Almost time for turkey
No place like home for the holidays ... to fight over board games?
Many of us look forward to getting together with family over the holidays. Once the elation has worn off and we settle into our surroundings the fights will begin. My family seems to do battle over the rules of board games with Monopoly being the most heated and contentious of all. I often wonder why Monopoly was never released in a contact sport edition.
Food is another hot topic which if nothing more the question of white or dark meat is an opener for at least one person to deliver a long winded opinion on the topic. The best way to prep your turkey before cooking it to ensure a moist and juicy selection of both white and dark meats is to soak it in brine before cooking it no matter what cooking process you choose; roasting, smoking, deep frying or barbecuing. The brining process forces water into the muscle tissues of the meat by the processes known as diffusion and osmosis. This additional moisture causes the muscle tissues to swell and hold more water.
The resulting water in the muscle tissues will make the meat more moist and tender. Any spices, herbs or other flavorings you add to the brine solution will get taken deep into the meat with the water.
Brine your turkey
First, thaw out your turkey in the fridge.
To avoid cross-contamination place turkey in a drip tray on the bottom shelf to thaw.
Turkey requires 4½ hrs/lb or (10 hours/kg) to thaw under refrigerated conditions
The average turkey weighs in at 15 pounds. Let me do the math for you, an average sized turkey will need 67 hours to thaw or 2.8 days.
Always wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling poultry, or any raw meat.
Thoroughly wash all utensils, cutting boards, counters and dish cloths that have been in direct contact with raw poultry and its juices.
So once the turkey is thawed you will need to make a brine solution as follows …
Mix together one gallon of water with:
3 /4 cup kosher salt, do not use iodized table salt
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 sliced cooking onions
6-8 cloves of crushed garlic 2-4 tbsp. of herbs and or spices like rosemary, thyme sage. If using fresh use a couple of sprigs of each.
And any other flavours you might want to add BUT do not use an acid like wine, apple juice, beer, or orange juice, as these will have an adverse effect on poultry.
Let the turkey soak, submerged in the brine, for 12-18 hours.
Remove turkey from the brine solution. Discard brine solution.
Rinse the turkey off under cold running water and pat dry and transfer it to your smoker.
Regardless of cooking method, cook your turkey at 300°f for 3-4 hours or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh reaches 85°C/185°f or higher. If you can, remove the turkey when it has an internal temperature of 175°f. Take this temperature in the thigh. Let it rest loosely covered with foil or a clean kitchen towel so that the internal temperature will cause carry over cooking to raise the temp to the 185°f range.
Prepare your stuffing separately in its own container in the oven, as a stuffed bird takes longer to cook and can have uneven internal temperatures which can cause food poisoning.
Lakefield area chef Brian Henry owns and operates Chef Brian Henry Private Chef Services: www.chefbrianhenry.com.