this is the code for the render ad
Chit Chat

S/O: How Do You Cook Your Turkey?

2»

Re: S/O: How Do You Cook Your Turkey?

  • How do I cook the turkey?  I give it to my husband and HE cooks it.
    httpiimgurcomTCCjW0wjpg
  • I've never brined a turkey. Just old fashioned stuffed and buttered and oven roasted, exactly like Maggie said. I ike a good classic. My sister does all kinds of weird ass fruit and meat crap in her stuffing, and injects elaborate spice crap under the skin. Everyone likes mine best. 

    I make damned good gravy. I do not use giblets, because ack. Just the sight and smell of that on the stove grosses me out. And I hate the word, so strike three. Giblets are cat food, in my house. 

    These turkey threads got to me, and now I have 11 pounds of turkey in my fridge. And stuffing. And potatoes and gravy. 

    Just not my favorite meat. I love the way it smells, but pretty much, I value it for the nostalgia factor, and not much else. I can't wait for real Thanksgiving, which is prime rib roast.  

    When Moose was younger, he was watching some Thanksgiving commercial, and he said, "What's with all the turkeys everywhere? What do turkeys have to do with Thanksgiving?" 
    And I say, "Uhm. Moosey. Because that's what people eat for Thanksgiving."
    And he says "What kind of people do that?"
    He was honestly baffled. He thought I was bullshitting him. I had to convince him that no, we are the odd ones.
    LOL - on Brooklyn Nine-Nine Sunday one of the characters said turkey was gross and tastes like paper!  I'm looking forward to our ham much more than the turkey.
    image


  • I have been brining our turkey for 8 or 9 years now and wouldn't do it any other way.  I rub a ton of butter under the skin, rub the skin with vegetable or canola oil, and salt and pepper.  I stuff half a garlic bulb (no need to peel), half an onion (don't peel), some fresh rosemary sprigs, and half a lemon.  We really like it.

    Also - I follow what my awesome MIL did for thanksgiving.  She cooked for an army and decided to cook the turkey on Wednesday, get all the meat off the carcass, put it in a pan with the drippings and heat it up the next day.  yeah, there is no crispy skin but no one in my family or DH's family EVER carved the turkey at the table anyway. Our moms and g'mas always did it in the kitchen before dinner and then after dinner you had to deal with the carcass.  I HATED that.

    Now I just follow what my MIL did and my Thanksgiving day goes much easier.  I hate dealing with the carcass, but when I am done picking the meat off of it I roast the bones and make more stock.

    I also usually buy some turkey wings so I can have extra stock for gravy - I make that a few days ahead of time.  DH loves gravy on the leftovers so we can't ever have too much.

  • esstee33 said:
    I've never brined a turkey. Just old fashioned stuffed and buttered and oven roasted, exactly like Maggie said. I ike a good classic. My sister does all kinds of weird ass fruit and meat crap in her stuffing, and injects elaborate spice crap under the skin. Everyone likes mine best. 

    I make damned good gravy. I do not use giblets, because ack. Just the sight and smell of that on the stove grosses me out. And I hate the word, so strike three. Giblets are cat food, in my house. 

    These turkey threads got to me, and now I have 11 pounds of turkey in my fridge. And stuffing. And potatoes and gravy. 

    Just not my favorite meat. I love the way it smells, but pretty much, I value it for the nostalgia factor, and not much else. I can't wait for real Thanksgiving, which is prime rib roast.  

    When Moose was younger, he was watching some Thanksgiving commercial, and he said, "What's with all the turkeys everywhere? What do turkeys have to do with Thanksgiving?" 
    And I say, "Uhm. Moosey. Because that's what people eat for Thanksgiving."
    And he says "What kind of people do that?"
    He was honestly baffled. He thought I was bullshitting him. I had to convince him that no, we are the odd ones.
    Please tell me about your non-giblet gravy. 
    Very easy. Check your turkey about an hour before it's done. If the juice in the bottom of the pan looks skimpy (less than an inch) add in about a cup of turkey broth, and let the turkey keep cooking. Typically, not needed.

    As soon as it's done, take your turkey out, put it on a platter, scuffle the bottom of the pan with a fork to get all the nice brown bits off, pour the drippings into a gravy separator. One of these:


    image
    (Love this thing, because your fats rise to the top, but you just pour the juices from the bottom. So much easier than skimming it off with a spoon.)
    Medium heat, in a pan on the stove heat about two tablespoons butter, and the second it starts to brown, stir in two tablespoons of flour. You get a nice golden roux. Once it's all mixed together in a paste, mix in about 1/2 cup of cream, then pour in your turkey drippings. About two cups. Whisk away for a few minutes until it thickens, and voila. Beautiful gravy. Salt, pepper, a tiiiiiny bit of sage if you like sage.
    (Sometimes, a tablespoon of dry Marsala wine, if I have it. But that's not necessary.)

    Emergency back up- if for God knows why, it's bland, throw in a teaspoon of chicken bouillon granules, or just one tablespoon from one of those vile little insta-gravy mixes, which come in turkey flavors. Not the whole packet. This bland thing happened once, when I had been drinking wine and dumped in all the cream, instead of a half cup. Nobody noticed. I always have emergency back up, though, just in case the wine is good. 

    I just can't with giblets. If I see guts or a neck simmering on the stove, it's all over for me. 

  • I have never cooked a turkey before. I have helped my mom, but since moving out, I and them H an I were always invited to people's houses. I want to try this year. We just moved this spring, and I want to invite a couple of friends over and cook the meal, with probably sides and stuff contributed by others. The only problem is one of the friends I'm thinking of is gluten free so I'm going to have to think about gluten free stuffing. o_o

    We have been invited a couple places already, but they both sound like big crowds and H is not so keen on that.

    I will probably brine my turkey. My mom always buttered the skin, sprinkled a few spices, dusted it with flour and that's about it. But I've read up on brining in Taste of Home and it sounds really good. (Honestly though, brining sounds like a high falutin word for good ol marinating.)

    The one thing I will use is a roasting bag! It makes cleanup so much easier and catches the juices nicely and avoids an overflowing pan in the oven.
  • @lovesclimbing, gluten free stuffing is easy with so many gluten free products in grocery stores. Gluten free bread is readily available, so just pick up a loaf two or three days ahead of time, cube it, and put it in a container to dry out a bit. I made my own this year with a mix of almond flour, rice flour, and tapioca flour and it was pretty straightforward too (but didn't rise as much without the gluten for structure.) If you use a recipe that calls for a can of cream of anything soup, you'll also need to substitute that (but just google "gluten free cream condensed soup recipe" or similar, there are tons of recipes out there.)

    Wedding Countdown Ticker
    image
  • The last few years DH has made smoked beer can turkeys... super moist and oh so yummy!  He brines them overnight in a salt & rosemary mix.  Then puts them on the smoker with can of beer inside it and smokes them for something like 8 hours, I think.

    image 

This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards