Bob Pastorio: Brine a Turkey?

On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 7:21:50 -0500, Steve wrote:

You have posted how to do this with a chicken. Is there any reason this
wouldn't work with a turkey?

Steve



I'm the Bob that posted this. Yes, it works wonderfully for turkey. See:

http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com...ads?client=ca-
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Or go to www.foodtv.com, select "good eats," then search for "turkey" while
selecting the good eats show.

His old recipe called for orange juice and brown sugar. This one uses
brown sugar and vegetable stock. It's also large, which is good (I had to
double his old recipe).

The white meat is very tender when you make the turkey this way.

--
Bob M in CT remove 'x.' to reply

"Steve" wrote in message
.com...
You have posted how to do this with a chicken. Is there any reason this
wouldn't work with a turkey?

Steve


No reason at all. In fact I have brined them as well as injected marinade.
Either way they are terrific. I'm looking forward to my deep fried turkey
for Thanksgiving already.

Chris

Steve wrote:

You have posted how to do this with a chicken. Is there any reason this
wouldn't work with a turkey?

It works fine with any flesh from any critter.

Pastorio

Steve wrote:

On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 12:05:43 -0500, c wrote
(in message ):

I'm looking forward to my deep fried turkey
for Thanksgiving already.

Chris


You're pulling my chain, right :-) I did look into it and was getting
very tempted until I read that the oil must be reused within 30 days,
even if filtered, and can only be reused once... at least according to
the directions that Kame with my King Kooker.

Nonsense. That stuff is written by lawyers, not cooks. Filter it and
put it into opaque containers. Store it in the dark in as cool a place
as you've got. It'll last just fine for a lot longer than that. Months
and months.

Peanut Oil, even at
Costco, looks to be about $25 to fill the pot. Hell, the turkey was
only $3 on sale. And how you gonna stuff a Fried Turkey... we have an
Oyster Stuffing tradition.

Again, it's the mystique nonsense. Peanut oil is good for frying. So
are about a dozen other oils. Any vegetable oil but olive oil will
work just fine and cost a lot less.

You can't stuff a fried turkey, but I say don't stuff any bird. In
order for the stuffing to be safe (We are putting it inside a bird,
are we not?), it has to come up to something over 150F in the center.
By the time you get there, the outside of the critter is up around
175F or 180F. Too high for my tastes. I cook birds to 160F in the
thigh away from bone.

Brining the bird will make it better no matter how it's cooked.

Pastorio

In article ,
Bob Pastorio wrote:

Brining the bird will make it better no matter how it's cooked.

Bob, if I keep my nerve, I'm brining my first turkey this Thanksgiving.
I put on the family holidays, so I'm sure hoping it works out ok. My
biggest concern is the weather. You see, I'm going to be getting a BIG
turkey (24 pounds is my goal), and I don't think it and the container I
will be brining it in will fit in my fridge, so I'm planning on putting
it out in my enclosed porch, where it's the same temp as outdoors. That
worked great for when I was cleaning the fridge, because it hovered just
under 40 F that day, but I need it to be that cold next Wednesday -
Thursday as well. The forecast isn't available yet because it's too far
off.

If it's too warm outside to keep the turkey out back, do you think a few
garbage bags thickness would be strong enough to hold the turkey in
brine in the fridge?

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Priscilla

Priscilla Ballou wrote:

In article ,
Bob Pastorio wrote:


Brining the bird will make it better no matter how it's cooked.


Bob, if I keep my nerve, I'm brining my first turkey this Thanksgiving.
I put on the family holidays, so I'm sure hoping it works out ok. My
biggest concern is the weather. You see, I'm going to be getting a BIG
turkey (24 pounds is my goal), and I don't think it and the container I
will be brining it in will fit in my fridge, so I'm planning on putting
it out in my enclosed porch, where it's the same temp as outdoors. That
worked great for when I was cleaning the fridge, because it hovered just
under 40 F that day, but I need it to be that cold next Wednesday -
Thursday as well. The forecast isn't available yet because it's too far
off.

If it's too warm outside to keep the turkey out back, do you think a few
garbage bags thickness would be strong enough to hold the turkey in
brine in the fridge?

Buy one of those cheapie styrofoam coolers. Freeze a few 2-liter water
or soda bottles full of water and put them in the cooler with the
bird. Don't want to use loose ice because it'll dilute the brine. The
bird can go into a plastic bag with the brine mix. It's mostly salt
and water, nice and cheap.

Pastorio

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Priscilla

Priscilla Ballou wrote:

In article ,
Bob Pastorio wrote:

Brining the bird will make it better no matter how it's cooked.

Bob, if I keep my nerve, I'm brining my first turkey this Thanksgiving.
I put on the family holidays, so I'm sure hoping it works out ok. My
biggest concern is the weather. You see, I'm going to be getting a BIG
turkey (24 pounds is my goal), and I don't think it and the container I
will be brining it in will fit in my fridge, so I'm planning on putting
it out in my enclosed porch, where it's the same temp as outdoors. That
worked great for when I was cleaning the fridge, because it hovered just
under 40 F that day, but I need it to be that cold next Wednesday -
Thursday as well. The forecast isn't available yet because it's too far
off.

If it's too warm outside to keep the turkey out back, do you think a few
garbage bags thickness would be strong enough to hold the turkey in
brine in the fridge?

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Priscilla

Priscilla, isn't it wonderful when we can use our auxiliary
refrigerators? VERY useful!
--
Jean B.

you can also put it in an ice chest and keep ice around it. That will keep it
cold enough even if the air temp that day goes a little high.

D a n

In article , "Jean B."
wrote:

Priscilla Ballou wrote:

In article ,
Bob Pastorio wrote:

Brining the bird will make it better no matter how it's cooked.

Bob, if I keep my nerve, I'm brining my first turkey this Thanksgiving.
I put on the family holidays, so I'm sure hoping it works out ok. My
biggest concern is the weather. You see, I'm going to be getting a BIG
turkey (24 pounds is my goal), and I don't think it and the container I
will be brining it in will fit in my fridge, so I'm planning on putting
it out in my enclosed porch, where it's the same temp as outdoors. That
worked great for when I was cleaning the fridge, because it hovered just
under 40 F that day, but I need it to be that cold next Wednesday -
Thursday as well. The forecast isn't available yet because it's too far
off.

If it's too warm outside to keep the turkey out back, do you think a few
garbage bags thickness would be strong enough to hold the turkey in
brine in the fridge?

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Priscilla

Priscilla, isn't it wonderful when we can use our auxiliary
refrigerators? VERY useful!

Yes, i should stop calling it the mudroom and start calling it the
walk-in!

Priscilla

In article ,
Bob Pastorio wrote:

Priscilla Ballou wrote:

In article ,
Bob Pastorio wrote:


Brining the bird will make it better no matter how it's cooked.


Bob, if I keep my nerve, I'm brining my first turkey this Thanksgiving.
I put on the family holidays, so I'm sure hoping it works out ok. My
biggest concern is the weather. You see, I'm going to be getting a BIG
turkey (24 pounds is my goal), and I don't think it and the container I
will be brining it in will fit in my fridge, so I'm planning on putting
it out in my enclosed porch, where it's the same temp as outdoors. That
worked great for when I was cleaning the fridge, because it hovered just
under 40 F that day, but I need it to be that cold next Wednesday -
Thursday as well. The forecast isn't available yet because it's too far
off.

If it's too warm outside to keep the turkey out back, do you think a few
garbage bags thickness would be strong enough to hold the turkey in
brine in the fridge?

Buy one of those cheapie styrofoam coolers. Freeze a few 2-liter water
or soda bottles full of water and put them in the cooler with the
bird. Don't want to use loose ice because it'll dilute the brine. The
bird can go into a plastic bag with the brine mix. It's mostly salt
and water, nice and cheap.

Good idea. I have a big Coleman chest cooler.

Priscilla