Count down to Thanksgiving!

[Abby Normal]

Nov 4, 2014 12:47:11 GMT -5 Firebird said:

I can't see youtube videos at work, but we always make ours in a bag. I don't think I've ever known one to dry out in a bag.

It's probably just some weird taste thing for me.  Even the ones in the bags taste dry to me. 

My theory is that most people like gravy so they don't notice how dry they are

You have to be sure and baste the turkey.  The most common problem is that people forget that the internal temperature continues to rise after you pull it out of the oven.  So if you wait until your thermometer  reads 180, it will be drier.  Pull it out at about 172-175 (make sure the thermometer is in the breast not the dark meat).  Then as it rests it will continue to cook.

[Deleted]

Nov 4, 2014 13:06:53 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

Nov 4, 2014 12:47:11 GMT -5 Firebird said:

I can't see youtube videos at work, but we always make ours in a bag. I don't think I've ever known one to dry out in a bag.

It's probably just some weird taste thing for me.  Even the ones in the bags taste dry to me. 

My theory is that most people like gravy so they don't notice how dry they are

You have to be sure and baste the turkey.  The most common problem is that people forget that the internal temperature continues to rise after you pull it out of the oven.  So if you wait until your thermometer  reads 180, it will be drier.  Pull it out at about 172-175 (make sure the thermometer is in the breast not the dark meat).  Then as it rests it will continue to cook.

don't baste my turkey....tent it with aluminum foil and no need for basting.

[Abby Normal]

Nov 4, 2014 13:28:31 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Nov 4, 2014 13:06:53 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

You have to be sure and baste the turkey.  The most common problem is that people forget that the internal temperature continues to rise after you pull it out of the oven.  So if you wait until your thermometer  reads 180, it will be drier.  Pull it out at about 172-175 (make sure the thermometer is in the breast not the dark meat).  Then as it rests it will continue to cook.

don't baste my turkey....tent it with aluminum foil and no need for basting.

We do both.  Tent and baste.

[Deleted]

Nov 4, 2014 13:29:48 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

Nov 4, 2014 13:28:31 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

don't baste my turkey....tent it with aluminum foil and no need for basting.

We do both.  Tent and baste.

yeah, don't baste....never had a problem...basting is too much of a pain.

[chiver78]

Nov 4, 2014 8:20:07 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

I can't be the only one that thinks green bean casserole is revolting, can I?

I've never actually had it. but it does sound downright nauseating

[chiver78]

Nov 4, 2014 12:37:40 GMT -5 Firebird said:

if you've only had dry turkey, then the people cooking it don't know what they're doing.

Everyone says that, but it's not true.  I've tasted dozens of turkeys prepared by some very good cooks.  Turkeys are just dry to me. 

DH is an excellent cook - this is how he prepared the turkey last year, and it came out exactly like Gordon's did.  It was a beautiful and delicious looking bird.  It smelled amazing.  I thought there was no way in hell it could possibly be dry. 

It was dry.  I still don't understand how it happened.  I was really bummed. 

have you tried brining the turkey overnight before roasting? my sis and I follow this and have never had a complaint about dry turkey. in fact, when we pitch the last of it a week later b/c it's old, it's still tender and moist like it's fresh.

Emeril's brined and roasted turkey

[Abby Normal]

Nov 4, 2014 13:33:19 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Nov 4, 2014 13:29:48 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

We do both.  Tent and baste.

yeah, don't baste....never had a problem...basting is too much of a pain.

Do you stuff?  Stuffing keeps the moisture in.   We don't stuff so we baste to be sure we don't get a dry turkey.  Tent only, no stuffing and it tends to be drier.

Also, the stuffing needs to reach 165 in order to prevent bacteria.  In order to do this, it usually means over cooking the bird.  Instead, we cook it seperately and stuff it while the bird is resting.  It still absorbs the flavor.

[Deleted]

Nov 4, 2014 13:48:10 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

Nov 4, 2014 13:33:19 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

yeah, don't baste....never had a problem...basting is too much of a pain.

Do you stuff?  Stuffing keeps the moisture in.   We don't stuff so we baste to be sure we don't get a dry turkey.  Tent only, no stuffing and it tends to be drier.

Also, the stuffing needs to reach 165 in order to prevent bacteria.  In order to do this, it usually means over cooking the bird.  Instead, we cook it seperately and stuff it while the bird is resting.  It still absorbs the flavor.

nope, don't stuff it...either while cooking or after.

[NancysSummerSip]

I baste, but with kosher turkey, you have to. They seem to cook faster and drier than non-kosher (I've never been able to figure out why, unless it's the absence of hormones and added oils that do it). The cooking time tends to range 30-45 minutes LESS than the package says. And you get very little fat off the bird to use as basting liquid; I always have to add some.

I don't stuff the bird, but the cavity is so small, even on the largest birds, that there's no room for any substantial amount anyway. I do place half an onion, half a lemon and half an orange in there, along with a few sprigs of fresh herbs. Flavors the meat from the inside and makes the house smell awesome.


ETA: Well, the drama begins. Just got notified that my niece and her husband have been guilted into Thanksgiving with his folks. His family is nuts (he's the normal one of four kids, and his dad is currently at odds with the other three kids), but if DN's husband does not go, he will not see his little nieces and nephews, because his sisters impose these weird rules about who can see the kids when and where. At least at his parents' house, there is some kind of truce for a few hours. I'm disappointed, but I get it. He's doing what he has to do to stay in the kids' lives as the only normal influence.

[chiver78]

why not just freeze some stock some other time, and save it for use for stuffing at Thanksgiving? that's what we do when BIL fries the holiday bird.

[alabamagal]

Nov 4, 2014 13:36:14 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Nov 4, 2014 8:20:07 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

I can't be the only one that thinks green bean casserole is revolting, can I?

I've never actually had it. but it does sound downright nauseating

Green bean casserole with canned beans, cream of mushroom soup and fried onions on top is pretty disgusting.

But if you make a "real" green bean casserole, using "real" ingredients it can be pretty good.

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2014 10:16:36 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

Nov 4, 2014 13:36:14 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

I've never actually had it. but it does sound downright nauseating

Green bean casserole with canned beans, cream of mushroom soup and fried onions on top is pretty disgusting.

But if you make a "real" green bean casserole, using "real" ingredients it can be pretty good.

anything with the word casserole in the name is downright nauseating.....

[Deleted]

I like a lot of casseroles.  Tuna casserole, taco casserole, pizza casserole. 

Not green bean.  I don't do beans unless they're raw out of the garden. 

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2014 10:33:10 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I like a lot of casseroles.  Tuna casserole, taco casserole, pizza casserole. 

Not green bean.  I don't do beans unless they're raw out of the garden. 

I don't eat any casseroles

[chen35]

I don't like green bean casserole, but my mom made one last year that was basically just fresh green beans with a ton of cheese. It was to die for!

[Deleted]

I like my veggies naked....and I made my kid broccoli with cheese and he told me not to add cheese, he preferred it plain.  and actually I prefer the majority of my food as single ingredients rather than a bunch of stuff mixed together.  I do like salads but not mayo or cream based, only with some sort of vinaigrette type dressing.

[Firebird]

The very first time I bought a Kosher turkey, I was also 6-7 wks pregnant. When I took it out and realized I had to start picking out all those little thingies out, it made me so nauseous, I almost puked.

whoisjohngalt, you'll be glad to know that this sentence has been playing and replaying in my mind since I read it yesterday and it's making *me* nauseous even though I don't really know what you mean by "those little thingies" (AND I DON'T WANT TO EITHER). 

Some mental images are just awful. 

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2014 14:09:34 GMT -5 Firebird said:

The very first time I bought a Kosher turkey, I was also 6-7 wks pregnant. When I took it out and realized I had to start picking out all those little thingies out, it made me so nauseous, I almost puked.

whoisjohngalt, you'll be glad to know that this sentence has been playing and replaying in my mind since I read it yesterday and it's making *me* nauseous even though I don't really know what you mean by "those little thingies" (AND I DON'T WANT TO EITHER). 

Some mental images are just awful. 

are the 'little thingies' the gizzards?  they are in all turkeys....along with the neck.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I assumed that the bird didn't get completely plucked. 

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2014 14:09:34 GMT -5 Firebird said:

The very first time I bought a Kosher turkey, I was also 6-7 wks pregnant. When I took it out and realized I had to start picking out all those little thingies out, it made me so nauseous, I almost puked.

whoisjohngalt, you'll be glad to know that this sentence has been playing and replaying in my mind since I read it yesterday and it's making *me* nauseous even though I don't really know what you mean by "those little thingies" (AND I DON'T WANT TO EITHER). 

Some mental images are just awful. 

I just read what makes a kosher turkey kosher and I don't get what little thingies there would be.  They're just slaughtered with "religious intent" and the innards are examined to make sure nothing had been perforated.  They are defeathered with only cold water and not hot (not sure if that leaves "thingies") and they are salted internally and externally. 

[Firebird]

I seriously don't even want to know what she meant by that.  I haven't had such a visceral physical reaction to a description since Dave Sedaris talked about having mouth surgery in France. 

Gross gross gross. 

[whoisjohngalt]

Nov 5, 2014 14:15:06 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

I assumed that the bird didn't get completely plucked. 

Yes, I think that's the case.  As Nancy said on page 4, they are not plucked by machines (which I never knew).

[raeoflyte]

The first time I pulled the neck out of a turkey I about died.  First and only time I guess, and I don't plan on doing that part this year either.  If I weren't so horribly lazy I'd be a vegetarian.  

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2014 14:57:07 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

The first time I pulled the neck out of a turkey I about died.  First and only time I guess, and I don't plan on doing that part this year either.  If I weren't so horribly lazy I'd be a vegetarian.  

I've taken to only cooking a turkey breast....can you buy legs separately (DS1 likes those)?

[cktc]

I cover my turkey with a weave of bacon. It keeps it pretty moist, plus, bacon.

I'm probably not going to get to cook this year though. Trying to coordinate family for faux-thanksgiving is proving more aggravating by the minute and I've already agreed to go to a friend's on Thursday.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I've taken to only cooking a turkey breast....can you buy legs separately (DS1 likes those

Yep. You can buy breasts, legs and thighs separately. A lot of the chefs on food network swear by it because it takes less time than cooking a giant bird. You can also tailor what you serve to people's preferences that way.

[Firebird]

Everyone who said they "might" come to our place for Thanksgiving this year has now bowed out.  Which is very okay with me.  Holidays got really relaxing in a big hurry when we stopped trying to cater to various family members. 

We spent years traveling to family.  The new rule is, if they want to come to us they're welcome.  Sometimes we even offer to pay, depending on the family member. 

But no one ever comes.  So for the past couple of years it's been me, DH, Babybird, and my parents.  It's nice because we actually don't eat together all that often.  It still feels like a special occasion, and it's relaxed and laid back.  I'm totally happy with our current arrangement. 

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2014 16:05:33 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I've taken to only cooking a turkey breast....can you buy legs separately (DS1 likes those

Yep. You can buy breasts, legs and thighs separately. A lot of the chefs on food network swear by it because it takes less time than cooking a giant bird. You can also tailor what you serve to people's preferences that way.

do turkeys have thighs?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Yep, turkeys have thighs just like chickens do.

[wvugurl26]

Nov 5, 2014 15:14:48 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Nov 5, 2014 14:57:07 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

The first time I pulled the neck out of a turkey I about died.  First and only time I guess, and I don't plan on doing that part this year either.  If I weren't so horribly lazy I'd be a vegetarian.  

I've taken to only cooking a turkey breast....can you buy legs separately (DS1 likes those)?

Wegman's!