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Posted

 

brining while thawing is a good idea, good trussing technique, but the color on that bird is kinda offputting. kenji's technique of putting the turkey back in the oven gets some great color:

 

 

 

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Posted

Not doing anything particularly adventurous with my turkey this week, except I'm going to try a method in a Thomas Keller recipe that calls for air drying in the fridge after an overnight brine for 24 hours before roasting.  It's supposed to produce a crispier skin.  Anyone ever try that?

Posted
Just now, South Austin said:

Not doing anything particularly adventurous with my turkey this week, except I'm going to try a method in a Thomas Keller recipe that calls for air drying in the fridge after an overnight brine for 24 hours before roasting.  It's supposed to produce a crispier skin.  Anyone ever try that?

I always spatchcock, but yes. It works, particularly if you take the effort to pat dry really well, including under the skin of the breast and use a wire rack.  Make sure your fridge is free of the odors of other food though, because it'll absorb them.

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, South Austin said:

Not doing anything particularly adventurous with my turkey this week, except I'm going to try a method in a Thomas Keller recipe that calls for air drying in the fridge after an overnight brine for 24 hours before roasting.  It's supposed to produce a crispier skin.  Anyone ever try that?

I'm dry brining in the fridge for a few days with one of the goals to be to dry out the skin, then putting a compound butter under the skin, over the skin, and all zee way around.  

Edited by dcbc
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Posted
1 minute ago, dcbc said:

I'm dry brining in the fridge for a few days in the hope to dry out the skin, then putting a compound butter under the skin, over the skin, and all zee way around.  

Keller's recipe also calls for clarified butter, but looks like just over the skin.

Posted
Just now, South Austin said:

Keller's recipe also calls for clarified butter, but looks like just over the skin.

Yeah, thinking about it, I'll probably not worry about butter over the skin since it will just end up in the pit.  I'll wait to add the rest of the butter once I've got it in the pan so I can do some basting later.  I may toss the oranges I usually stuff in the carcass in the pan so I can get that little bit of citrus flavor in the end.

Posted
13 minutes ago, TexasHooch said:

It can be done in combination with a dry brine, or subsequent to a wet brine. I wouldn't personally do both.  The closest I've done after a wet brine is herb butter under the skin.

Yeah.  I either wet brine or dry brine.  When using a wet brine, I rinse, season, then cook with no dry out in between.

Posted
14 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

Yeah.  I either wet brine or dry brine.  When using a wet brine, I rinse, season, then cook with no dry out in between.

Oh, I definitely dry out after a wet brine.  I just don't add anything to it yet, aside from the aforementioned butter under the skin.  Honestly though, I really don't think doing that before the dry vs right before the cook makes that much difference.  What does though, for me, is getting under the skin to separate it some from the bird.  Again though, I spatchcock so it's pretty easy to do.  Might be harder with a complete bird.

Posted

Recommendations on a good multi-purpose meat carving knife?  Not just a brisket knife, but one I can use on turkey, chicken, tri-tip, etc?  I have an electric carving knife which works pretty good, but can get a little chaotic.  

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Sbbruin said:

Recommendations on a good multi-purpose meat carving knife?  Not just a brisket knife, but one I can use on turkey, chicken, tri-tip, etc?  I have an electric carving knife which works pretty good, but can get a little chaotic.  

Just use a brisket knife.  12" scalloped slicer from Dexter Russel or Victorinox will do it all.  But when it comes to turkey, I just use a German style chef's knife.  On the breast, I'm not cutting long slices; I'm cutting medallions.  An 8" chef's knife does great and I'm not worried about chipping it when I'm breaking joints in the leg quarters.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Dexter-13463-12-Inch-Sani-Safe-Scalloped/dp/B004NG98RI/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3LC28Z24HY4T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.3K7nwZESRL2tPIe1BTEj9_WqlI9POMsDf3dX9qflItpVVh-0XOnRNPr7Jk7O95yOmkjNad4udkZ_TENuS5Zc9IPuNV3oKosBySenPxMdMP0yMaW7bt7pVIwK70aieX_jSqFlJwHXotZRTcru0Pqje7Mu1aXQhM3JG0Ho7KzY-aICwVJV7yiPdbdm1jJlUpRvCicY5d5CCwV1edW2VrG_pZAR7V4F7nth1h2XdWQQWqA.L6QCDvu410Kjk95Mtvb49SF9GJJmKBp82UU-NktDiNM&dib_tag=se&keywords=dexter+russel+12"+slicer&qid=1764034557&sprefix=dexter+russel+12+slic%2Caps%2C217&sr=8-1

 

https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Cutlery-Serrated-Slicing-12-Inch/dp/B0019WZL4I/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3KU9ZJ0VLB8Y2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.G__9ECfQvqlhEtR8w0Xt9VODB6an1JUyrXNorh8VH8SJyp5Kg4Vhog7WkqmO2GXHXv5_W86iXSn4KorY8bJxmVIF84FGEcDXhbdR5HiipwTkZNoFfuUFWAjO6rinI81S1EjxndU4C6oVH7iAkOTkZQZX3oeK0Rza2ahc0uVlBb51s2zit3tT2SOgdCMfRiyXDl-PKNVdm8d2uey3bQWDOY2WKyYDnupoFSUUoIuYzN663gmy7sZioASNXhkJsH6aSy6QhyYZ3heue0ZUDA5Z1rvC9ebWDruNvfzK2pqYbxs.nCi4ZFkOXxfc_MyGOs0QPba1udf84Bsi7hM6te4RVFA&dib_tag=se&keywords=victorinox+12"+slicer&qid=1764034605&sprefix=victori+12+slicer%2Caps%2C203&sr=8-6

 

 

Edited by dcbc
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Posted (edited)

I've probably posted it before - or maybe someone else here posted it and this is where I got it from, but for the third year in a row I will be doing this Aaron Franklin version of a smoked turkey with a 2.5 day dry brine in the fridge.  It's honestly way more flavorful and juicy than a fried turkey or a roasted turkey that was injected.  Hell, I've done the 3 different styles of turkey I already mentioned over the last 20 years, plus one more... and honestly the second best way I've done them is the good old Ron Popeil "set it and forget it" rotisserie.  A few years ago I got stuck with a brand new one from the 90s in a white elephant gift exchange and decided that year to give it a shot for Christmas dinner... and it was so much better than I ever imagined.  If I ever don't have the time or the weather is so bad I can't use the smoker, I will always defer to the rotisserie. 

 

The bird is rubbed down and in the fridge now, ready for a Thursday AM smoke with some already made breakfast tacos and Bloody Mary chilling in there as well.

Edited by BlueGreySky
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Posted

Victoronix granton edge slicing knife. $86 on Amazon. 

Reciprocating saw job complete. Only got a little bit of flying turkey parts in my eye. We're in the brine. I will pull out tomorrow afternoon and pat dry and let it rest uncovered until Thursday morning. PXL_20251125_002108567.thumb.jpg.7899bda8896dd058b0385b10844562e8.jpg

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Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, BlueGreySky said:

I've probably posted it before - or maybe someone else here posted it and this is where I got it from, but for the third year in a row I will be doing this Aaron Franklin version of a smoked turkey with a 2.5 day dry brine in the fridge.  It's honestly way more flavorful and juicy than a fried turkey or a roasted turkey that was injected.  Hell, I've done the 3 different styles of turkey I already mentioned over the last 20 years, plus one more... and honestly the second best way I've done them is the good old Ron Popeil "set it and forget it" rotisserie.  A few years ago I got stuck with a brand new one from the 90s in a white elephant gift exchange and decided that year to give it a shot for Christmas dinner... and it was so much better than I ever imagined.  If I ever don't have the time or the weather is so bad I can't use the smoker, I will always defer to the rotisserie. 

 

The bird is rubbed down and in the fridge now, ready for a Thursday AM smoke with some already made breakfast tacos and Bloody Mary chilling in there as well.

You can set your watch by it.  I've done it several years in a row now.  Only reason I'm spatchcocking this year is due to a very small time window.  Soften up that butter and let it rip.

 

edit to add: This is the later T-giving Franklin video.  He does it a little differently than the original series, but it comes down to the same thing.  Get color on the bird, smear with a pound of butter, and wrap in foil.

Edited by dcbc
Posted
13 minutes ago, dcbc said:

You can set your watch by it.  I've done it several years in a row now.  Only reason I'm spatchcocking this year is due to a very small time window.  Soften up that butter and let it rip.

 

edit to add: This is the later T-giving Franklin video.  He does it a little differently than the original series, but it comes down to the same thing.  Get color on the bird, smear with a pound of butter, and wrap in foil.

When I smoke mine I do a combination of this and one of those Malcolm Reed/how to bbq right videos. I take from the MR video mostly just the part about wet brining, stuffing cavity with vegetable, and using SPG mostly as my seasoning, some poultry seasoning if I have it, and then running temps at 300 til done. Once color is there I do the Franklin butter part, then baste, but I’ve never wrapped it like this video. 

This year I don’t have time to brine so I’m just going to inject with some Tony’s creole butter and do the rest as planned and see how it turns out. 

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Posted
11 hours ago, BlueGreySky said:

I've probably posted it before - or maybe someone else here posted it and this is where I got it from, but for the third year in a row I will be doing this Aaron Franklin version of a smoked turkey with a 2.5 day dry brine in the fridge.  It's honestly way more flavorful and juicy than a fried turkey or a roasted turkey that was injected.  Hell, I've done the 3 different styles of turkey I already mentioned over the last 20 years, plus one more... and honestly the second best way I've done them is the good old Ron Popeil "set it and forget it" rotisserie.  A few years ago I got stuck with a brand new one from the 90s in a white elephant gift exchange and decided that year to give it a shot for Christmas dinner... and it was so much better than I ever imagined.  If I ever don't have the time or the weather is so bad I can't use the smoker, I will always defer to the rotisserie. 

 

The bird is rubbed down and in the fridge now, ready for a Thursday AM smoke with some already made breakfast tacos and Bloody Mary chilling in there as well.

I want to smoke a turkey this year using the Franklin method. When you use a dry brine do you completely remove all of the brining salt and then season or, or do you just smoke it with the brining salt on? 

Posted
1 hour ago, Bolero88 said:

I want to smoke a turkey this year using the Franklin method. When you use a dry brine do you completely remove all of the brining salt and then season or, or do you just smoke it with the brining salt on? 

The brining salt will be absorbed into the meat and skin.  You shouldn't have to salt it further.  I probably will hit mine with some garlic powder and coarse black pepper.  I'll do a compound butter under the skin, and since I didn't salt under the skin previously, I'll work a little salt into the compound butter.  

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Posted
52 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I'll do a compound butter under the skin, and since I didn't salt under the skin previously, I'll work a little salt into the compound butter

I got an idea. Use salted butter. 💡

Posted
11 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

I got an idea. Use salted butter. 💡

I'd rather add it myself.  It's a pretty small amount of salt added to a pound of butter.  

Posted

Planning on smoking our turkey.  I've done it several times with good results.  Brined, injected with Tony C's, butter under the skin.  Haven't spatchcocked but it's never really been necessary.  Only a 13 lb bird.  Any reason I really need to spatch?

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