Post by BBQ Butcher on Oct 5, 2008 7:38:27 GMT -5
I know it’s a little early, but Thanksgiving is just around the corner.
If you have never cooked a turkey on your grill, it might not be a bad time to start asking questions and/or perform a test run by cooking one. Even if you have never cooked a turkey at all, then you are in the right place at the right time.
I've seen too many times when folks will wait until the day before Thanksgiving and get into a panic......"What do I do?", "How do I....?", "How long do I....?", "What temp do.....?", etc, etc, etc. People are busy, away from their computer, out of town, etc, and you don't get your questions answered on time or you have a catastrophe.
The following was originally published on 11/10/07, but bears repeating.
I plan on Spatchcocking my turkey this year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow, seems like it was just Thanksgiving last month instead of last year! Heck, it’s still Summer here in Southwest Florida and looks like we will bypass fall altogether. We still need to have Turkey Day though, to feed the after dinner sandwich cravings.
Let’s start with a few turkey tips that apply all year long, not just the holiday season.
1) NEVER THAW your frozen turkey on the counter! Always thaw in the refrigerator (approximately 5 hours a pound) or in a sink full of cold water and ice, changing the water and the ice every 30 minutes or so (about 25 minutes per pound). Keep the turkey in its original packaging.
2) DO NOT stuff your turkey. Cook the stuffing in a separate dish. If you do stuff it, cook it until the internal temperature of the stuffing is at least 165°.
3) DO NOT forget to remove the plastic bag of giblets from the stomach and neck cavities.
4) DO wash and sanitize your hands and every surface that the raw turkey came in contact with.
5) Cook the turkey until a thermometer stuck into the thickest part of the thigh reads 180° and the breast is 165-170°
Whether you cook your turkey in the oven, on the grill or in a turkey fryer, I suggest you trying brining the turkey first. Basically, brining introduces liquid and flavor into the meat for added juiciness. Please read the following article/link on “Brining 101”, as it contains every thing you ever needed to know about brining (and maybe some stuff you didn’t want to know!). You may never cook poultry or pork the same way again.
Brining 101
Here are two brines that I used last Thanksgiving. The first one is poultry brine, but I used it for a boneless pork loin roast. The second one is standard poultry brine, but can also be used on pork.
Brine #1
1/2 gallon water
1/2 gallon apple juice or cider
1 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup Kosher Salt
3 tablespoons finely ground black pepper
1/4 cup crumbled fresh or dried sage leaves
Heat until salt is dissolved. Cool down before brining meat.
Brine #2
2 quarts apple juice
1 pound brown sugar
1 cup Kosher salt
3 quarts water
3 oranges, quartered
4 ounces fresh ginger, thinly sliced
15 whole cloves
6 bay leaves
6 large cloves garlic, crushed
Heat the first three ingredients until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Add the rest of the ingredients to the 3 quarts of water. Add the apple mixture, stir well and cool before brining meat.
Notes: after brining, rinse the turkey/chicken well with cold water and pat dry. Use salt 'sparingly', if at all, in your rub for the skin. If you use regular table salt instead of Kosher salt, cut the amount in half, as they have different densities. Make sure to keep the turkey and the brine 40° or under during the entire brining process. You may have to add ice or a table plate to the top of the turkey to keep it submerged. Keep in mind that a brined turkey may take a little shorter time to cook, due to the liquid in the meat.
If you decide to brine, make sure that the turkey is NOT already brined by the manufacturer. Read the label closely and you should see if it has been injected with a saline solution of 8-18%. Most of these turkeys will say “pre-basted” or “self-basting” on the label. Again, DO NOT brine these, as you will end up with a mouthful of salt!
OK, let’s go cook a turkey!
What size turkey do I need? For a whole bone-in turkey, figure a pound per person. A bone-in breast, ¾ pound per person and a boneless breast, you will need about ½ pound per. This usually allows a few leftovers for sandwiches.
Rinse the turkey under cold running water, inside and out, and pat dry. Place the turkey on a platter and put into the refrigerator ‘naked’ (not covered) for 6-8 hours, if you have the time. This helps the skin to become crispy and get that nice brown color that we all like. Approximately 30-45 minutes before cooking the turkey, remove it from the refrigerator, rub under the skin with your salt-free rub (optional) and butter or olive oil. Do the same with the outside skin. Quarter a couple of apples or oranges, or both, and place into the stomach cavity. Now, place a plastic gallon bag filled with ice cubes over the breast of the turkey. Why, you ask? Normally, the breast will get done before the legs and might dry out. By placing the ice bag on the breast, it will lower the temperature of the breast meat, while the thigh meat is coming up to room temperature. Most times this will end up with both the legs and the breast getting done at the same time.
Turkey Photo
If you are cooking the turkey on the grill, you will need to use an indirect set up (away from heat) and a drip pan to catch the juices. Using extra wood smoke for flavoring is optional, but if you do, use the wood chips or chunks sparingly, as poultry tends to act as a sponge when it comes to smoke. Fruit woods are good to use, such as apple, pear, peach or even a citrus, like orange or tangerine. I personally like pecan wood for my turkey.
Get the grill temperature up to 400° and place the turkey on the rack over the drip pan. Cook the turkey for 30 minutes and then lower the heat to 325-350° for the remainder of the cook. This also applies to cooking in the oven, use a rack and oven proof cooking dish.
You will need to allow the turkey to cook approximately 20 minutes per pound, but use a meat thermometer in the breast and/or the thigh to make sure that the meat is done properly. It also takes the guess work out of the equation. If the legs or the breast are getting too brown towards the end of the cooking time, cover them with foil to protect them against the heat. Depending on the type of grill you have, you may or may not have to rotate the turkey about half way through the cooking time. You will be able to tell just by looking at the bird to see if one end is getting more color than the other.
Once the turkey is done, remove it from the grill or oven, place it on platter on the counter. Loosely cover, or tent, with aluminum foil and let it sit for 20-30 minutes before carving. This allows the juices in the meat to redistribute throughout and for the meat to ‘set up’, aiding in the carving.
Enjoy your meal!
Turkey types and classifications.
Turkey (as well as all other poultry) is described and classified using a number of different criteria, which are described below.
Follow the link below to find out what constitutes a fresh, frozen or organic turkey in the market conditions of today. You may be surprised to know that your 'fresh' turkey can be kept at 26° F.!
www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--1286/turkey-types-and-classifications.asp
Here is a great side dish that I would like to share with you. It’s quick, easy and people love it.
Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole
3 large cooked sweet potatoes (or use canned, drained)
½ cup, approximately, butter or margarine
¼ cup, plus or minus, cheap bourbon
¼-½ tsp ground cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
Mash the potatoes; add the butter, bourbon and spices. Add more butter if needed for consistency. Put into a lightly greased casserole dish. Top with more cinnamon if desired or dot with butter or mini marshmallows. Bake approx 30-45 minutes at 350-375° until hot.
Gramp Devereux's Egg Nog
1 dozen eggs, separated into whites and yolks
2 cups sugar, heavy hand
1 quart milk
1 pint whipping cream...whipped fairly stiff*
1 TBS vanilla
brandy
rum
whiskey
Beat the egg yolks and combine with sugar in a pan (I think he used a double boiler?), slowly add the milk and vanilla, stirring constantly until it is mixed and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and chill in the refrigerator.
Beat the whites until stiff and then fold into the yolk and sugar mixture. Stir in your alcohols, chill again and then serve with nutmeg or cinnamon over the top of each serving."
The above is how we wrote the recipe down as told by my grandmother and it's probably not exact science, so I added some notes below.
• I can't remember, but I think the whipped cream was made the regular way with some sugar and vanilla, too. Not sure though, but I think it was sweet <shrug>
• The ‘heavy handed’ sugar is 2 cups, plus a little more
Amount of alcohol is totally up to you. You don't want it too runny, but you want to be able to taste it. The last time I made it (10-12 years ago??) I left out the alcohol and let every one add it themselves into their own cup or glass.
My grandfather used a nasty old rot gut New England style rum, but I've found that a nice gold/dark rum makes it a lot smoother. Same with the brandy...I used el cheapo E&J (Ernesto & Julio Gallo) and a decent southern bourbon helps the flavor, too
Hmmm....doesn't look like it makes much, I could of sworn he always had a punch bowl full of that stuff...of course he could've made more than one batch
If you have never cooked a turkey on your grill, it might not be a bad time to start asking questions and/or perform a test run by cooking one. Even if you have never cooked a turkey at all, then you are in the right place at the right time.
I've seen too many times when folks will wait until the day before Thanksgiving and get into a panic......"What do I do?", "How do I....?", "How long do I....?", "What temp do.....?", etc, etc, etc. People are busy, away from their computer, out of town, etc, and you don't get your questions answered on time or you have a catastrophe.
The following was originally published on 11/10/07, but bears repeating.
I plan on Spatchcocking my turkey this year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow, seems like it was just Thanksgiving last month instead of last year! Heck, it’s still Summer here in Southwest Florida and looks like we will bypass fall altogether. We still need to have Turkey Day though, to feed the after dinner sandwich cravings.
Let’s start with a few turkey tips that apply all year long, not just the holiday season.
1) NEVER THAW your frozen turkey on the counter! Always thaw in the refrigerator (approximately 5 hours a pound) or in a sink full of cold water and ice, changing the water and the ice every 30 minutes or so (about 25 minutes per pound). Keep the turkey in its original packaging.
2) DO NOT stuff your turkey. Cook the stuffing in a separate dish. If you do stuff it, cook it until the internal temperature of the stuffing is at least 165°.
3) DO NOT forget to remove the plastic bag of giblets from the stomach and neck cavities.
4) DO wash and sanitize your hands and every surface that the raw turkey came in contact with.
5) Cook the turkey until a thermometer stuck into the thickest part of the thigh reads 180° and the breast is 165-170°
Whether you cook your turkey in the oven, on the grill or in a turkey fryer, I suggest you trying brining the turkey first. Basically, brining introduces liquid and flavor into the meat for added juiciness. Please read the following article/link on “Brining 101”, as it contains every thing you ever needed to know about brining (and maybe some stuff you didn’t want to know!). You may never cook poultry or pork the same way again.
Brining 101
Here are two brines that I used last Thanksgiving. The first one is poultry brine, but I used it for a boneless pork loin roast. The second one is standard poultry brine, but can also be used on pork.
Brine #1
1/2 gallon water
1/2 gallon apple juice or cider
1 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup Kosher Salt
3 tablespoons finely ground black pepper
1/4 cup crumbled fresh or dried sage leaves
Heat until salt is dissolved. Cool down before brining meat.
Brine #2
2 quarts apple juice
1 pound brown sugar
1 cup Kosher salt
3 quarts water
3 oranges, quartered
4 ounces fresh ginger, thinly sliced
15 whole cloves
6 bay leaves
6 large cloves garlic, crushed
Heat the first three ingredients until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Add the rest of the ingredients to the 3 quarts of water. Add the apple mixture, stir well and cool before brining meat.
Notes: after brining, rinse the turkey/chicken well with cold water and pat dry. Use salt 'sparingly', if at all, in your rub for the skin. If you use regular table salt instead of Kosher salt, cut the amount in half, as they have different densities. Make sure to keep the turkey and the brine 40° or under during the entire brining process. You may have to add ice or a table plate to the top of the turkey to keep it submerged. Keep in mind that a brined turkey may take a little shorter time to cook, due to the liquid in the meat.
If you decide to brine, make sure that the turkey is NOT already brined by the manufacturer. Read the label closely and you should see if it has been injected with a saline solution of 8-18%. Most of these turkeys will say “pre-basted” or “self-basting” on the label. Again, DO NOT brine these, as you will end up with a mouthful of salt!
OK, let’s go cook a turkey!
What size turkey do I need? For a whole bone-in turkey, figure a pound per person. A bone-in breast, ¾ pound per person and a boneless breast, you will need about ½ pound per. This usually allows a few leftovers for sandwiches.
Rinse the turkey under cold running water, inside and out, and pat dry. Place the turkey on a platter and put into the refrigerator ‘naked’ (not covered) for 6-8 hours, if you have the time. This helps the skin to become crispy and get that nice brown color that we all like. Approximately 30-45 minutes before cooking the turkey, remove it from the refrigerator, rub under the skin with your salt-free rub (optional) and butter or olive oil. Do the same with the outside skin. Quarter a couple of apples or oranges, or both, and place into the stomach cavity. Now, place a plastic gallon bag filled with ice cubes over the breast of the turkey. Why, you ask? Normally, the breast will get done before the legs and might dry out. By placing the ice bag on the breast, it will lower the temperature of the breast meat, while the thigh meat is coming up to room temperature. Most times this will end up with both the legs and the breast getting done at the same time.
Turkey Photo
If you are cooking the turkey on the grill, you will need to use an indirect set up (away from heat) and a drip pan to catch the juices. Using extra wood smoke for flavoring is optional, but if you do, use the wood chips or chunks sparingly, as poultry tends to act as a sponge when it comes to smoke. Fruit woods are good to use, such as apple, pear, peach or even a citrus, like orange or tangerine. I personally like pecan wood for my turkey.
Get the grill temperature up to 400° and place the turkey on the rack over the drip pan. Cook the turkey for 30 minutes and then lower the heat to 325-350° for the remainder of the cook. This also applies to cooking in the oven, use a rack and oven proof cooking dish.
You will need to allow the turkey to cook approximately 20 minutes per pound, but use a meat thermometer in the breast and/or the thigh to make sure that the meat is done properly. It also takes the guess work out of the equation. If the legs or the breast are getting too brown towards the end of the cooking time, cover them with foil to protect them against the heat. Depending on the type of grill you have, you may or may not have to rotate the turkey about half way through the cooking time. You will be able to tell just by looking at the bird to see if one end is getting more color than the other.
Once the turkey is done, remove it from the grill or oven, place it on platter on the counter. Loosely cover, or tent, with aluminum foil and let it sit for 20-30 minutes before carving. This allows the juices in the meat to redistribute throughout and for the meat to ‘set up’, aiding in the carving.
Enjoy your meal!
Turkey types and classifications.
Turkey (as well as all other poultry) is described and classified using a number of different criteria, which are described below.
Follow the link below to find out what constitutes a fresh, frozen or organic turkey in the market conditions of today. You may be surprised to know that your 'fresh' turkey can be kept at 26° F.!
www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--1286/turkey-types-and-classifications.asp
Here is a great side dish that I would like to share with you. It’s quick, easy and people love it.
Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole
3 large cooked sweet potatoes (or use canned, drained)
½ cup, approximately, butter or margarine
¼ cup, plus or minus, cheap bourbon
¼-½ tsp ground cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
Mash the potatoes; add the butter, bourbon and spices. Add more butter if needed for consistency. Put into a lightly greased casserole dish. Top with more cinnamon if desired or dot with butter or mini marshmallows. Bake approx 30-45 minutes at 350-375° until hot.
Gramp Devereux's Egg Nog
1 dozen eggs, separated into whites and yolks
2 cups sugar, heavy hand
1 quart milk
1 pint whipping cream...whipped fairly stiff*
1 TBS vanilla
brandy
rum
whiskey
Beat the egg yolks and combine with sugar in a pan (I think he used a double boiler?), slowly add the milk and vanilla, stirring constantly until it is mixed and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and chill in the refrigerator.
Beat the whites until stiff and then fold into the yolk and sugar mixture. Stir in your alcohols, chill again and then serve with nutmeg or cinnamon over the top of each serving."
The above is how we wrote the recipe down as told by my grandmother and it's probably not exact science, so I added some notes below.
• I can't remember, but I think the whipped cream was made the regular way with some sugar and vanilla, too. Not sure though, but I think it was sweet <shrug>
• The ‘heavy handed’ sugar is 2 cups, plus a little more
Amount of alcohol is totally up to you. You don't want it too runny, but you want to be able to taste it. The last time I made it (10-12 years ago??) I left out the alcohol and let every one add it themselves into their own cup or glass.
My grandfather used a nasty old rot gut New England style rum, but I've found that a nice gold/dark rum makes it a lot smoother. Same with the brandy...I used el cheapo E&J (Ernesto & Julio Gallo) and a decent southern bourbon helps the flavor, too
Hmmm....doesn't look like it makes much, I could of sworn he always had a punch bowl full of that stuff...of course he could've made more than one batch