Make-ahead Brined Turkey--has anyone tried this?

[teritaylor2006]

Has anyone ever tried brining the turkey Tues. night...roasting it and carving the turkey Wed. and reheating it on Thurs.? If so I'd love to know if it's still moist or does it dry it out? I want to try Emeril's recipe from Food Network for brining and roasting it this year.

 

[bakechef]

You might be able to get away with that if you brine, I have never tried it. I will say that with brining, the leftover meat is always still pretty moist.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Last year, I overcooked a turkey that I was to take to a Church Thanksgiving meal. Fortunately, I did grill it the night before. The meat was dry and chewy. I carved the bird and placed all into a cheap aluminum roasting pan, then covered it with the juices from the drip pan. It sat in the fridge for about twelve hours. By the time it was reheated gently in the oven (it was ready by noon), the turkey was super moist and tender. The meat had re-absorbed the juices lost during the cooking process.

If I can rehydrate a bird after drying it out, by letting it sit in its own juices, think how great it will be if you cook it properly, then immerse it in its own juices overnight.

The answer to your question is, yes, you can cook it the day before. Then you can garuntee that the bird will be perfect when served, even if you get too busy doing other things. Of course, use yoru meat thermometer and cook to a temperature of 165' F. and it will be perfect anyways.

Oh, and with that turkey that had been overcooked, those who ate it told me it was the juiciest, most tender turkey they had ever had.

Seeeeeeya' Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Andy M.]

I think there is a taste difference in reheated turkey.

 

[jennyema]

Has anyone ever tried brining the turkey Tues. night...roasting it and carving the turkey Wed. and reheating it on Thurs.? If so I'd love to know if it's still moist or does it dry it out? I want to try Emeril's recipe from Food Network for brining and roasting it this year.

Yes. I have done so for many years. I brine one turkey on Tuesday , roast on Wed and cut up. But it's the "leftover" turkey.

I brine one on Wed and roast on Thursday for the Turkey Day meal.

The leftover turkey is generally very good but it has lost a little bit in terms of taste and texture.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Last year's turkey that i posted about was texturally better than the perfectly cooked turkeys made in the past. The meat was juicier. But the real benefit of this happy mistake was that the broth from the drip-pan had a wonderful, smokey flavor that permeated all of the meat, not just the skin and outher layer of meat. To get that level of smokey flavor, the bird would have needed to cook for 8 hours or more in the smoke. I didn't want to spend that much time, as I was making it after work for the next day.

Again, people raved about it. I'm not kidding when I stated that I was told by everyone who ate it that it was the best turkey they'd ever had.

Reheating can be done successfully. But you need to make sure that the bird is already carved, and immersed in its own liquid, before bringing it to serving temperature. You can't take it above about 145' F., or you will lose some of the meat quality.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North