Now, my blog fans know I am a self-proclaimed prophet of Alton Brown's cooking techniques, as I watch all his shows, but I in no way claim to be a food expert myself. Still, I have to cook the Thanksgiving turkey this year, so I thought I'd share some of what I've researched with you all. If you find any of it useful, great. If you disagree with it, so be it. Like I said, I'm no expert.
Tips to Turkey Success:
1. Don't stuff the bird. The stuffing will never be completely cooked when the bird is ready. Instead, fill this cavity with aromatics. Some suggestions: Citrus fruit, apples, fresh herbs like rosemary and sage, heck, even a cinnamon stick or two. Rachel Ray actually cooks her stuffing in muffin tins, so everyone get's their own little stuffing muffin with a crispy top, which is always the best part!
2. Frozen birds can be just as good as fresh, just make sure you allow enough thaw time.
3. Baisting a bird will NEVER put moisture into the meat. It only serves to extend the cooking time (because you contantly are opening the door). To get a juicy bird, the secret is an overnight brine. This will invite the juices and flavors of your brine into the bird before cooking begins.
4. Pop-Up timers are useless. By the time your bird "pops", it will be overdone. This is because even after you take the bird out of the oven, it will continue to cook. To know for sure when the bird will be done, invest a little money in one of those probe thermometers that will constantly tell you the internal temperature of your bird. When it hits 161 degrees, out it comes! But don't just pull the pop-out timer out before you cook the bird....or you'll have a nice open hole for juices to escape during cooking!
5. Brown the bird at the beginning of the cooking. This is done by putting your bird in at a higher temperature first (like 500 degrees) for 30-40 minutes, then backing the temperature off (to 350) and covering the bird with foil to prevent burning or drying out.
6. The best way to carve a turkey is with an electric knife. It just gets the job done right.
7. I've heard the best turkey is fried, but I'm not ready to attempt this yet. Maybe next year.
8. Erica makes the best pecan pie. Whenever you have a Thanksgiving meal, make sure she brings the dessert!
6 comments:
That's a bunch of bull crap! According to YOUR experts - my turkeys should taste like ass. I have been cooking turkeys for over 5 years now and each time they come out awesome. Stuffed, basted and everything. Nice and brown on top and moist stuffing w/ turkey flavor. I say BAH to Alton Brown!!! And Rachael Ray can kiss my booty - stuffin' muffins...puh-lease. As far as the fried turkey – well it may be the best way to eat one – but it also causes more headaches than it’s worth, most of the time catching on fire. Good Luck with your turkey. Personally I think you're making more work than you need if you follow those tips.
Baisting = over door open often = longer cooking time = dryer bird, so says my turkey resources.
As for the brine, its all about osmosis. Turkey juices come out, brine flavorful juices go in, and in they stay throughout the cooking.
But the frying, I'm not sure I'd ever try that one. I agree with you there...that would be a lot of work.
Longer cooking time? Not really. Plus it makes the skin crispy when you baste it. And as for the brine - well eff that - my turkeys are very juicy w/o all that extra work. All I'm saying is that maybe the "experts" are a little crazy becuase you can still have a fantastic turkey w/o all that extra work!
Happy Turkey Day!
Hmmm...perhaps one day we'll be able to put the issue to rest with the great turkey bake-off. We'll see once and for all if basted birds really do taste like brined birds. :)
Happy T-Day!
Yay for Turkey Bake-Offs!
I nominate myself to be an unbiased hungry judge. Bring out the Joey maternity pants baby!
Iron Chef Philadelphia vs. Iron Chef Plaistow - Bring it on!
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