Your brine turkey is going to rock, Rex. And the compound butter rub is the way to go. Don't skimp on the rosemary!

 

Never did upside down turkey, but I have done the turkey in a brown paper bag trick (to keep it from getting too brown on the top) with good results.

 

 

Thanks Jim, I hope you are right. I made the brine tonight out of vegetable stock, kosher salt, light brown sugar and peppercorns. It's soaking now. Tomorrow, I will stuff the bird with an apple, lemon, some chopped onion, rosemary and thyme (fresh, not dried).

 

I'm looking forward to it. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Flaxx, you a Good Eats fan?

on turkey day my old man makes the deep fried bird and my mom makes a traditional bird. Do you guys really eat the stuffing inside the bird? I thought it was only used for flavor, and never thought about eating it because it gets placed in the turkey when its raw.

 

I don't understand, it gets cooked along with the raw turkey.

I don't understand, it gets cooked along with the raw turkey.

I guess you are right. Im gonna try it this year. I never ate it because my mom would never let us eat it when we were younger.................there must be steroids in macaroni

I don't understand, it gets cooked along with the raw turkey.

 

The center of the bird doesn't always get hot enough, long enough, to cook the stuffing.

The center of the bird doesn't always get hot enough, long enough, to cook the stuffing.

 

Huh, I've never had a problem with it, to me it tastses much better than the stuff in the pan.

Huh, I've never had a problem with it, to me it tastses much better than the stuff in the pan.

totally, it ALWAYS gets cooked in the bird and its awesome.

Can it be done with a different oil?

Huh, I've never had a problem with it, to me it tastses much better than the stuff in the pan.

 

It does but numerous agencies including the USDA warns against it.

How'd everyone's birds turn out?

 

We did one in the oven as well as one in the deep fryer. The fried one was probably left in for about five minutes too long (which is funny, because the recipe called for ten MORE minutes -- if we didn't take it out when we did, the thing would've burnt to a crisp), but it was still delicious. We also tried a different type of mashed potatoes this year -- Elton Brown's way with garlic cloves and parmasean cheese) -- and they were also delicious.

 

And now it's leftovers for the next few days -- no complaints here.

Can it be done with a different oil?

yes, but Peanut is used because of its high flash point and the fact that it is healthier than most other oils. I believe you can use Cannola though.

 

My birds turned out awesome, the deep fried one took 27 min and was unreal.