Turkey Success Stories....How did your Turkey turn out?? (beer, grilled, organic)

[yhwhshalomjr]

Does anyone have any Turkey success stories to share?
Or maybe some failures with the "proverbial" Thanksgiving Turkey;
How did your turkey turn out?? And what made it a" big hit" with your guests??
Feel free to share unique stories and recipes please.

[MB2]

OK....my turkey turned out awesome this year, doing the "deep fried thing" for the first time.
I brined it for 2 days in a solution of:
1 gallon of water
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup sugar
any fresh herbs on hand (like rosemary, thyme, basil etc)
a handful crushed black peppercorns
minced garlic
2 oranges cut into chunks

I took the turkey out, let it drip dry for about 1 hour, and rub the whole bird with creole seasoning mix (it won't be spicy at all, but will help with the golden brown color of the turkey in the frying process)
I also injected a mixture out of melted butter, brown sugar, garlic juice, lemon and lime into the breast, legs.
It was the best tasting turkey I have ever eaten in my life....and my husband says the same.
Awesome flavor, awesome eye appeal, incredible moisture and juicy all around!
We are hooked, and will continue to fry our Thanksgiving Turkeys from now on ever year!

[GreenMachine]

Wow. That sounds really good.

[yhwhshalomjr]

Originally Posted by MovingBack2PA

OK....my turkey turned out awesome this year, doing the "deep fried thing" for the first time.
I brined it for 2 days in a solution of:
1 gallon of water
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup sugar
any fresh herbs on hand (like rosemary, thyme, basil etc)
a handful crushed black peppercorns
minced garlic
2 oranges cut into chunks

I took the turkey out, let it drip dry for about 1 hour, and rub the whole bird with creole seasoning mix (it won't be spicy at all, but will help with the golden brown color of the turkey in the frying process)
I also injected a mixture out of melted butter, brown sugar, garlic juice, lemon and lime into the breast, legs.
It was the best tasting turkey I have ever eaten in my life....and my husband says the same.
Awesome flavor, awesome eye appeal, incredible moisture and juicy all around!
We are hooked, and will continue to fry our Thanksgiving Turkeys from now on ever year!

Thanks for posting;
Glad to hear you had great success, with your turkey; Sounds like it was very yummy" Continue to enjoy the remainder of the Holiday
God Bless

[BlueWillowPlate]

I've been roasting turkeys for many years, but the ones we had this year were right up there in the top 5.

I did two turkeys, 14 and 15 pounds.
One was kosher, one was free range organic.
I brined the Free Range in a brine a lot like MovingBacktoPA's.
This year, I brined it a bit ahead of time so that it had about half a day to dry out a bit after being rinsed.

Both turkeys were sprinkled with lemon juice inside, had a few sage leaves, rosemary sprigs and onions inside, and Herbes de Provence and olive oil on the outside.

Then my husband grilled Free Range outside on the rotisserie.
I also roasted Kosher turkey in the oven. For the first half of the time, it roasted Breast Side Down. Then I turned it over.

I was a little worried about *both* of the turkeys, they got so brown--but they both were superb!
But the brined-and-rotisseried one was lipsmackingly scrumptious.
Even my sister in law was impressed.
One entire turkey was consumed but we have leftovers for sandwiches today.

[judogl44]

Everything was a hit-even my SIL who claimed to only like canned jellied cranberries ate my cranberry relish (of course I had the standard jellied, too). Cheesecake was awesome and creamy and have lots of great leftovers!!!

[SunnyKayak]

ooo la la I never had fried turkey before and I will say it is good we bought it from Bojangles even though I think fried turkey is tougher than roasted I do like how it moist and has flavor.

[SuziSu]

I made two turkeys this year actually. A 15 lb Champagne Turkey in the oven cooked in an oven bag (soooooo yummy, came out so juicy!) and deep fried a 20 lb turkey. Came out a bit dry but still tasty! This was the first time I had ever cooked a turkey, my first year being the entertainer. It was soooo much work, I had to call my mom, of course and thank her for all the prior thanksgivings. It was fun though! And now I know how to fry and bake a turkey.


P.S. I injected the turkey with beer and cajun spices. I couldn't taste it afterwards though. I think I should have injected it more.

[Huckleberry3911948]

yes my kid brother cooked it. for some reason that makes it taste better.

[wurd4wurd]

Originally Posted by MovingBack2PA

OK....my turkey turned out awesome this year, doing the "deep fried thing" for the first time.
I brined it for 2 days in a solution of:
1 gallon of water
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup sugar
any fresh herbs on hand (like rosemary, thyme, basil etc)
a handful crushed black peppercorns
minced garlic
2 oranges cut into chunks

I took the turkey out, let it drip dry for about 1 hour, and rub the whole bird with creole seasoning mix (it won't be spicy at all, but will help with the golden brown color of the turkey in the frying process)
I also injected a mixture out of melted butter, brown sugar, garlic juice, lemon and lime into the breast, legs.
It was the best tasting turkey I have ever eaten in my life....and my husband says the same.
Awesome flavor, awesome eye appeal, incredible moisture and juicy all around!
We are hooked, and will continue to fry our Thanksgiving Turkeys from now on ever year!

what kind of oil you fried the turkey in~!! We tried deep frying twice - once we were thrilled with the results - the next time not so much. I'm definitely open to giving it another try with your "recipe for success" especially with such rave reviews!