OK so we have been doing thanksgiving with Nick's cousin for...4 years this year. We have tons of family and friends over for edibles and fun. There are two turkeys cooked and then all the fixings. Nick's cousin cooks one turkey and since we live in town, we cook the other. we smoked the turkey for two years, but last year and this year we will be roasting it. It is a day and a half process as we brine the turkey at least overnight before roasting it to perfection.
To start with I make a simple brine with 4 boxes of vegetable broth, 1 cup kosher salt and 2 tbsp. black pepper corns (whole). All of this is added to a pot and heated to dissolve the salt. I then add ice to cool the brine and bring up the liquid content, you need enough to cover the turkey. We use a 5 gallon beverage cooler (one you can put a drink in and dispense from the spout) lined with a garbage bag. The turkey is prepped, all the giblets and the neck removed and then placed in the cooler. the cooled brine is poured over the turkey (adding enough water to cover the bird). Then the garbage bag is tied closed the turkey goes in our unheated garage. It stays nice and cool out there so the turkey can brine for 12-24 hours depending on how organized you are.
Then thanksgiving morning the bird is taken out of the brine, rinsed and spiced to roast. Our turkey always turns out juicy and delicious.
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| Nick is the guy to do the cooking. |
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| The year we smoked the turkey--was super tasty |
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| Last year's bird was really good. |
I've never done a turkey before, but I should. I just love the smell of it cooking in the house all day!
ReplyDeleteTurkey's a lot harder to cook than anyone lets on. That's why we generally have something else on Thanksgiving.
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