lisaluvstocook
Cook
- Joined
- May 12, 2011
- Messages
- 53
Ok, here's the deal. I am 37, and I have been gifted Thanksgiving by my mother. I was pretty sure that I would have to pry the turkey from her cold, dead hands, but I digress. I am doing the main cooking this year, and serving at my house. I am a pretty decent cook, and I have a good grasp of flavors and I am a pro at asking Google to answer any questions that I may have. I am confident in my sides, but this will be my first time roasting an entire turkey. My roasted chicken is slappin, but this is literally a different bird! There are a few things that I am unsure of, and I would like to ask some of you more experienced cooks/chefs for some guidance.
My mom cooks her turkey in a bag. I know, don't stone her. It is relatively juicy, but not exceptionally flavorful, and depending on the year the label of 'juicy' could be a bit of a stretch! I am pretty sure that I have settled on a recipe, as well as a brine to ensure the flavor and moisture retention. However, I am having a serious, and I mean serious, problem with the fact that every online resource tells me that I can not stuff the bird! That is absolutely, positively, my favorite part of Thanksgiving, the yummy dressing infused with turkey juice goodness that comes from inside the bird. My siblings and I fight over it every year. If I put some bird stuffing in a leftover bowl with oven dressing, I can tell the difference by sight and will pick it out until it is gone. Everything I read/hear says that the bacterial risk is too high, and to cook the stuffing to correct temperature will dry out the bird.
So I guess my question is two-fold:
1. Is it truly, really possible to make an obnoxiously succulent, juicy bird without the dreaded "bag"?
2. Please can I stuff my bird and still have it positively moist and mom-worthy? Pretty please?
This is serious business people. If there is so much and the SLIGHTEST fault in my bird, my mother will find it and take out a front page ad in the local paper. I am actually making a test bird in the next week or two, and maybe one more if I don't get it right. By the time I make it to Thanksgiving I won't even want turkey! Yes, it is that serious. Any guidance would be appreciated!!!! Thanks all!
My mom cooks her turkey in a bag. I know, don't stone her. It is relatively juicy, but not exceptionally flavorful, and depending on the year the label of 'juicy' could be a bit of a stretch! I am pretty sure that I have settled on a recipe, as well as a brine to ensure the flavor and moisture retention. However, I am having a serious, and I mean serious, problem with the fact that every online resource tells me that I can not stuff the bird! That is absolutely, positively, my favorite part of Thanksgiving, the yummy dressing infused with turkey juice goodness that comes from inside the bird. My siblings and I fight over it every year. If I put some bird stuffing in a leftover bowl with oven dressing, I can tell the difference by sight and will pick it out until it is gone. Everything I read/hear says that the bacterial risk is too high, and to cook the stuffing to correct temperature will dry out the bird.
So I guess my question is two-fold:
1. Is it truly, really possible to make an obnoxiously succulent, juicy bird without the dreaded "bag"?
2. Please can I stuff my bird and still have it positively moist and mom-worthy? Pretty please?
This is serious business people. If there is so much and the SLIGHTEST fault in my bird, my mother will find it and take out a front page ad in the local paper. I am actually making a test bird in the next week or two, and maybe one more if I don't get it right. By the time I make it to Thanksgiving I won't even want turkey! Yes, it is that serious. Any guidance would be appreciated!!!! Thanks all!