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The Turkey Thread


kevwun

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  • 7 months later...

I am looking for a brining container with a lid that a turkey will fit in that I can keep in a fridge.  Anyone have one like that?  Will a turkey fit in one of the Rubbermaid 22 qt square containers?  Probably won't be brining one above 15 lbs.

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16 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I am looking for a brining container with a lid that a turkey will fit in that I can keep in a fridge.  Anyone have one like that?  Will a turkey fit in one of the Rubbermaid 22 qt square containers?  Probably won't be brining one above 15 lbs.

Why not just use one of the large brining bags?

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Found this one.  Has an adjustable locking lid so you can keep things submerged.  I think it will also work for brining pastrami briskets and curing olives.  Our tree started producing this year and I'm going to need a larger container like this in a few years.  Olives float at first, so the lid will be perfect for them.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/the-briner

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/2/2020 at 10:20 AM, kevwun said:

I am looking for a brining container with a lid that a turkey will fit in that I can keep in a fridge.  Anyone have one like that?  Will a turkey fit in one of the Rubbermaid 22 qt square containers?  Probably won't be brining one above 15 lbs.

I used a Home Depot 5 gal bucket with lid when I did it.  Worked just fine.

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I’m now team fry. A friend cooked one for me this past spring in his electric fryer when he was cooking a few for a family get together. 18-20 pounders come out perfectly and it was just the basic frozen turkey from HEB with Tony Chachere’s Cajun Butter injected marinade. One of the best turkeys I have ever had. I just bought the same fryer to do it myself.

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2 hours ago, PantsTent said:

Team dry brine. No buckets, no water...

 

I dry brined and roasted one and wet brined and smoked another last year.  Wet brined and smoked was by far the best.  I'm not sure if the difference was the brining method or the cooking method, though.  I ended up wet brining and smoking two more birds on Saturday following Thanksgiving.  I might try reversing the brining and cooking methods this year in an attempt to determine whether the brining or the smoke makes the biggest difference.  

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Aw shit.  Greenberg Turkey place burned.  This'll be the first time in 20 years my SIL's dad doesn't send one to every family member.

https://www.gobblegobble.com/

Urgent Notice

On the evening of November 6th, we experienced a catastrophic fire at our shipping facility. Both our inventory and our ability to ship this season have been destroyed. We are thankful this occurred after hours and no one was injured! Unfortunately we will not have any turkeys to be shipped or picked up this Thanksgiving or Christmas Season.

We are working around the clock on refunding all orders that were scheduled to deliver after November 6th, and are deeply sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please know we have already begun the process of rebuilding and will be back stronger than ever in 2021. If you would like to stay updated, please fill out your contact information below.

We are grateful to have the best customers in the world, and are proud to have been a part of your holiday tradition for so many years. Please invite us back to your table next year!

Thank you,

Sam Greenberg

Edited by BearSchlong
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3 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Aw shit.  Greenberg Turkey place burned.  This'll be the first time in 20 years my SIL's dad doesn't send one to every family member.

https://www.gobblegobble.com/

Urgent Notice

On the evening of November 6th, we experienced a catastrophic fire at our shipping facility. Both our inventory and our ability to ship this season have been destroyed. We are thankful this occurred after hours and no one was injured! Unfortunately we will not have any turkeys to be shipped or picked up this Thanksgiving or Christmas Season.

We are working around the clock on refunding all orders that were scheduled to deliver after November 6th, and are deeply sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please know we have already begun the process of rebuilding and will be back stronger than ever in 2021. If you would like to stay updated, please fill out your contact information below.

We are grateful to have the best customers in the world, and are proud to have been a part of your holiday tradition for so many years. Please invite us back to your table next year!

Thank you,

Sam Greenberg

wow

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7 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

Aw shit.  Greenberg Turkey place burned.  This'll be the first time in 20 years my SIL's dad doesn't send one to every family member.

https://www.gobblegobble.com/

Urgent Notice

On the evening of November 6th, we experienced a catastrophic fire at our shipping facility. Both our inventory and our ability to ship this season have been destroyed. We are thankful this occurred after hours and no one was injured! Unfortunately we will not have any turkeys to be shipped or picked up this Thanksgiving or Christmas Season.

We are working around the clock on refunding all orders that were scheduled to deliver after November 6th, and are deeply sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please know we have already begun the process of rebuilding and will be back stronger than ever in 2021. If you would like to stay updated, please fill out your contact information below.

We are grateful to have the best customers in the world, and are proud to have been a part of your holiday tradition for so many years. Please invite us back to your table next year!

Thank you,

Sam Greenberg

angry schitts creek GIF by CBC

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After last year I'm a full convert on the wet brine. I just wasn't using enough salt in the past. 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups per gallon. Last year I brined for 48 hours and then let it sit 2 days in the fridge to dry. I plan on putting the bird and the breastesses in a week from today about this time, pulling and patting dry on Tuesday for fridge rest. Cooking on Thursday this year. Giddy up. 

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2 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

After last year I'm a full convert on the wet brine. I just wasn't using enough salt in the past. 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups per gallon. Last year I brined for 48 hours and then let it sit 2 days in the fridge to dry. I plan on putting the bird and the breastesses in a week from today about this time, pulling and patting dry on Tuesday for fridge rest. Cooking on Thursday this year. Giddy up. 

I’m on board with the extended air-drying time, but I’ve been using 1c of normal iodized table salt per gallon in a 12-hour brine for years and it’s perfect. 
 

Other than baking, that’s the only time the table salt gets used. 

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38 minutes ago, kevwun said:

If I wet brine for 2 days, do I still need to season lightly with salt before throwing the turkeys on the pit?  I am going to pepper them, but not sure if they need a light sprinkling of kosher salt also.

If you are brining with salt, then you don't need to salt the bird before cooking.  

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I think my current grill is too small for a spatchcock and wife doesn’t want me tying up the oven all day, so she can work on sides and whatnot.  Is a fryer my best bet?  Never done one before.  What all do I need?  Hoping I can order something on Amazon and get it here in the next few days.

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8 minutes ago, Landomatic said:

I think my current grill is too small for a spatchcock and wife doesn’t want me tying up the oven all day, so she can work on sides and whatnot.  Is a fryer my best bet?  Never done one before.  What all do I need?  Hoping I can order something on Amazon and get it here in the next few days.

I think I'd buy a bigger grill rather than getting the burner and pot you need for frying.  You will spend close to the same amount by the time you add in the oil.  The large weber grills grills should be big enough for a turkey or you could get a barrel pit.  You'll use the grill a lot more than you will the frying rig.

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15 minutes ago, Hornbeliever said:

Had early thanksgiving with one side of family.  Bought a turkey from Ragin Cajun in houston.  Was really surprised at how good it was.   Do it if you don't love making the turkey

Ragin' Cajun makes a great fried bird. Good stuffing and gravy as well. 

It can easily feed 10+. It's a lot of food, I wouldn't suggest it for a small, intimate gathering. 

I'll probably get a fried Turk - Duck - En for Christmas. 

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I think my current grill is too small for a spatchcock and wife doesn’t want me tying up the oven all day, so she can work on sides and whatnot.  Is a fryer my best bet?  Never done one before.  What all do I need?  Hoping I can order something on Amazon and get it here in the next few days.

I just bought the Masterbuilt XL from Academy. Delivered in two business days. $90. A friend fried one for me last Spring and it was fantastic. It can handle a 20 lb. turkey. Cooks in about 70 min.
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53 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I think I'd buy a bigger grill rather than getting the burner and pot you need for frying.  You will spend close to the same amount by the time you add in the oil.  The large weber grills grills should be big enough for a turkey or you could get a barrel pit.  You'll use the grill a lot more than you will the frying rig.

We're in the middle of getting our pool (and therefore outdoor kitchen) built so I'm not quite ready of that level of commitment yet.  Otherwise, you're probably right. 

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21 minutes ago, HouTex said:


I just bought the Masterbuilt XL from Academy. Delivered in two business days. $90. A friend fried one for me last Spring and it was fantastic. It can handle a 20 lb. turkey. Cooks in about 70 min.

Yeah, this is kind of what I was thinking.  What do you use for the oil?  Also, any good injection recipes? 

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2 hours ago, HouTex said:


I just bought the Masterbuilt XL from Academy. Delivered in two business days. $90. A friend fried one for me last Spring and it was fantastic. It can handle a 20 lb. turkey. Cooks in about 70 min.

Alright...just ordered this ^

27 minutes ago, HouTex said:

Peanut oil is recommended. It takes 2.75 gallons. I used Tony Chachere’s cajun butter for the injection. It was very good.

And this ^ and this ^

Thanks for the help

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On 11/11/2020 at 10:28 AM, HouTex said:

I’m now team fry. A friend cooked one for me this past spring in his electric fryer when he was cooking a few for a family get together. 18-20 pounders come out perfectly and it was just the basic frozen turkey from HEB with Tony Chachere’s Cajun Butter injected marinade. One of the best turkeys I have ever had. I just bought the same fryer to do it myself.

What fryer?

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Is the Masterbuilt electric?  Cool.  We have a high power propane burner that we use for boils, frys, etc.  But if I didn't already have that I'd consider the electric. 

Beyond that, agree on peanut oil and agree on the cajun butter injection, delicious and works every time.

 

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3 hours ago, DallasHorn26 said:

Never done one before, but gonna give it a go on my WSM this year. Watched Franklin's video earlier and will probably go that route. I've seen different comments about skin on vs off, but looks like in his video he left in on? 

And added like 20 lbs of butter if I remember right.  I think the ratio is 1 to 1 pounds of butter for pounds of turkey.

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23 hours ago, DallasHorn26 said:

Never done one before, but gonna give it a go on my WSM this year. Watched Franklin's video earlier and will probably go that route. I've seen different comments about skin on vs off, but looks like in his video he left in on? 

I do ours in the WSM and have followed the Franklin video method.  Really easy on the WSM.  Charcoal, wood, empty water pan.  Run all lower vents and top vent wide open.  Bird on the top rack (it's a bit hotter than the lower rack).  Put it in a foil pan when the breast hits about 150 F, or so.  Slather with butter, and cover with foil until the breast temp hits 160.  I leave the skin on and it has been just right. 

Edited by dcbc
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Just now, dcbc said:

I do ours in the WSM and have followed the Franklin video method.  Really easy on the WSM.  Charcoal, wood, empty water pan.  Run all lower vents and top vent wide open.  Put it in a foil pan when the breast hits about 150 F, or so.  Slather with butter, and cover with foil until the breast temp hits 160.  I leave the skin on and it has been just right. 

That's my plan and will probably just hit it with salt and pepper, considered doing the Tony's injection, but will probably keep it simple this go round and just do the 24 hour brine.

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5 hours ago, DallasHorn26 said:

That's my plan and will probably just hit it with salt and pepper, considered doing the Tony's injection, but will probably keep it simple this go round and just do the 24 hour brine.

This is the part where I confess to just buying the grocery store turkey with the less than X% solution, rubbing it with olive oil and rub, and tossing it on the smoker.  I've had really good results and it's less work.  I've brined a bird before and, while it was good, I wasn't convinced it was worth it.  Maybe I'll do another some time, but I have a 20 lb Honeysuckle White that's going to start defrosting tomorrow.  I'll give brining a try again sometime, but I'm not going to mess with my process before the big game.

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