQ pit ( I have a big rectangular one) offset from the coals. Put wood on top of coals every so often to keep the smoke rolling. But use a lighter wood like white ash, cottonwood, maple or pecan on top of said coals. You don't want the smoke flavor too strong for poultry. Takes a good part of the day for no more than a 12-13lb bird, so get it in there about 4-5AM to be done in time for dinner as much as 8-12 hours later. Replenish coals & wood as needed with a chimney to keep the heat at 250-300F or so. It's not that hard to do & comes out golden brown, fragrant & juicy. And I mean those juices run out of the breast as soon as you start slicing, so I keep a gravy or tablespoon handy to spoon juices over stuff as requested. The smoky thighs & legs are my personal favorite!

 

[Homercidal]

I believe we are hosting this year. The crowd is smaller as some family have moved to Arizona, but I am sure we will be doing a turkey. Wife is likely to roast in the electric roaster. It usually turns out good, but I've had a fried turkey once and it was really good. I'd consider deep frying myself, but it feels wrong to stick a turkey in a brewpot...

I am usually called upon for pies, so I can see me making an apple and a pumpkin pie. Kid will do green bean casserole.

We pretty much do the traditional food items.

 

[Melana]

I have yet to tackle Thanksgiving on my own (i am on deck for Christmas this year... eek!). Turkeys are starting to get really cheap so we grill roasted one this weekend after an overnight cranberry juice brine. Awesome awesome bird. YUM. Give me two more weeks and i'll be sick of Turkey.
I'm usually called up on for appetizers, snacks, and desserts.

 

[eric19312]

I've got Thanksgiving this year for about 5. Pretty much my favorite holiday. Last year I did a turkey using a method from cooks illustrated that went over big. It was a re-do of an old Julia Child recipe.

Steps include
1. Detach the leg quarters, bone the thighs--leaving leg bone in but removing the thigh bone--remove the backbone for stock.
2. Brine the breast, season legs and interior of thighs, truss thighs
3. Make the stuffing -- pretty dry so won't get too wet during cooking, pile it up in a roasting pan
4. Start breast in a cast iron skillet skin side down in oven
5. Put breast and thighs on the pile of stuffing, skin up, roast till done

The advantage is that the breast and thigh cook perfectly, skin is crispy and golden, and the thigh carves into these perfect medallions.

Here is a link to the recipe.
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/7483-julia-childs-stuffed-turkey-updated#.
if that doesnt work try this
http://recipetools.gotdns.com/johns...25.html#Julia_Child's_Stuffed_Turkey,_Updated.

I'll probably do it again.

 

[max384]

I believe we are hosting this year. The crowd is smaller as some family have moved to Arizona, but I am sure we will be doing a turkey. Wife is likely to roast in the electric roaster. It usually turns out good, but I've had a fried turkey once and it was really good. I'd consider deep frying myself, but it feels wrong to stick a turkey in a brewpot...

I am usually called upon for pies, so I can see me making an apple and a pumpkin pie. Kid will do green bean casserole.

We pretty much do the traditional food items.

I have a separate pot I use for deep frying the turkey. There's no way I'd deep fry anything in my brew kettle. I'd be worried about residual taste and head retention if I didn't (or couldn't) clean the kettle well enough.

 

[StonesBally]

No need to brine. Just make a salty rub with herbs Garlic and cutrus. Rub it all over the bird 5 days in advance. Much better and less hassle than a wet brine in my opinion. Roast at 350 with convection until done. Cook dressing on the side not on the bird. I just might spatchcock my bird this year for something different. One tip, nothing covers turkey mistakes like awesome gravy!

 

[Devin]

I am also going to be smoking the turkey this year. I have been working with my smoker heavily this year and did some modifications to make it work better and it has been doing great lately. I am really looking forward to smoking the bird in it this year.

 

[LandoLincoln]

My family is big on leftovers, so we kinda go nuts on Thanksgiving. I cook a 14-15 pound turkey in a roasting bag in the oven, while my brother cooks two 8-10 pound turkeys in a deep fryer. My mom cooks a 15-17 pound turkey in an electric roaster. We have a contest to see who can make the best turkey every year. My brother usually wins because he likes to mess around with injecting various things into the turkey meat and the deep frying method gives you some very moist meat. I usually come in second with my still very moist and delicious but more traditional seasonings, and my mom comes in third because she insists on continuing to roast the turkey in the more traditional method and it tends to dry out the white meat.

I'm a big fan of the roasting bag method. It's a lot easier than the traditional method and takes less time to cook. I learned a lot from this website, but incorporated a roasting bag with their method.

My mom still makes the best dressing, though. I don't think I'll ever beat her dressing.

 

[Tin4]

I got out of cooking but got stuck with a road trip instead.

Go me..?

 

[Cyclman]

100% this: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/alton-brown-s-classic-brined-and-roasted-turkey

I've done the "Alton Brown" technique for decades, never made a turkey that wasn't raved about.

I am thinking of an heirloom this year, have a great local market, but typically buy the store organic turkeys.

Don't stuff the turkey, it inhibits proper cooking.

Don't baste, it sucks the hot air out of the oven, could dry the turkey out. If you've brined it, it'll be very moist.

I like to add some beer and unsalted stock at the bottom of the roasting pan, I love to have tons of gravy.

Brining is easy, putting the aluminum covering on the breast is easy, and the results are unbelievable.

Now, what to drink with it? I think I'm going with a Westy Dubbel I have.

 

[ChefRex]

Dry brined, spatchcocked and smoked a 20+ pounder on the Weber last year, repeat this year,

 

[jbb3]

Brine'd and smoked is the only way to go. We have 10-15 people over for Thanksgiving every year and each year someone tells me it's the best turkey they've ever had.

 

[MaddBaggins]

My absolute favorite holiday. I always do the cooking. I try to get a pile of people to be here. This year, it's just a handful.
Kegged the pumpkin ale tonight. It'll be good to go on Thanksgiving!

 

[brettwasbtd]

My family is big on leftovers, so we kinda go nuts on Thanksgiving. I cook a 14-15 pound turkey in a roasting bag in the oven, while my brother cooks two 8-10 pound turkeys in a deep fryer. My mom cooks a 15-17 pound turkey in an electric roaster. We have a contest to see who can make the best turkey every year. My brother usually wins because he likes to mess around with injecting various things into the turkey meat and the deep frying method gives you some very moist meat. I usually come in second with my still very moist and delicious but more traditional seasonings, and my mom comes in third because she insists on continuing to roast the turkey in the more traditional method and it tends to dry out the white meat.

I'm a big fan of the roasting bag method. It's a lot easier than the traditional method and takes less time to cook. I learned a lot from this website, but incorporated a roasting bag with their method.

My mom still makes the best dressing, though. I don't think I'll ever beat her dressing.

+1 those Reynolds bags are great. Last year I cut up an apple, celery, turnip, parsnip and stuck it in the bag with the turkey... Delicious flavor and juicy bird

 

[passedpawn]

Brine and smoke baby. Every year. I have a smoker (WSM) but the Weber does it perfectly, up to 20#. I did fry one once, but that was a major PITA. Won't be doing that again, though that might have been the best turkey.

 

[Cyclman]

Oh yeah, I forgot smoked. My work gives out free turkeys at Christmas. Nobody wants theirs, so I collect them in my deep freeze and then smoke them when I brew. Awesome. Especially with vinegar BBQ sauce over them.

 

[glenn514]

I brined and smoked a frozen turkey breast about two years ago. Never again. From what I discovered, the liquid injected into frozen turkeys is actually a salt brine. Although the breast I smoked had good flavor, it was simply over-salty. The next turkey and/or turkey breast I smoke will NOT be brined, unless it is a fresh bird.

glenn514

 

[DrunkleJon]

So this year I've decided to take the plunge and cook for 6 of us at Thanksgiving. I've always wanted to cook a turkey, because I have heard of techniques that can make your turkey awesome, which are different than traditional methods. Here's what I've got so far:

- Younger and non frozen turkeys are more tender
- Organic / free range may taste more natural
- Brine the bird 24 hours before cooking.
- Cook the bird 2 days within purchase
- Do NOT use stuffing in the chest cavity, it dries it out. Apples and spices are a good alternative
- Cook the turkey for some time uncovered to make the skin crispy.
- tie the legs close to the body for even cooking
- Cook about 1 to 1.5 lbs per person
- Use a rack to circulate the air under the turkey for even cooking
- Baste a few times during cooking

I'm going to make a couple of trial runs with chicken before the big day.

Anyone else have tips they have learned along the way?

Check your turkey before cooking. Most of the ones you get nowadays are pre-brined. If they have words on the packaging saying things like "self basting", "enhanced", etc they have already been pre-brined some and re-brining can oversalt the meat.

I wanted to try and smoke the turkey this year but now I have a couple family members coming and I don't want to F that up. I'll be deep frying a small turkey, just enough for 3, and all the fixings. Last year I oven-baked the turkey and did the fixings while brewing beer.

Until I left my home state, I had never made anything for thanksgiving. In fact, I just showed up and was fed. When I moved I realized if I wanted turkey dinner then I had to get off my butt and figure it out.

I suggest you practice with chicken. It is really easy to smoke poultry, you just want to make sure to not add too much smoke. Spatchcocking or halving the bird entirely makes them cook far quicker, though if you like crispy skin you will need to take it off an throw on a hot grill for a bit at the end to crisp it up some. Otherwise you get kinda rubbery skin.

 

[unionrdr]

When I smoke turkey or chicken, the fat under the skin crisps up the skin nicely. Golden brown every time. Bird should be offset from the coals & wood. Seasoned tub butter under the breast skin will get more flavor into the bird. It takes all day to properly smoke a 12-13lb bird in my pit. Cottonwood gives a nice, lighter side of medium smoke flavor.

 

[Tin4]

Great pic! Nothing that elaborate with my family. We have crappy tables, crappy cups, no one wants to work when it's over.

We seriously use paper plates so no one does dishes.

 

[passedpawn]

Great pic! Nothing that elaborate with my family.

Thanks, but it was staged a bit. Check out he resemblance to this Norman Rockwell pic. I printed the pic out, everybody at dinner studied it and tried to imitate it. I have the remote shutter release in my hand there.

 

[Remmy]

Brining and smoking a turkey this year.

I'll be smoking another turkey this year as well as I have done for the last 7-8 years.

 

[Tin4]

Thanks, but it was staged a bit. Check out he resemblance to this Norman Rockwell pic. I printed the pic out, everybody at dinner studied it and tried to imitate it. I have the remote shutter release in my hand there.

I figured. It was Rockwellesque. All the same, you actually have the stuff to take a photo like that.

If I pulled out the good crystal it would just confuse people.

 

[DrunkleJon]

When I smoke turkey or chicken, the fat under the skin crisps up the skin nicely. Golden brown every time. Bird should be offset from the coals & wood. Seasoned tub butter under the breast skin will get more flavor into the bird. It takes all day to properly smoke a 12-13lb bird in my pit. Cottonwood gives a nice, lighter side of medium smoke flavor.

I guess you smoke it at lower temps. I tend to go for 325-350 (think baking temps) and it is done in a matter of a few hours. Seems to finish quicker than in the oven too. Weird.

 

[Devin]

Great pic! Nothing that elaborate with my family. We have crappy tables, crappy cups, no one wants to work when it's over.

We seriously use paper plates so no one does dishes.

:rockin:

Sounds mighty fine to me!

 

[Devin]

I guess you smoke it at lower temps. I tend to go for 325-350 (think baking temps) and it is done in a matter of a few hours. Seems to finish quicker than in the oven too. Weird.

Same here. Mine finish in around 3-4 hours at 325ish.

 

[passedpawn]

Every year I say I'm going to make Alton Brown's bourbon pecan pie, but every year I fail to buy (online) the Lyle's Golden Syrup.

Has anyone made this?

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/bourbon-pecan-pie-recipe.html

 

[The Pol]

6-7 hours will smoke a turkey in my smoker.