Come all ye self-styled chefs and kitchen users, we must talk.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Does anyone have a turkey brine recipe they swear by? Or do I have to pick on randomly from the internet?

We have bought the Williams Sonoma brine for at least a decade and it always turns out well for us.

LouZiffer wrote:

Cooking a spatchcocked turkey takes barely any time. Takes about 6 minutes a pound in our oven, which is crazy. I let it rest a while when it comes out, and carve it before it hits the table.

I switched over to spatchcocked turkeys a few years ago and am never going back to whole bird. It's just so much quicker.

Dry brine and spatchcock has been my goto for cooking turkey for the last 3 years or so, and before that, was just dry brined, not stuffed. I actually enjoy the taste of turkey, and I feel that as long as you get a decent quality bird, that a wet brine is totally unnecessary. A dry brined bird cooked well, will still be juicy and tasty.

If you like turkey meat, get an heirloom turkey one Thanksgiving. They often have much better flavor than the regular Big Bois, much more like game birds than the usual.

Robear wrote:

If you like turkey meat, get an heirloom turkey one Thanksgiving. They often have much better flavor than the regular Big Bois, much more like game birds than the usual.

I am the exception in the family, so no heritage bird for us. We just get a good non-Big Boi turkey and call it a day.

Eh, get one for yourself and your friends lol. Delicious.

Robear wrote:

Eh, get one for yourself and your friends lol. Delicious.

There are no "friends" in these end of days... I have a 12 pound bird for the 2 of us... so its gotta be something we will eat for a while

This Thanksgiving will be my first attempt at cooking a whole bird of any kind.

Adam Ragusea has seldom steered me wrong, so I'm using this video to guide me: https://youtu.be/6CboeCnjpbE

I may try to put stuffing in the bird, which he doesn't do here. Not going to try for anything crazy fancy, just got a couple boxes of stovetop.

My understanding is that you just make it according to the box directions, cram as much of it as will fit up in the turkey hole, and allow for some extra time in the oven. Does that sound right?

hbi2k wrote:

My understanding is that you just make it according to the box directions, cram as much of it as will fit up in the turkey hole, and allow for some extra time in the oven. Does that sound right?

My take: Make the stuffing separately. There are two main outcomes with stuffing a turkey...

1.) Bird is cooked. Stuffing is unsafe to eat (it's been in the raw bird and hasn't gotten up to a safe temp).
2.) Bird is overcooked. Stuffing is safe to eat.

Not worth it. If you want the stuffing flavored with turkey juice, cook it after the turkey's out and add some.

Nobody does that anymore, hbi2k. It slows the cooking, and you can end up with undercooked stuffing filled with undercooked turkey juices... Just maybe throw some herbs into the turkey, or a pair of quartered apples, or maybe a cup of sliced onions and smashed garlic cloves, Rosemary sprigs, or something else that will give moisture, flavor and fragrance, and cook the stuffing on the stovetop to perfection.

100% agree with everyone above. Dont' stuff the bird, just put aromatics into the turkey cavity. Quartered onions, carrots, rosemay/thyme/sage. When the bird is out, add those pan juices to your gravy / stuffing.

As Lou states.. if you cook the bird stuffed, the upside is bird overcooked but edible, the downside is everyone gets sick.

Also, if this is the first time you've cooked a whole turkey, can't overstate the importance of a meat thermometer. If you don't have one yet, I strongly suggest getting one.

hbi2k wrote:

This Thanksgiving will be my first attempt at cooking a whole bird of any kind.

Adam Ragusea has seldom steered me wrong, so I'm using this video to guide me: https://youtu.be/6CboeCnjpbE

I may try to put stuffing in the bird, which he doesn't do here. Not going to try for anything crazy fancy, just got a couple boxes of stovetop.

My understanding is that you just make it according to the box directions, cram as much of it as will fit up in the turkey hole, and allow for some extra time in the oven. Does that sound right?

I'd avoid stuffing in the bird because it forces you to cook the turkey longer to make sure the stuffing is fully cooked and that can dry the meat out.

Of course that's kinda based on you making homemade stuffing that has raw eggs and the like in it that should be cooked to 165 to be safe. The Stovetop stuffing is pretty much done cooking five minutes after you add the hot water.

Another option you could go for is cooking the turkey without the stuffing and then using some of the juices from the turkey in lieu of water for the stuffing mix. You'll get that concentrated turkey flavor in the stuffing without risking a dry bird.

Another easy upgrade to Stovetop is to chop up a little bit on onion, carrot, and celery and saute it in the pot you're going to make the stuffing in. Just saute it a couple of minutes, dump in the mix and liquid, combine, and you're good to go. If you want a bit more flavor, pour out all the juices from your roast turkey, let the fat separate, and use a couple tbsps of the rendered turkey fat to saute your veg.

Yeah, I've got a probe thermometer like he uses in the video. It only has one probe instead of two but other than that it appears virtually identical.

I figure since the dark meat gets cooked to pathogen killing temperatures before it even gets in the oven, I will just put the probe in the dark meat while it is on the stove, then switch it to the breast before putting it in the oven.

Oh, and it might not be clear... Don't stuff the turkey full with aromatics. Just, like, an onion or an apple or two, some sprigs of herbs, a bit of garlic, and done. You do want it to cook from the inside as well as outside.

hbi2k wrote:

Yeah, I've got a probe thermometer like he uses in the video. It only has one probe instead of two but other than that it appears virtually identical.

I figure since the dark meat gets cooked to pathogen killing temperatures before it even gets in the oven, I will just put the probe in the dark meat while it is on the stove, then switch it to the breast before putting it in the oven.

Its not the meat being undercooked as much as it is the juices from the raw turkey going into stuffing that's inside the cavity. In order to insure that is safe, the stuffing has to be at a certain temperature and by the time that gets to that temp, everything else is overcooked.

Thanks, Lou, but hearing that you spatchcock turkeys is TMI.

Because there's only 2 of us for this Thanksgiving, I am cooking only a turkey breast rather than a whole bird.

If you won't be feeding a lot of people this is a good method, we tried it a few years ago and it was great.
Turkey Porchetta

IMAGE(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/538927282606047283/781532477549838376/MVIMG_20201126_074437.jpg)

"So you're saying I should roast my turkey in butter?"

No, the milk solids in whole butter could burn. You should use ghee.

"Thanks for clarifying."

You are going to take that plastic thing off the legs right ? Also, is that turkey juice or some sort of brine in the pan? I don't think its supposed to be that wet.. you'll be steaming not roasting.

Keto Creamy Lemon Garlic Salmon

INGREDIENTS
4 4 Ounce Salmon filets (skin on or skinless)
Salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons avocado oil
1 1/4 Cup Heavy cream
2 Tablespoons Lemon juice
3 Cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
Add in the salmon filets skin side up. Cook until the salmon is browned and the fish easily releases from the pan. Try not to flip early or the salmon will stick.
Flip to the other side (skin side if your salmon has skin) and cook until the salmon skin is crispy and releases from the pan.
Remove the salmon from the pan and set aside.
Turn the heat of the skillet down to medium and whisk together the heavy cream, garlic, parsley and lemon juice. Let simmer for a few minutes to thicken.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve the salmon with cream sauce.

Tried this after watching a youtube video. Turned out really good and it was quick and easy to make.

Carlbear95 wrote:

You are going to take that plastic thing off the legs right ? Also, is that turkey juice or some sort of brine in the pan? I don't think its supposed to be that wet.. you'll be steaming not roasting.

Turkey juice, which became turkey gravy.

Pretty happy with how the bird turned out. Dark meat was falling off the bone, white meat was juicy and tender, and the gravy was incredible. Mashed potatoes also turned out really well: I baked the potatoes instead of boiling to get some browned flavor, and used yogurt instead of milk for a nice tangy zing.

Now we're on to the next step: what to do with the leftovers. I have any number of strategies for dealing with leftover turkey meat-- turkey chili, turkey pot pie, turkey shepherd's pie-- but what I find myself unprepared for is how much gravy I have left over. It's excellent gravy and I don't want it to go to waste, but the only thing I really use gravy for is, well, putting on turkey and mashed potatoes, and if the turkey is going into a pot pie, what happens to the gravy?

So I think I'm going to go back to Ragusea and modify his chicken pot pie (which I've made a couple times at this point, to good effect) to use gravy instead of bechamel as the basis for the filling.

The other thing I have to figure out is what to do with the carcass. I've been given a soup recipe, which is what my mother always did with it; the problem is I just plain don't like soup that much, and it tends to wind up turning into a Tupperware in the fridge that I look at with guilt any time I'm hungry before throwing out four months later.

So I think I'm going to try to go the turkey stock route, which at least I can freeze until I arrive at something that can benefit from it.

I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

Yeah use the carcass for stock and freeze it is the best thing. Glad it turned out so well for you!

We have some ghee that we got a while ago and realized needed to be used in the next month, so we've been using it for everything. Turns out ghee is amazing in... everything. We've used it in the pan for all kinds of things, put it in our grits, and so on.

That' turkey sounds great, hbi2k! Glad it worked out for you. Always weird trying something new with other people involved.

Had some leftover mashed taters and decided to make some shepherd's pie. Went with the Serious Eats recipe and didn't follow it too closely apart from definitely adding the worchestershire and marmite. It was so much better than anything I've had at pubs. I went with Oregon ground lamb and turkey for the meat.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/cxfE4JF.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/nIYzheI.jpg)

Right, but what did it look like before you regurgitated it?

LeapingGnome wrote:

Right, but what did it look like before you regurgitated it? ;)

IMAGE(https://media1.tenor.com/images/6505c5b907c7e3bbbbbff42c34a160fb/tenor.gif?itemid=3370081)

Some Pizza I made tonight. Turned out great.

I was excited to try a new dough shaping that really helped me stretch it out and was perfect for tossing.

Annual New Year's eve tradition, making tourtière.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EqmfJe2W4AoZ3lo?format=jpg&name=large)

It turned out okay.

Not pictured, the maple syrup I drown my pieces in.