Let's Talk Turkey

[dragnlaw]

Thank you!

Recipe copied and saved! On my to do list...

 

[Addie]

My mother used to make a mashed potato stuffing for the neck and the standard bread stuffing for the cavity. Some years she would add a few roasted ground chestnuts. Depended on the availability and the price.

I am definitely getting some chestnuts this year. It has been eons since I roasted any.

 

[dragnlaw]

 

[msmofet]

LOL

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

15 pounds. I have some time to play with it, seriously thinking of a 300 degree oven, low and slow, right? I was a little tempted to precook the stuffing. I kind of feel that is unnecessary. I'm thinking very hard of injecting marinade, cider vinegar, melted butter and garlic.

Having been the go-to guy for turkey at many pot lucks, family gatherings, and such, I've tried numerous techniques for making the perfect turkey. Here are real experiments, and the results.

First let me state that I always remove each breast side and slice against the grain so that everyone gets some skin, and the meat is more tender. Then I arrange the sliced breast sides in the top-middle of the platter with wings and drumsticks on either side. Garnish with something green to make the platter pretty.

1 Low and slow, cook bird at 320' F. until thermometer reaches 158' F., rest for 20 minutes before carving - Bird was juicy and succulent, but skin could have been more crispy.

2. Cook low, finish hot - Same as number 1, except that when the meat temp read 150' F. I turned the heat to 450' and let cook until the bird read 158'. Let rest for 20 minutes. - tender and juicy turkey meat with crispy skin. I have to state that though basting isn't ever required, it does help flavor the skin, but it also increases the cooking time.
4. Just hot. Roast at 450' F. until the bird reads 158. Let rest, carve. Skin was very crispy, as were the wing-tips. Meat was juicy and tender.

5. My favorite method - create two beds of charcoal on either side of a Webber Kettle barbecue, with a 6 inch space between beds. Let the charcoal get hot while prepping the bird. Make a water tight drip pan from heavy-duty aluminum foil, or use a foil loaf pan to catch drippings. Place between hot beds of charcoal and half fill with water. Place smoking wood on top of charcoal. Rub butter all over the turkey skin. Salt the breast skin. Place over the drip pan. Cover and set all vents to half open position.
Initially the temp inside the barbecue jumps to near 500 degrees, but immediately starts to cool as the charcoal uses up oxygen. Every 20 minutes, check to make sure there is enough wood, and that the coals are all still burning. Cook until the meat thermometer reads 158' Remove, let rest, and carve.

Tip: I overcooked a turkey on the Webber one time, a 24 pounder that was to be served the next day at a church pot-luck. I carved the bird and placed it into my turkey roaster as that was how I was going to reheat it before the pot luck. The meat was dry and tough. I poured the contents of the drip pan all over the bird, and added the broth I'd made from the neck, liver, and giblets. It sat in the fridge overnight, and was reheated to 145'f. to serve. People told me it was the juiciest, most tender turkey they'd ever eaten.

Morel of the story, a dry turkey can be saved if cooked the day before the meal is to be served. Sitting in its own juices rehydrated the meat and saved me.

And I have never cooked any kind of fowl breast side down, then flipped it to brown the skin. If you look at a roasting turkey, you will notice juices bubbling on top, just under the skin. If you prick the skin, juices will gush out and drip into the pan. Grravity has nothing to do with where the juices are. Pressure dictates that.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

OK I'm surprised there is not a thread for this, must not have searched as carefully as I should. I think I have a new take. I just reserved a turkey from a local farm, and yes I have agreed to cook Thanksgiving Dinner (major stuff, I am a little bit nervous).

So I've done a grocery store turkey before, and I am pretty good with Dariana Allen's sourdough apple stuffing. I know a lot of folks don't like in bird stuffing, but I kind of want to go with it. My big concern is that this isn't a brine injected big Purdue bird, this is gonna be a free range turkey. I am picking it up on Tuesday, I plan on brining it for at least 24 hours. I have my stuffing recipe solid, don't know what else to do. Particularly concerned about basting the last thing I want is a dry turkey.

Any thoughts cooking friends?

Yrs,

Efox

Another technique no one has mentioned is to use lardoons. You take raw bacon and cut it into thin threads. These are then poked into the breast and thighs. As the bird cooks, the bacon juices and fats render and add moisture and a slightly smokey flavor to the meat. Lardoons are a great technique to help insure flavorful, and juicy meat.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Addie]

My final test for chicken or turkey doneness is clear flowing juices and if the legs move freely. Works every time.

 

[Andy M.]

Here's an interesting take from Seriouseats.com on turkey temperatures.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/11/how-to-take-the-temperature-of-your-turkey-video.html

 

[msmofet]

I find that even when the turkey leg/thigh is the right temperature the meat still looks red/bloody and my family won't eat it.

 

[dragnlaw]

I agree msmofet, I have had on occasion a chicken that registered the correct temperature (and from several places) but when carved shows red around the leg joints... yech!

Fine the next day as reheated but not fine at original serving table.

 

[GotGarlic]

My final test for chicken or turkey doneness is clear flowing juices and if the legs move freely. Works every time.

That idea is out of date and applies to poultry that is older than what we eat now. By the time the juices run clear, the turkey is overcooked.

 

[GotGarlic]

I agree msmofet, I have had on occasion a chicken that registered the correct temperature (and from several places) but when carved shows red around the leg joints... yech!

Fine the next day as reheated but not fine at original serving table.

That redness isn't blood. When it's at the correct temperature, it's done.

Food is done when it is safe to eat. Period. That is a hard fast rule. So cooks and cookbook authors naturally assume that somebody once determined that chicken and turkey are safe when the juices run clear. Once upon a time this may have been true. Sadly, nowadays, following this morsel of common wisdom can result in illness or badly overcooked meat.

Pink meat and thin pink juice in chicken, turkey, and even pork is due to a protein called*myoglobin*that is stored within the muscles and usually found mixed with water, making a pink fluid. It is not blood, which is dark red, and thick. When myoglobin is cooked, its protein structure changes, a process called denaturing. When the molecules are altered, they absorb light differently, the color is changed, and meat and juices lose their pink tint. So the question is, at what temp does myoglobin change color?

Turns out there is no fixed temp at which this happens because other factors come into play...

The chicken thigh with the purple bone on this page was cooked to 180°F as measured with a precise thermometer. It is well past safe. It is also scary.*Dr. O. Peter Snyder*of the Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management reports that red or purple bones are more common because "Chicken is so young—6 1/2 weeks at slaughter—and the bones are too porous, even though the animal is large enough to be sold for food."

From http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_chicken_is_done_when_juices_run_clear.html

 

[dragnlaw]

That redness isn't blood. When it's at the correct temperature, it's done.

I didn't say it was blood. I just said it was yech!

 

[GotGarlic]

I didn't say it was blood. I just said it was yech!

You said you agreed with msmofet, who said it looked bloody. Criminy, it's tough having a conversation with someone who yells all the time.

 

[msmofet]

That redness isn't blood. When it's at the correct temperature, it's done.



From Why Chicken Is Not Done When The Juices Run Clear, And Why Pink Meat Can Be Safe

I've tried to tell them temp is temp but all they see is red. So that goes in the soup! It's all good lol

Funny thing is I don't really like legs but the turkey"knees" get nice and dark and crispy and that's the only time I eat dark meat. Except in soup.

 

[erehweslefox]

I always made a couple of loafs of stuffing bread. Seasoned and ready to go into the oven or turkey. I make it in casserole dishes. When it has cooled down, break it up into small pieces, add egg and liquid. The two loafs will give you enough to stuff a medium turkey. If I was going to stuff the bird, I would make four loafs. Two for the bird and two for a casserole. This bread, you can make a couple of days early.

Stuffing Bread
Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups lukewarm water (110-120 degrees)
2 pkgs. active dry yeast or 4 ½ teaspoons bulk yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning (Salt free, I like Bell’s)
3/4 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, melted butter or vegetable oil
1 finely diced onion
2 stalks of finely diced celery
6-7 cups all purpose flour or bread flour

Directions:
1. Saute onion and celery until softened.

2. In bowl of mixer combine the water, yeast and sugar. Let sit until foamy and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Add 3 cups of the flour, poultry seasoning, salt and olive oil, softened onion and celery. Mix until combined.

3. Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft pliable dough. Knead for 10-15 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

4. Place dough in oiled bowl smooth side down and flip to expose oiled top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in bulk.

5. Punch down dough and divide into two equal pieces, shape into loaves, and place in standard size 9x5” loaf pans that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Cover and let rise until the dough fills the pan and peeks over the top of the pan.

Bake the loaves for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown all around. Remove from pans immediately and cool completely.

^^^^^^ THIS!!!

Gonna do fairly faithfully this Addie, only changes adding sourdough starter to the mix and some apples. You just solved my major stuffing problem. Outstanding.

 

[Addie]

^^^^^^ THIS!!!

Gonna do fairly faithfully this Addie, only changes adding sourdough starter to the mix and some apples. You just solved my major stuffing problem. Outstanding.

It is not too early to make these loaves. I used to let mine go stale and become hard. Pop in freezer and take out day before stuffing. Break up into small pieces and add enough liquid (chicken or turkey stock to soften) along with any wanted additional fruits, nuts, etc. My mother used to add roasted chestnuts some years.

 

[erehweslefox]

Another technique no one has mentioned is to use lardoons. You take raw bacon and cut it into thin threads. These are then poked into the breast and thighs. As the bird cooks, the bacon juices and fats render and add moisture and a slightly smokey flavor to the meat. Lardoons are a great technique to help insure flavorful, and juicy meat.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

I am liking this idea. However, wife is Jewish so we don't use pig bacon, somehow putting turkey bacon into a turkey, while it seems to make sense, seems weird or counter-intuitive? Sticking turkey bacon into a turkey?

TBS

 

[Addie]

Addie That sounds wonderful! Who'd a thunk? Stuffing bread! Will have to give it a try - when I get an oven back!

Bake one loaf in your toaster oven and put the rest of the dough in your freezer for later.

This recipe is good for chicken, turkey or even as a side.

 

[dragnlaw]

Bake one loaf in your toaster oven and put the rest of the dough in your freezer for later.
.

Brilliant Addie - thank you!