Happy Thanksgiving!!! 🍁 🦃 🍂 🥧

[SQUIRMIN VERMIN 84]

Thank you!!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

There are so many things to be thankful for.

[Cybercowboy]

I don't know if it was the bird or blind luck but our turkey was the best turkey meat I'd ever had, and apparently everybody else agreed too. Plus I have leftovers. I took it out of the oven when the breast meat temp averaged around 154 degrees (taken several places) and let it sit, uncovered, for almost 90 minutes before carving. We needed that time to finish the other items, the turkey got done over an hour ahead of planned schedule. It was Butterball over 22 lbs so maybe that helped too. If anyone wants I will give them the details as I'm going to document how I did this anyway because the results were just spectacular.

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by Cybercowboy

I don't know if it was the bird or blind luck but our turkey was the best turkey meat I'd ever had, and apparently everybody else agreed too. Plus I have leftovers. I took it out of the oven when the breast meat temp averaged around 154 degrees (taken several places) and let it sit, uncovered, for almost 90 minutes before carving. We needed that time to finish the other items, the turkey got done over an hour ahead of planned schedule. It was Butterball over 22 lbs so maybe that helped too. If anyone wants I will give them the details as I'm going to document how I did this anyway because the results were just spectacular.

Well... DUH!

[Cybercowboy]

Originally Posted by Sea Six

Well... DUH!

22.4 lb Butterball, frozen, thawed in fridge for about 8 days.

About 24 hours before I put the bird in the oven, I took it out of its wrapper and dried it off, took out the giblets and put them in a baggie in the fridge (I ended up only using the neck.) Dried out both cavities really well with paper towels. Then I rubbed the entire bird everywhere with a mixture of 7 tbsp kosher salt and 3 tbsp light brown sugar. I didn't use quite all of it, you just want it all over inside and out. I then cleared out a big enough space in my outdoor fridge (where it had been thawing for over a week) and put a wire rack on a full-size jelly roll pan (one that has edges to hold any liquid) and left it there completely exposed to the air. I also tucked the wings under the bird at this point so they didn't move outward later and touch the walls of the fridge. You should do this for at least 12 hours, preferably 24-48. The process is called dry brining and is fine to do on a bird that has already been injected at the packing plant.

Most recipes say it takes 15 minutes per pound at 350F. I estimated 12 minutes/lb because I have a convection oven. Even so it took more like 9 minutes per lb. No idea why.

I heated my oven to 425F with just the bottom rack in. It helps if you have a rack that slides easily and safely in and out. Meanwhile I got the turkey carefully out of the fridge and rinsed it fairly well under the sink. You want to clear out everything around the sink when you do this so cleanup is easy and thorough. Then I again patted the turkey completely dry inside and out and placed it on a roasting rack, wings tucked still. In the roasting pan I put a yellow onion cut in about eight pieces, several carrots (just washed, no need to peel) and cut in four or five pieces each, several stalks of celery, about six cloves of garlic smashed, and a couple cups of broth. Then the roasting rack goes in. It's OK if an onion or something touches the bottom of the turkey but you want it above it all if possible.

Inside the main cavity of the turkey I put a half-onion roughly cut up, several smashed cloves of garlic, a couple big pieces of fresh rosemary, and a lemon I cut into eighths. Then I made sure the legs were held together by a skin flap or you can tie them together at the end.

I then inserted the temp probe in the thickest part of the breast on one side. Then I made a "heat shield" out of heavy foil that completely fit the breast like a breast plate. That's for later but it's a lot easier to do this now. Set your shield aside for now. Pop it carefully in the 425 degree convection (or regular) oven and bake for 45 minutes. Then reduce the temp to 350 for the remainder. After 45 minutes the turkey will definitely start having a nice color. Add some water to the pan so it doesn't dry out completely at any point, you want about a 1/4" of liquid in there.

Once the turkey hits about 100 degrees internal it's time to baste it every 15-30 minutes. I just used a couple cups of chicken stock with a couple tbsp of tamari soy sauce mixed in. I didn't even use all the basting liquid by the time the turkey was done. When you start basting you'll want to put your heat shield in place. Each time you baste, remove it while doing so, then put it back on the breast. Mine had a slot to accommodate the probe. You can also just use an instant read thermometer, and I do later, but I really like using a probe thermometer.

When the bird hits 150F in the breast, measure the temp in the other breast with your instant read, and also check the breast with the probe in it to make sure your two readings (probe and instant read) roughly agree. I found it necessary to spin the bird 180 in the oven at this point because the breast nearest the door was 10 degrees cooler than the one with the probe in it near the rear of the oven. You might want to do this more often.

Then when the probe read about 155F the other breast read about 153F and I took the turkey out of the oven. You want a long rest here because that bird is going to cook out of the oven for at least another hour. That's OK, now you can finish cooking whatever needs to be cooked, no hurry because honestly that bird will be quite hot inside for 2 hours easily. Don't cover it! Just set it aside where nobody is going to mess with it but still inside your house where it's warm.

I made some pan gravy at this point. Super simple. Strain out the drippings into a bowl and toss the rest of the veggies. When some fat rises in the bowl, spoon the fat out into the roasting pan (about a 1/4 cup at least) and over medium heat add some flour and make a roux. Cook the roux for a few minutes, then add the bowl of drippings back in, and add some chicken stock and cook until it's nice. I also added about a 1/2 cup of Half&Half to make it more rich but that's completely optional. You want to use a wire whisk to deglaze the pan well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a serving bowl when it's the way you want.

Then carve it up! I suggest carving it the way Chef Ramsey demonstrates. He cuts the entire breast half off the bird, then cuts 1" wide pieces that are perpendicular to the breast bone. That's the way I do it too. Since the grain of the meat goes parallel to the breast bone, you get a more tender and juicy result.

Picture of turkey in the oven when it was around 120F, heat shield off for dramatic effect. My friends have some pictures of the finished bird but I forgot to take any. Was pretty busy.

[Cybercowboy]

Reviving to add one very important thing. I'm making a big roasting chicken in this same manner as the Thanksgiving turkey and realized I left out the fact that after the bird is dry brined in the fridge for a day you need to rinse that bad boy off and pat dry. Otherwise it will be way too salty. So don't forget that step! I would have just edited the old post but it won't let me, no big deal though.

[Mike Mercury]

[Sea Six]

Husky Eight Niner - it's an old code, but it checks out - YouTube

[OddBall]

WTF!!!!!!! I MISSED THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!

WHY DIDN"T YOU F'CKERS TELL ME??????

[Cybercowboy]

Originally Posted by OddBall

WTF!!!!!!! I MISSED THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!

WHY DIDN"T YOU F'CKERS TELL ME??????

And not only that, I re-read my super long post and my latest addition was unnecessary because I already wrote this:

Meanwhile I got the turkey carefully out of the fridge and rinsed it fairly well under the sink. You want to clear out everything around the sink when you do this so cleanup is easy and thorough.

Read right past it for some reason.

[Sea Six]

No problem.

Bump another coupla old holiday threads on your way out.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by OddBall

WTF!!!!!!! I MISSED THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!

WHY DIDN"T YOU F'CKERS TELL ME??????

Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and good night!

[boracayjohnny]

Originally Posted by OddBall

WTF!!!!!!! I MISSED THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!

WHY DIDN"T YOU F'CKERS TELL ME??????

[Cybercowboy]

Ima gonna bump this in case anyone wants to try my turkey roasting method I did last year. I've already been told by a number of people that I will need to do this again this year - or else. So it works, I've read through it and it's accurate and plenty detailed so use it if you want!

Also if you are doing a frozen bird now is the time to get it in the fridge to thaw completely in time for Thanksgiving. My recipe needs you to have that bird thawed by Wednesday morning-ish.

[Sea Six]

So... what's everybody doing for Groundhog Day?

[MrPeabody]

We are having a huge family Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe 30 people coming. We have reserved the clubhouse at out mobile home park for the day. We are assigned to make some pies and bacon roll appetizers. That's a piece of bacon wrapped around some dressing held together with a toothpick and cooked in the oven. Big family favorite. No matter how many you make, there are never any left over.

Since we're not cooking a turkey, we will take advantage of sale prices and buy a couple of them then quarter and freeze them for later use. We do this every year. Makes a nice turkey dinner for 2-4.

[VatorMan]

Wife and I are headed to Grenada. Thanksgiving Lobster.

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by Sea Six

So... what's everybody doing for Groundhog Day?

The way things are going here, we will probably be watching the news about the latest fire.

[NEED-A-VETTE]

Originally Posted by Cybercowboy

And not only that, I re-read my super long post and my latest addition was unnecessary because I already wrote this:



Read right past it for some reason.

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

The way things are going here, we will probably be watching the news about the latest fire.

Yes, but since you already know about it, you can just go put it out as soon as it starts.

[Olustee bus]

Indeed, everyone have a safe and pleasant holiday.