# Turkey time



## gic (Nov 10, 2013)

Well it is getting close so i thought I would start a new thread for tips and tricks and begin by my passing on what I regard as the best way to prepare a turkey - it's basically a tweak of existing ideas for high temperature roasting.

So here goes: Barbara Kafka pioneered the idea of doing a turkey or chicken at say 500f until the internal temperature was where you want it to be (about 2.5 to 3 hours for a 20lb) but while it worked pretty well, it wasn't perfect because of the perennial problem of white versus dark meat. Then the NY Times (for roast chicken) added the idea of cooking it in a preheated cast iron pan with the legs splayed and so close to the cast iron that it solved the problem of light versus dark meat easily and perfectly:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/dining/a-new-breed-of-roast-chicken-cast-iron-seared.html?_r=0

I thought to myself this would be awesome for turkey except what kind of pan could I use to fit a turkey? Looking around I discovered this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00063RWVG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

and ever since I bought this a few years ago, I have been (a)making turkey a lot more - cause it is so quick and (b)always having it come out perfect :- )


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## Anton (Nov 10, 2013)

That's the only way I've liked turkey. And also I love the face of terror this causes when purist see their turkey butterflied!


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## gic (Nov 10, 2013)

Actually I don't butterfly it just splay the legs


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## daveb (Nov 10, 2013)

Bird 1: Spatchcock, brine, air dry in fridge, smoke, eat. 

Bird 2: Set fryer up for brother, heat oil for brother, remind brother to put bird in, ensure brother does not burn house down, remind brother to remove bird, rest bird for brother, carve bird for brother, congratulate brother on another great fried turkey, clean up.


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## Mucho Bocho (Nov 11, 2013)

gic, thanks for the sahre but this must be a dam mess in the oven with all that grease spitting out of the pan. Plus, poor technique by her.

1.) Taking the pan out of the oven and putting it on the counter. She should have taken it fromt he oven to the stove and turned the burner on while adding the chix.

2.) Adding veg and adjusting the bird while leaving the oven open. This is cooking 101 right Chefs?


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## gic (Nov 11, 2013)

Well I automatically did what you suggested. Didn't follow that part of the recipe. In fact it was quite easy to put the lodge on my burners for deglazing. Basically I said to myself hmm do kafkas recipe in a lodge pan after splaying legs

And that really does work really well and was I thought a really good idea.


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## Mucho Bocho (Nov 11, 2013)

Gic, Thanks for the report, did ya take a pic? Did it make a mess?


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## gic (Nov 11, 2013)

Well I can take a pic in two weeks! 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Kitchen Knife Forum mobile app


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## mzer (Nov 11, 2013)

Mucho Bocho said:


> gic, thanks for the sahre but this must be a dam mess in the oven with all that grease spitting out of the pan. Plus, poor technique by her.
> 
> 1.) Taking the pan out of the oven and putting it on the counter. She should have taken it fromt he oven to the stove and turned the burner on while adding the chix.
> 
> 2.) Adding veg and adjusting the bird while leaving the oven open. This is cooking 101 right Chefs?



Eh, when I worked in France we generally would sit roasting meats on the open oven door and baste them there. Big difference between a Molteni cast iron monster and a home oven, though.


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## Erilyn75 (Nov 15, 2013)

gic said:


> Well it is getting close so i thought I would start a new thread for tips and tricks and begin by my passing on what I regard as the best way to prepare a turkey - it's basically a tweak of existing ideas for high temperature roasting.
> 
> So here goes: Barbara Kafka pioneered the idea of doing a turkey or chicken at say 500f until the internal temperature was where you want it to be (about 2.5 to 3 hours for a 20lb) but while it worked pretty well, it wasn't perfect because of the perennial problem of white versus dark meat. Then the NY Times (for roast chicken) added the idea of cooking it in a preheated cast iron pan with the legs splayed and so close to the cast iron that it solved the problem of light versus dark meat easily and perfectly:
> 
> ...




That thing had been on my wish list for over a year. I shoulda bought it when it was only $51 

Do you flatten the turkey out?


Edit: never mind, I just finished reading lol


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## Erilyn75 (Nov 15, 2013)

I have a question for you turkey gurus. We usually just do a turkey breast and I brine it. I get ok crispy skin but not like an unbrined bird would get. My question is, if I brine 2 days before and then leave it in the fridge overnight uncovered the day before thanksgiving, will it dry out the skin enough to get crispy without losing the moisture and flavor from the brining?


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## Bill13 (Nov 15, 2013)

That should be perfect, but don't forget to separate the skin from the meat; that helps a lot too.


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## daveb (Nov 15, 2013)

E,

What works for me is to cut out back then brine whole bird for 48 Rinse and air dry in fridge at least 12. Rub then smoke at 225 F. I use thermo-probes to judge when done. Go from smoker to sear (grill or oven) to brown/crisp. Rest until serving.

Hopefully somebody smarter than me will explain mallard (sp?) effect. Very simplified the bird has got to see 300+ to brown. If roasting breast, some air time and the time in oven should be enough to brown/crisp. If you want it browner, crisper, crank the heat up in oven to 450-500 for last 10 min or so.


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## brianh (Nov 15, 2013)

I'm thinking of doing just a breast this year, will that affect cooking/brining times much?


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## Erilyn75 (Nov 15, 2013)

Thanks guys. i was worried id ruin the turkey if i let it dry out in the fridge after brining.

Brian, It takes about an hour to hour and half to cook a brined breast. Brining cuts the cooking time and cooking just a breast cuts the cooking time. I start checking the temp at an hour.

Dave: I thought you should never brine more than 24 hours because it will turn the meat to mush? I don't have a smoker, its still on my Christmas list for after we leave this windy hell hole lol.


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## daveb (Nov 16, 2013)

Mush??? Them BBQ guys, always offering their opinions as fact. Glad it never happens here...


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## Erilyn75 (Nov 16, 2013)

daveb said:


> Mush??? Them BBQ guys, always offering their opinions as fact. Glad it never happens here...



LoL thanks for the tips. Ill let you know how it turns out


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## quantumcloud509 (Nov 16, 2013)

I brine my heritage turkeys for 5 days. Never went to mush once. Longer than 5 days things do start to go a little funky with poultry. Brining my ham for almost three weeks before Thanksgiving.


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## Lucretia (Nov 17, 2013)

Who needs turkey? We make pizza for Thanksgiving. :drool:


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## Mucho Bocho (Nov 25, 2013)

Best tip for brown crackling skin:

Rub a TBLS of baking soda on the skin right before putting in the oven. Sure its a good idea to leave your bird uncovered in the refrigerator for a day or two but using Baking Soda on any skin (poultry, pork, fish) get the skin rendering almost immediately when put in the oven. 

One additional tip is to make little slits in the skin (not the meat) all over the bird, this will allow the steam to escape, this also increases the skin's surface area creating more places of yummy skin cracklin. 

Baking soda jump starts the maillard reaction on the skin when it hits heat. Its really significant. Blows away butter or oil. Also, less heat is required to reach that brown skin, meaning more juice in the bird.

Also, baking soda can be used in brines for tenderizing meat but care must be taken less you'll turn the protein into mush. I would not bring with BS more than one day.


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## jvanis (Nov 26, 2013)

Mucho Bocho said:


> Best tip for brown crackling skin:
> 
> Rub a TBLS of baking soda on the skin right before putting in the oven. Sure its a good idea to leave your bird uncovered in the refrigerator for a day or two but using Baking Soda on any skin (poultry, pork, fish) get the skin rendering almost immediately when put in the oven.
> 
> ...



Great tip! 

That being said, how are most of you guys cooking your birds? Roaster pan with oven bag? Roaster Pan with lid? Roaster Pan open top?


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## Mucho Bocho (Nov 26, 2013)

JV, Roasting Bag. God no, thats like a 70's invented "good idea." You know what they say "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." There's also no need to baste your bird either. I already did my bird this year. Mom was in town last week. 

I made a Kosher Bird this year. What I did was:

Whole Foods frozen (but non-injected) 14 LBS bird. Thawed in refrigerator for three days. Opened, WASHED (contraversal I know), patted dry, coverd it in kosher salt inside and out, put back in refrigerator for two days. Removed, washed inside and out again to get salt off, pat dry, loosened the skin, made slits all over the skin, rubbed with baking soda and covered in drawn butter, and put on roasting pan on top of onion, carrots, cellery. 

I did not truss or stuff cavity. Just removed wing tips . Roasted at 450 for ten min. then lowered heat to 300 and cooked until dark meat registered 125. After removing from the oven, temp rose to ~145. Took about three hours. 

Another great trick to crispy skin is to crack your oven while roasting. I put a stainless steel condiment cup between the oven door and the pin that turns the oven off when door is open. Allows the moisture to escape thus facilitating browining. 

Happy T-day


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## sw2geeks (Nov 26, 2013)

I put together a turkey tips web app, just open this link on your phone and save to the desktop.

http://www.star-telegram.com/static/labs/Turkey/Turkey.html


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## Erilyn75 (Nov 29, 2013)

Mine did not turn out well at all! I decided on a whole bird this year and a new brining recipe. It was bad. And to add insult to injury, my potatoes seized for the first time ever :scratchhead:. The gravy and stuffing was good though lol. Next time I think I'll do a dry brine and a flattened turkey.

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving


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## quantumcloud509 (Nov 30, 2013)

Stuffed turkey with onion cut into quarters and two lemons cut in quarters, oh and some fresh thyme. Typically do this when I smoke chickens. Came out really nice and moist on the inside. Snuck two sticks of butter under the skin. Dry rubbed the sucker with herbs n spices, perforated the skin here and there. It was a good turkey. Skin was crispy, meat was tender.


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