B-Bob, I've never used a brine for roasted chicken, but I have for fried chicken. With roasted chicken, I just put salt under the skin (a rub) and coat it with butter. Same with a Turkey. I cannot see why a buttermilk brine would not work (much worse be a disaster), considering you will still baste it with butter for color, right? What you should do is reserve another hour of time for the bird to dry in the refrigerator...this is a requirement of fried chicken, too, but that's more getting even coating and about water mixing with frying oil than anything else. So, after soaking is done, pat it completely dry, and place in refrigerator for another hour to let it dry further. I guess what you want to avoid is changing the texture and color of the skin. But a butter baste should control that, I'd think. The taste should not be adversely effected by buttermilk, but rather enhanced. then again, I wouldn't try too many new things with a Thanksgiving Turkey. To be completely confident, I'd make a roasted chicken with buttermilk brine, first. sorry for being wishy washy, but we are talking Tgiving Turkey, here. Pretty important.
I've said it before, but I'll say it again... This bbs is the best source for quality information on any (and every) subject.
heypartner, I am thankful that you appreciated the GRAVY-TY of this situation. Seriously, thanks. That last site has the bomb recipe.
okay, I'll chime in with my $.02, even though most everything has been touched on. I won't harp too much on roasting turkey; I haven't done one in years, although I've promised to do one next week. Brining is good; I've done it before....but I've also just cheated and used butterball turkeys (which are injected with a marinating solution). The one thing of importance that I haven't seen stressed anywhere. Put that bird on a rack (within the roasting pan); don't just put it in the bottom of a roasting pan. If it's not on a rack, it will sit in it's own juices. What happens? The bottom will boil instead of roast. That makes the skin soft and allows even more juices to leach out. You'll have the makings for a hell of a gravy, but you'll end up with a dry bird. I had started typing about how you can fry a turkey inside (I've gotten to where I rarely fry the whole bird anymore.....I just fry the breast which reduces the mess), but that's probably something that's best left to someone who is comfortable with the process.
Let us know how it turns out, B-Bob. I may have to try that recipe with a chicken, sounds great. That's a great site, Hey-P, thanks.
So where in east Texas are you from? I SECOND THAT ONE!!!! They are unbelievable!!! A little mom & pop place that will take your order and bill you. GREAT STUFF
Yeah buddy! That was one tasty turkey, according to all 11 guests and the picked-over, barren carcass left behind. I kid you not: it was so tasty and moist, I doubted it was turkey meat. Oh, and it was NOT salty tasting. So, a few notes. 1. We got a "fresh" turkey. It had been alive, running around a farm, as of last Tuesday. 2. Wednesday night, we started brining with kosher salt, thyme, lots of garlic cloves, 3 bay leaves, and some brown sugar (important, IMHO). 3. On Thursday, roasted for about 4 hours, starting around 375 and slowly decreasing oven temp to 325. 4. Monitored temperature with a digital thermometer -- one that has a metal cord that runs out of the oven to a monitor. Because I am an unabashed nerd, I plotted the temperature-versus-time data on my laptop to predict dinner time to the minute. 5. Thermometer was deep in the turkey thigh, and we took the bird out exactly when the temp hit 160 F. (Note the bird keeps cooking internally, as the temp. rose to 165 F 10 minutes after it was out of the oven). Fantastic. Thanks for all the good advice.
Huntsville. We got our Greenberg delivered last Tuesday and this is the best one I've had in years. Only drawback is that it drives my dog nuts. Did I mention that they pull back the skin and put pepper on top of the breasts. Damn, it's good!
