Last night, I had some friends over for a potluck. I had a 9 lb pastured turkey that I bought back in November and after hearing such good things about brining poultry, I decided to give it a shot. After thawing the turkey for a few days in the fridge, I dropped it in the brine about 7 hours before I wanted to put it in the oven. You want to brine for about an hour per pound, but less brine time is better than more. Here we go with the recipe I used:
Brine
1 cup of salt per gallon of water (I needed about 1.5 gallons of water)
1/2 cup raw honey per gallon of water
1 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp dried ginger
I smashed up the ginger, pepper, and coriander in a mortar and pestle, combined all of the ingredients, and dissolved the salt and honey. Put the turkey in, make sure it’s all covered, and put it back in the fridge. Flip it over once about halfway through brining.
Before putting the turkey in the oven, rinse it well to remove any salt sticking to the exterior. The brine should have absorbed into the meat, so there’s no need to do anything to the outside of the bird.
Turkey Stuffing (stolen from Alton Brown)
1 red apple
1/2 onion
1 tbsp sage
3-4 cloves garlic
1 cinnamon stick
Simmer all ingredients about 10 minutes, then stuff into turkey.
I cooked the turkey at 500 degrees for about 20 minutes, then turned the heat down to 350 for about another hour. The pastured turkeys seem to cook quicker and this was a pretty small turkey anyway. The skin was an amazing golden brown and I had to resist every urge to just eat it all while I carved, leaving none for anyone else. That wouldn’t have been very friendly though. The brine made for the juiciest turkey I’ve ever had. I highly recommend brining and will probably do so to every turkey I cook from here out.
Gravy
Of course, since there were giblets, there had to be some gravy. Earlier in the day, I made a broth by simmering the giblets, neck, a chopped onion, and a chopped carrot for about an hour, then chopping the giblets and discarding the rest. To this broth, I added the pan drippings from the turkey and some kuzu root starch to thicken it. It turned out nicely.
Sorry, no pictures of it all cause it disappeared pretty quickly. The only leftovers I got out of the turkey were one leg and thigh and a few random morsels.
And after joking about it for some time, my friend Brian brought the Bacon Explosion. One pound of bacon, one pound of sausage, and 2 hours over low heat on a grill. It’s dense and heavy, but wow is it delicious. Top with a touch of barbeque sauce and you’ll be pleased.
Last night, I had some friends over for a potluck. I had a 9 lb pastured turkey that I bought back in November and after hearing such good things about brining poultry, I decided to give it a shot. After thawing the turkey for a few days in the fridge, I dropped it in the brine about 7 hours before I wanted to put it in the oven. You want to brine for about an hour per pound, but less brine time is better than more. Here we go with the recipe I used:
Brine
1 cup of salt per gallon of water (I needed about 1.5 gallons of water)
1/2 cup raw honey per gallon of water
1 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp dried ginger
I smashed up the ginger, pepper, and coriander in a mortar and pestle, combined all of the ingredients, and dissolved the salt and honey. Put the turkey in, make sure it’s all covered, and put it back in the fridge. Flip it over once about halfway through brining.
Before putting the turkey in the oven, rinse it well to remove any salt sticking to the exterior. The brine should have absorbed into the meat, so there’s no need to do anything to the outside of the bird.
Turkey Stuffing (stolen from Alton Brown)
1 red apple
1/2 onion
1 tbsp sage
3-4 cloves garlic
1 cinnamon stick
Simmer all ingredients about 10 minutes, then stuff into turkey.
I cooked the turkey at 500 degrees for about 20 minutes, then turned the heat down to 350 for about another hour. The pastured turkeys seem to cook quicker and this was a pretty small turkey anyway. The skin was an amazing golden brown and I had to resist every urge to just eat it all while I carved, leaving none for anyone else. That wouldn’t have been very friendly though. The brine made for the juiciest turkey I’ve ever had. I highly recommend brining and will probably do so to every turkey I cook from here out.
Gravy
Of course, since there were giblets, there had to be some gravy. Earlier in the day, I made a broth by simmering the giblets, neck, a chopped onion, and a chopped carrot for about an hour, then chopping the giblets and discarding the rest. To this broth, I added the pan drippings from the turkey and some kuzu root starch to thicken it. It turned out nicely.
Sorry, no pictures of it all cause it disappeared pretty quickly. The only leftovers I got out of the turkey were one leg and thigh and a few random morsels.
And after joking about it for some time, my friend Brian brought the Bacon Explosion. One pound of bacon, one pound of sausage, and 2 hours over low heat on a grill. It’s dense and heavy, but wow is it delicious. Top with a touch of barbeque sauce and you’ll be pleased.
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