[goodwithagun]

I've brined in the past, but this year I've decided not to. Tomorrow I will rub down the bird (that sound so dirty!) with herbed butter. Tom will roast tomorrow, as all night long the unlubricated skin dries out. He's stuffed with onions, lemons, fresh herbs, and a whole head of garlic. He's also been salted and peppered liberally (don't tell Mooch about the salt!).

[married21]

James Beard is my inspiration. (His roasted chicken is delicious.)

I tried brining once. Didn’t make enough difference to bother with it.

So, I rub the inside of the turkey with a half of a lemon. Then fill it with cut up oranges and celery. (those get tossed out later).

I cook the turkey upside down the first hour and then turn it over for the rest. Baste when I turn it, with a combination of butter, salt, pepper and marjoram.

I follow the turkey package directions for making broth with the giblets.

I make the gravy with the recipe on the back of the Kitchen Bouquet bottle, and use chopped up giblets in the gravy.

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My MIL makes moist turkey by cooking it the entire time upside down. It doesn’t look nice for table carving, but it is carved and the slices are put on a platter and brought to the table.

[goodwithagun]

I love this, and I also want to respond to each of you! Surprise! Number three has decided to pop a tooth! I’m out until she settles down. Once again, happy Thanksgiving!

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

I season it inside and out with Worcestershire sauce, stuff the cavity with onion and whatever herbs and veggies I happen to have on hand (for flavor, not to eat), then roast upside down on 375 until nearly done, flip it over to brown, slice and serve hot. The breast meat comes out tasty and juicy.

[katana]

I cover the turkey breast and legs with strips of thick bacon for the first couple hours in the pan covered, then after a couple hours remove the lid and let the bacon crisp, then carefully pull away the crisped bacon to allow the whole bird to brown. This is over the course of the whole cooking time. The result is wonderfully flavored bacon strips to nibble on while waiting on the turkey to finish, very moist white meat, and drippings that make the most amazing gravy. It was an idea I picked up from Brits who cook turkey for their Christmas dinners.

[jocon307]

Hubby does brine and this year he found a fresh herb poultry seasoning combo so he is liking your idea of the herbed butter rub.

[Jim Noble]

Cranberry Brine - the bird goes in tonight

• 2 medium onions, roughly diced
• 5 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• 5 medium carrots, roughly chopped
• 14 garlic cloves, unpeeled and smashed
• 6 bay leaves
• 6 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 6 sprigs fresh sage
• 12 sprigs fresh Italian parsley
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 2 quarts cranberry juice
• 1 apple, cut into wedges
• 1 orange, cut into wedges
6 ounces fresh cranberries

Mix together in a large pot 1 of the onions, 2 stalks celery, 2 carrots, 6 garlic cloves, peppercorns, 3 sprigs each of the rosemary, thyme and sage, 6 sprigs of the parsley, kosher salt and the cranberry juice; heat and stir until the salt dissolves and mixture begins to simmer; remove and let cool to room temperature.

[MomwithHope]

We dry brine and have done so for about 12 years. If you are interested google “dry brine turkey Judy bird” Click on the story from the LA times. We always get a fresh bird from a local turkey farm. when we started the dry brine the birds tasted even better, incredibly moist and not stringy, the dry brine changes the proteins in the meat somehow and makes it really tender. We use the amount of kosher salt in the recipe and cut up fine poultry herbs - fresh. We picked up the bird on Saturday and started the dry brine right away. Today it sat in the fridge uncovered, makes the skin nice and crispy. Something new this year hubby made some herb butter to rub on before it goes in the oven. Happy Thanksgivng everyone!

[x1stcav]

Depends. No brine this year. Maybe butter but not committed. Going to bed assured that the right answer will occur in the morning.

[Trillian]

No brine here..
Turkey will be coated in olive oil and butter. Seasoned with sage, bay leaves, thyme, celery salt and salt.
I will also be making a ham with a brown sugar whiskey glaze.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[trebb]

Never noticed a real difference so just roast it in oven and baste to crisp up the skin.

[goodwithagun]

Today is the day! Happy Thanksgiving FReepers!

Here’s my tip of the day:

I have a roaster oven into which I will toss Tom’s remains, as well as any frozen Henny Penny remains. Yes, I have carcasses in my freezer. I also freeze herb stems, onion ends, carrot peels, and celery ends. I just toss them into doubled Wally World bags. This bag of goodies goes into the roaster oven, and the whole mess is topped off with filtered water. After a few hours of bubbling I start pouring the stock into quart jars (through a sieve first) and then can according to the Ball Blue Bible Book. I then top off the mess with more filtered water and let it do its thing. I do this until I get three canners full of quart jars, which equals 21 quarts of FREE stock. This stock is closer to bone broth. It is gel-like and thick, super healthy, and very delicious.