Okay, now the sad truth is I don't have a back yard right now, so deep frying is out of the question this year. So Mrs. B-bob has heard that BRINING a turkey is the way to go (note: I'm not trying to type "bringing," smart ass). Apparently, you soak the bird in kosher salt water for a half day in the fridge before you cook it. Anybody have any advice here? I found this nasty photo to get things rolling. I can't believe this is good.
Just curious but how is kosher salt water differnet from salt water? Do any of your friends have a smoker? If so you could cook it in advance and it would still taste great. Sorry this doesn't address your question in any way, but best of luck on the bird. KT
Seems legit enough to get written up on a cooking/recipe web site. <A HREF="http://foodtv.ca/feature/ontheburner/article4_2002_10_01.asp">Brining and Roasting a Turkey</A>
Why bother with all that? We've ordered a Greenberg Turkey every year since I was a wee one. http://www.gobblegobble.com/ Mmm. Smoked turkey. It's the best thing ever... and my dog loves the trimmings!
Greenberg, that could save my mom a lot of trouble. I don't know about this eating at room temperature thing though, I like my turkey warm except the day after when there is enough bird left to make turkey sandwiches on dinner rolls. Mmmmmm, turkey sandwich, aaagghhhh. . .
what good does the brining do? Kosher salt water? Ha. Try brining it with burbon or a nice spiced rum. On second thought... That might help that after turkey nap set in while still sitting at the table eating.
Thanks, VDP. There will be plenty of bourbon to go 'round, for cooking food or brining the hosts and guests!
Yes, do the brining. The volume of the bird is too great to get any flavor into the meat with a mere seasoning of the skin. It's good. And, you've probably eaten brined meat more often than you realize.
Taste some kosher salt, and then taste some regular table salt. Trust me, you can taste the difference. Kosher salt doesn't have anti-caking agents in it, because it's a more course grind. Table salt has kind of a metallic taste to it... If anybody gets Food Network, watch the Good Eats episode entitled "Romancing the Bird". It's all about brine and proper thawing techniques, never trusting the pop up thermometer, and a bunch of other cool stuff...Even if you don't try cooking anything from it, the entertainment value alone is worth a viewing...
Thanks, everybody. Mango, that site is actually really helpful. I'd found several that were not helpful. I'm the kind of cook that needs pictures. (Is there a little smilie head that communicates "duh," like a little bucktoothed smilie?).* As for specific requests that I brine the turkey on over to specific residences, I can only promise to send the left over brine water. Seriously, I'll let you know how this bird turns out. * = two years ago, I kept temperature data with a digital thermometer, and plotted the results over time on Kaleidagraph. who's the turkey here?
That's an awesome show, didn't see that episode though. Brining does wonders for roasted/smoked/rotisserie chicken as well.
B-bob Brining is so common that it is described in Joy of Cooking for fried chicken...very old recipe. You use a mixture of Kosher Salt and Buttermilk....and you can add paprika and try crushing a lot of garlic into the salt....bay leave too. Brining is not some kind of gimmick tip. It actually keeps the bird moist during cooking based on principles of osmosis. The salt causes retention of juices.
speaking of turkeys, did anyone catch this weeks "Sopranos"?? If so, what was that thing that Carm fogot to pull out of the turkey before serving?
heypartner, I have seen all of these ingredients recommended, EXCEPT buttermilk, which is my favorite substance (next to bourbon). So are you saying an entire bucket of buttermilk, or do you mix buttermilk into the cold, salty water? should I just look this up in the J of C? Is the buttermilk idea in there?
That was a roasting chicken, and the bag she pulled out held the giblets (liver, gizzard, heart, and neck). The packer puts them into that wax paper bag, and puts the bag into the bird's cavity prior to sale. Needless to say, you're supposed to pull that stuff out before you cook the bird.
