Dishing Turkey

We had a deep-fried turkey one year. That was tasty but the thought of a vat of hot oil and kids makes me .

I like brining and roasting and doing some sort of compound butter under the skin. I have a recipe that includes a glaze with apricot preserves among other things and it makes for a beautiful bird. Cooking it in a bag usually turns out well and is a slam dunk.

[planet]

Re: Dishing Turkey

I just bumped a recipe I posted long ago. It truly was amazing turkey.

[Sheherezade]

Re: Dishing Turkey

I do a decent turkey - or so I've been told. My only "trick" has been to take cheesecloth and soak it in melted butter. I drape the butter soaked cheesecloth over the top of the bird during cooking and baste sparingly through that. I think it helps keep the turkey moist but allows the skin to get nice and crispy.

I brined last year and liked that. I also cooked one a loooong time ago upside down because I was told that helped the juices drain in to the breast to combat dry white meat. I didn't notice a huge difference from either of these experiments.

My two essentials would be the cheesecloth and starting with a good turkey.

[SuzySunshine]

Re: Dishing Turkey

I can't take credit for our turkeys - DH does them. But he brines them for approximately 24 hours in whatever brining spice mix he finds that he likes that year. After he brines it he rubs it with olive oil or butter and then cooks it. The best one we've had that he made was the year we used our neighbor's convection oven. My next house will have one of those it was to die for!

Re: Dishing Turkey

Angie, I've done a chicken breast side down and then turned. I didn't notice a huge difference either -- especially not for the trade off of turning a hot and oily chicken. I'm sure a turkey is even harder!

I like the cheesecloth idea.

I think brining is worth the effort and if we have t-day here I will do that again. I used the bake in bags last year or whenever I did it last and that worked very well. I double bagged and nothing spilled.

Re: Dishing Turkey

Turkeys are truly the easiest thing! I like cooking them upside down as Angie mentioned. I've got these two huge fork thingys (turkey turners) that make turning it quite easy. But I've even done it w/o flipping it over. We take off the skin anyway, and I don't do the big table presentation, so I don't mind the top looking pasty. I've done cheesecloth, which does work nicely but I don't like to futz with it when I'm basting. I like to rub it all over with butter, dh pulls up the skin (he has a special ability for this for very icky reasons) and sometimes if I'm feeling fancy I'll shove some butter / fresh herbs in there. It does infuse the bird nicely.

I think the best tip for me is to make sure you've got it tented w/foil for about 2/3rds of the cooking time. Left exposed the whole time it gets dried out.

[Cumberland]

Re: Dishing Turkey

I put mine in a bag, the roaster bags. I know it is not something a true chef would do but it is foolproof, delicious and makes tons of juice for gravy. Anyone else with me?

Re: Dishing Turkey

I put mine in a bag, the roaster bags. I know it is not something a true chef would do but it is foolproof, delicious and makes tons of juice for gravy. Anyone else with me?

Raspberry on the true chef. If it works and you like it, do it!

Re: Dishing Turkey

I become a slave to my turkey on T-Day. After a good rinsing, he gets an all over massage to loosen up the skin; it has to be loose enough for me hand to slide all around. He then gets rubbed with herbed butter. Then I place fresh sage leaves under the skin, at least a dozen. He then has apple slices, onion, tied herbs and orange slices placed in his cavity. He gets a basting with melted butter and dry white wine every 15 minutes. The first 20 minutes are at a higher temp of 425 degrees then lowered.

No watching football for me. Gives me a good excuse to watch the kids cause I am so busy in the kitchen

[Phoebe]

Re: Dishing Turkey

No turkeys under my belt. I won't disclose my age, but it is older than 32.

Re: Dishing Turkey

Lily, so you brine and then bag?

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Why don't the bags freak people out? I don't trust plastic that can go in the oven. It just doesn't seem right to me.

[SuzySunshine]

Re: Dishing Turkey

DH doesn't use the bags, we don't use them on chicken either. :huh:

[poky]

Re: Dishing Turkey

I love oven bags. I'm *ticked* that I can't find the small ones anywhere any more. We used to make sauces (usually stuff like teriyaki or schezuan), and throw some bite-size chicken chunks and the sauce in a small oven bag and cook it for 20 minutes and put it over rice for a quick easy meal. Can't find the small ones any more, though, just large and turkey-size. :P

[Cumberland]

Re: Dishing Turkey

I was going to brine then bag.