Perfect Poultry

Since no one else has been filling these pages lately I figured I would brag on my Thanksgiving turkey a bit. I usually put the bird in a brine and this year I made a brine that was from Alton Brown.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 large cinnamon sticks
• 12 whole allspice berries
• 12 white pepper corns
• sprig of fresh sage
• sprig of fresh thyme
• 2 gallons of water

Method:

Combine 1 gal of water with all of the ingredients and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. The night before you wish to cook your bird place the bird in a container large enough to hold both the turkey, the seasoned water and the second gallon of water. I use a 5 gal. bucket that I bought in the paint department at Ace Hardware. Allow to brine a minimum of 6 hours but 8 to 12 is better. Place container in a cool place. Since salt is so hostile to bacteria there is no need to refrigerate. I put mine in the garage to both keep it out of the way and take advantage of the cool space.

There are lots of differing opinions about how to cook a turkey. I put mine in a 475 degree oven for an hour and the reduce the heat to 350 after covering the breast with a triangular piece of tin foil – not a tent but a piece of foil that is folded to just cover the breast tightly. When the internal temp of the breast reaches 161 degrees remove from the oven and let stand for 30 minutes. The residual heat will cause the breast temp to increase to about 170 during the resting period.

A few years ago I got a probe thermometer that has a cord going to the digital readout that sits outside the oven I think it’s one of the best investments a cook can make. Every time one opens up the oven the temp drops about 20 degrees thereby increasing the cooking time. This gadget saves that and has an alarm on it for when your food reaches the desired temp. It may not mean much for a turkey that you get on sale for 49 cents a pound just before Thanksgiving, but it’s good insurance for the next time you put a $60 prime rib in the oven to make sure you get the end product you’re looking for.

Anyhow, the bird turned out excellently. It was moist, perfectly seasoned, and had all those wonderful background notes from the sugar and spices. It’s just a little more work but pays big dividends (and the leftovers stay moist as well.).

This brine works well with chicken and duck too.

Posted in Brines, Chicken, Duck, Recipes, Turkey | 2 Comments »