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You get a lot more crispy skin, with none of the rubbery stuff that is usually at the bottom of the bird. The exposed meat rests in the drippings as it cooks, so the turkey itself was a lot more flavorful. It does cook quicker, and doesn't take up as much room in the oven, so I could cook other things on the 2nd rack - something I'm not able to do with a large turkey taking up the whole oven. If you want your turkey stuffed, this method won't work, but I always cook a pan of dressing separately so this wasn't an issue.
No turkey this year, but I usually braise it, covered, on the slowest temperature I have for several hours.
There will be lots of moisture... so I pat everything dry. When it's 90% done, it goes into the oven at the hottest setting and it is seasoned then. 98% done, I remove it, let it rest for a moment or two, and smear butter all over the skin. A couple more minutes in the broiler.
The low/slow braise/BBQ method has never let me down for roasts or whole birds.
I passed on the Trader Joes pre-brined turkeys because I wanted to brine my own. I was worried they would be too salty. A well brined piece of meat does not taste salty at all. Went across the street to Sprouts and bought a 14 pound all natural turkey (wasn't cheap at a $1.49 lb!) and brined it for about 24 hours. Started it in a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes then turned it down to 350. The pop up timer came up right about 3.5 hours - I'm glad, because I would have overcooked it. It was one of the most juicy and tender birds I've had in a while. Oh, and of course I slathered the outside with butter then tented it when the skin browned.
I have discovered an America's Test Kitchen method for preparing stuffing outside the bird that actually tastes exactly like it was cooked inside the turkey.
Would you care to share the recipe? I love stuffing and am always happy to learn a new recipe.
Would you care to share the recipe? I love stuffing and am always happy to learn a new recipe.
I'll check to see if I can find their recipe, because I only use their technique, and not their ingredients. I just use my old standby bread stuffing recipe. The technique, which I found brilliant, is that they bought some turkey wings, separated them at the joints, poked them here and there with a knife, and then browned them in a skillet. They removed them to a bowl while they prepared their stuffing, with a little extra broth added for moisture than you might put in a stuffed bird. They then placed it into a greased 9x13 pan, and placed the browned wings in top. Cover the pan tightly with foil, place the pan on a cookie sheet and bake.
I just moved across country, so my recipe binder has yet to surface for me to post details, but that's the basic technique. The turkey wings baking and dripping onto the stuffing in the pan simulates the taste of stuffing done inside the turkey.
OK, the wings remind me off a funny story. One year we were to meet some friends in Del Rio, Texas for a camping trip in the mountains over Thanksgiving weekend. They couldn't get there until Friday, but we left Thursday and I had this crazy idea to do a Thanksgiving dinner on the grill at Lake Amistad. I bought turkey wings and frankly I don't remember what else, but I have some recollection of trying to cook beans in a can on one of those bad State Park grills. Needless to say it was pretty much a disaster, so we packed up and drove into town. There was a restaurant called Mi Casa Pancake House (I'm not making this up) and they were serving a full on turkey dinner with all the fixings. My husband was in heaven.
OK, just so you know, roasting turkey wings would be far better than attempting to grill them unless you have a really high temperature! Also, if you want to make gravy ahead of the drippings, buy some wings or thighs and roast them in the oven for about an hour, then put them in a pot and cover with water and add onion, celery, carrot and bay leaf. and seasonings. Simmer it until you have a nice rich broth. That's what I did this year and then after the turkey had cooled a bit, I used my fat separator to get the juices and added a bit of that to the gravy I made previously.
I didn't think about using some of that turkey broth for the cornbread dressing (my recipe calls for chicken broth) but I bet it would really give it a good flavor!
We were told there would be turkey in the fridge when we got to where we were having Thanksgiving, but none of is could find it in there. Luckily, I had also brought a ham.
a lot of great different ideas on this thread- I will also try one for Christmas,
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