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Salt, garlic, rosemary, thyme...


LOTS of stuff to throw in, if you know how to blend your flavors.

 Haighus wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:

 Haighus wrote:
Er... is brining what it sounds like (soaked specifically in salty water) or just marinading in various liquids of the cook's choice?

My understanding of the food science is that the salt helps move the liquid into the turkey. The salt also helps to tenderize the meat, breaking up tough proteans and stuff. Now, if it’s just salty water, it will still make for a moister bird. But why just use water when you can infuse more flavor? So it’s more than just a marinade.

It’s an extra step, but worth the effort.

Thanks for that, so it is a salty marinade Dunno why I didn't think you could just salt the cider.

I’m not sure if there is a salt ratio you need to get the osmosis going. But it seems like you could probably look up a brining recipe and swap out cider for some of the liquid.

There is some science at work, so I’d not just wing it. But a lot of info out there on the internet. I’m just running on what my brother told me when he started brining turkeys years ago.

 Just Tony wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:
Brined in apple cider... oh my god....

Words cannot describe the flavor. The first time I tried turkey she made this way? My knees gave way and I may have had a tear in my eye.

We put ours in the brine earlier today. My wife has some concoction that leans on vegetable broth. It has radically changed my appreciation for Thanksgiving turkey.

Sadly, my wife is now claiming that the stuffing should not be made in the bird. Health concerns or some such nonsense. I told her fine, just scoop a couple of handfuls for me in there and I'll take my chances.

Pies are cherry and pumpkin, both store bought. With toddler grandkids running amok, we have to focus our efforts - the bird takes priority. We will use homemade whipped cream, though.

On the brine, I’m guessing you need just the right level of salination that it initially sooks liquid out the bird, which then lowers the salination enough that the bird then reabsorbs the brine?

In addition to the health/food safety issues with not stuffing the bird, roasting it empty also means you don’t need to start it cooking at 2 in the morning. Which is a nice perk.

 Nevelon wrote:
In addition to the health/food safety issues with not stuffing the bird, roasting it empty also means you don’t need to start it cooking at 2 in the morning. Which is a nice perk.

Yes, it does shorten the cooking time, but I didn't get her argument that it wouldn't cook through. We have a meat thermometer and know how to use it. My mother's family always stuffed the bird, always checked temperatures, no issues and their stuffing was so much better than my father's side, which cooked it solo.

We have a larger bird this year, so extending the cook time is an argument I'll accept.

I've never really come across this stuffing-in-poultry-is-dangerous angle before.

Maybe has something to do with the very strict salmonella control in British chickens and turkeys. Flocks are regularly tested and any found to have non-vaccine pathogenic salmonella are killed.

 Haighus wrote:
I've never really come across this stuffing-in-poultry-is-dangerous angle before.

Maybe has something to do with the very strict salmonella control in British chickens and turkeys. Flocks are regularly tested and any found to have non-vaccine pathogenic salmonella are killed.

It makes no sense. One can (and I do) check the temperature of all parts of the bird, including the stuffing. Stuffing it does add to the cook time, but I think the moistness of taste of it more than compensates.

We do have a large instant stuffing industry ("Stove Top"), so this certainly boosts them as they can claim it is safer. Having watched "Clarkson's Farm," it's clear that US agriculture has far more political pull than ag in the UK, so guidelines like this are not uncommon.

I wouldn't take Clarkson's Farm as representative of the UK agriculture industry, but I agree the UK industry has less pull than the US industry.

To be honest, even regularly checking the turkey temperature seems odd though. I know my family never does. Used to slow cooking in a range oven, mind, so that may have something to do with it.

 Haighus wrote:
I wouldn't take Clarkson's Farm as representative of the UK agriculture industry, but I agree the UK industry has less pull than the US industry.

To be honest, even regularly checking the turkey temperature seems odd though. I know my family never does. Used to slow cooking in a range oven, mind, so that may have something to do with it.

No, I didn't regard the show as authoritative, but as someone with experience in agriculture, the small details it contained were quite revealing. To to wander too far afield, but US policy is actually to encourage on-site sales, offering financial incentives to farmers to do so. A farmer who wants to sell fresh pies with local ingredients would get a government grant, not red tape.

Checking the temperature is more a function of my wife's OCD than necessity.

"It's done."

"Check it again."

"There, I told you it's done."

"Try that part."

"It's even more done."

"Are you sure?"

"Would you like to read it yourself?"

We all have our quirks, and that's a fairly minor one.

It's not OCD. It's CDO. With the letters in alphabetical order. AS THEY SHOULD BE!

Post-feast update: The "bake yourself" pumpkin pie was ok, butI actually preferred the Grand Traverse Pie Company's cherry pie.

I had a bit of both, topped with homemade whipped cream.

Everything else was good, but my lovely wife's anxiety caused us to prepare twice as much food as was necessary. Effective immediately, everyone has a daily quota of turkey and stuffing. NO SHIRKERS!

Joy made a homemade pecan pie for Thanksgiving, and I was VERY thankful. I guess there's also a sugar cream pie that was made but didn't make it to the table as the pecan pie and pumpkin roll were performing the dessert roles admirably.

 Haighus wrote:
I've never really come across this stuffing-in-poultry-is-dangerous angle before.

Maybe has something to do with the very strict salmonella control in British chickens and turkeys. Flocks are regularly tested and any found to have non-vaccine pathogenic salmonella are killed.

I think it’s more of an issue around people not adjusting their cooking times to account for the additional mass of the stuffing, etc. The few times I have cooked turkey, the recipe I used has you put the stuffing in the neck, rather than the main body cavity. It still absorbs the juices and flavours the meat, but doesn’t get insulated in the same way.

 Jadenim wrote:
I think it’s more of an issue around people not adjusting their cooking times to account for the additional mass of the stuffing, etc. The few times I have cooked turkey, the recipe I used has you put the stuffing in the neck, rather than the main body cavity. It still absorbs the juices and flavours the meat, but doesn’t get insulated in the same way.

The lack of stuffing did speed up our cooking time considerably. However, we always took it into account.

Update: All pies consumed. Carry on.

2 Pumpkin Pies made and eaten at my household.

I could not make the family gathering, but they had 25 pies and 2 cheesecakes. A small year for them.

 Easy E wrote:
2 Pumpkin Pies made and eaten at my household.

I could not make the family gathering, but they had 25 pies and 2 cheesecakes. A small year for them.

Outstanding! The extended family Thanksgiving finally broke up into component elements because no one had table space for 65.

Being the second-born grandkid (my cousin beat me by 10 days), I always got to eat with the Grownups, which at the time felt quite important, but of course later on my younger relatives noted that they had much, much more fun at the Kiddie Table.

They did not worry about which fork to use.