Let's Talk Turkey.

[Redlinerobert]

So fellow food buffs, what do you prep for Thanksgiving? Last year was not a typical Thanksgiving for us, having all of Martha's family as well as mine over....close to 50 people. This year will be Nice. And. Quiet. We're going with a Diestel Pasture Raised bird again, in the 18 lb range. Brined for 48 hours instead of 24 like last year's two birds. I've heard good things about "Willie Bird", but we really liked the Diestel last year. What are you guys doing?

[Redlinerobert]

After 37 views and no responses, this is one of the reasons why a food forum wouldn't work here I imagine.

[J Francho]

We do three...traditional, stuffed in an oven, another brined and deep fried, and the third is a wild card.  We have local farms for our birds.

[Bankbeater]

We do the usual.  I play with the kids, and my wife cooks the bird.

[Redlinerobert]

We do three...traditional, stuffed in an oven, another brined and deep fried, and the third is a wild card.  We have local farms for our birds.

How many people are you feeding to require 3 birds?!  Last year with our big group was nuts.  Won't be doing that again any time soon. 

 

I need to try deep frying a turkey.  I have a few friends that swear by that method. 

[Nice_Bass]

farm raised with about the same time on brine here as well. Frying is great- but clean up is not my forte- I am an oven guy myself.

I think we are really cutting down on the number of people this year as well...which will still not drastically cut down on the number of empty wine bottles at the end of the day.

My favorite thanksgiving tradition-  we always do yard work and wine starting at 8-9 in the morning.  If it is real cold we start with a vin glogg type, if not cold just a standard red table and go from there. 

And then football and food.

[Catt]

Cajun Injector Creole Butter Marinade & Oil Less Fryer!

[Fishes in trees]

I haven't cooked a turkey in years, I've worked on Thanksgiving most of the past 10 years or so.  The last two I did cook, I cooked in the Weber - medium sized birds 12 to 14 lbs.  I remember it was kind of chilly outside, but I built a larger indirect fire and as I recall the turkey was done in a couple of hours or so.    I carefully watch the news on Thursday evening and Friday morning just to check because it isn't a real Thanksgiving until someone burns down their trailer trying to deep fry a turkey.

[nick76]

We usually get a local farm bird and the wife starts the cooking process early in the morning. No brine, no injection, only some butter and seasoning on the outside and stuffed to the brim with her family recipe. I married an excellent cook and my waistline showed it for a good number of years. The last four years we have spent Thanksgiving with my Aunt and her family. She passed away shortly after our first one together so now we have made it tradition to still spend the day with my Uncle and the kids.

[Redlinerobert]

This will be the first year in the last 7 that I won't be fishing Thanksgiving morning as I sold the Z22.  Waiting for Ranger to start Building a 22' in the new layout.  Hopefully this coming year! 

[bigbill]

We stuff the turkey and In the oven it goes.

 

We do a special stuffing. Dry Stuffing bread mix, we add ground sausage, cranberries, mushrooms, celery, carrots, onions, real Cabot butter & seasoning. 

 

I can smell that bird with the fixins already. Now I'm hungry...

 

Our tradition on thanksgiving morning was going bird hunting. We haven't done it in the past few years.

[Bluebasser86]

The last couple years we've done homemade pizza or ham instead. A lot faster and much easier prep. 

[Sam]

First time since I have been married it will be my wife, my grand dog and me for Thanksgiving.

 

Son and his family heading to Philly for my daughter-in-law's family celebration and all of our friends are set for turkey day.

 

We usually cook for at least 20 people, no matter how many show up. But this year I asked my wife to cut it back for just us so we will have a small turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, some veggie and hopefully a white cake with chocolate icing to top it off.

 

Will be "strange" not having the little heathens running around and a lot of chatter. But that's the way it goes.

[Hi Salenity]

I'm sure we'll get to hand select our bird from the local Wally World.

[Hi Salenity]

On a side note my brother is coming back from Pensicola and asked if he needed to bring me another care package.

http://www.joepattis.com/

[Bluebasser86]

I figured for sure when I saw the title and saw it was RLR that started it this was going to be an alcohol thread 

[slonezp]

One is smoked and one is deep fried. The smoked one is brined

[J Francho]

How many people are you feeding to require 3 birds?!  Last year with our big group was nuts.  Won't be doing that again any time soon. 

 

I need to try deep frying a turkey.  I have a few friends that swear by that method. 

 

40+.  One of the turkeys - usually the oven baked one, is specifically for leftovers.  Deep frying -  make sure it's COMPLETELY thawed, lol.  Any brine or injection prep work fine for this.  The bonus is you can fry up wings later for the late game.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

I'll be working, 4th year in a row.

 

Maybe scavenge some leftovers when I get home.

[roadwarrior]

THE PERFECT BIRD

 

http://www.marthastewart.com/947134/thanksgiving#950313

 

I made this two years ago and it came out picture perfect. The flavor, texture, moisture content 

and outer browning is incredible. However, once you taste the stuffing you may decide to just

throw the turkey away! 

[jbsoonerfan]

I will be cooking two breasts this year. I will brine them for 30-40 hours and inject them. I will smoke them for 5-6 hours depending on look and temp. I will finish cooking them in the oven with a butter soaked cheese cloth wrapped around them. I will do all of this on Wednesday. Thursday morning I will slice the breasts and put them in a foil roaster pan. I will season and spray with butter and cook at 125 degrees for about 2 hours. Last year was the first year I attempted this method and it was a success.

[bigbill]

We have home made pasta, meatballs, sausage, pork with home made sauce too. Plus the salad, Turkey and home made cookies, pies, nuts, mints etc. It will be one of my off diet days but everything in moderation. I live for the family gatherings, the great food and friends. The spread we have on Christmas eve is unmatched by any holiday dinner.

 

Tis the season to celebrate the holidays I wish we had more of them.

 

I'm not sure how my two new kittens are going to be with the smells of the holidays.

Every pet gets the good eats too. What ever is left on the bones goes to them. I'm not sure if I'll survive the smells of the turkey cooking.

 

Instead of using the imported hand operated pasta maker I purchased every family household a kitchen aid with the pasta making attachments. Dad doesn't have to crank the handle anymore. Plus I purchased everyone a keurig coffee maker too. When we eat at each other's houses dad gets great homemade pasta and the perfect cup of coffee.

[bigbill]

I'm not sure how we ever survived the holidays at grandma's house. We had a five course meal non

stop food being served from home made soup with the greens to the turkey, the salads, the pasta, and the deserts. Grandma's holidays are never forgotten.

 

The meal prep takes days of shopping and getting everything ready and cooked for a two hour meal if that. Ever wonder about that? Someone gets up at 5am to put the turkey in the oven.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Assuming I'm still in Alabama we are doing Ukrainian style this year. Holopche (stuffed cabbage with bacon, and cooked in tomato sauce and bacon fat), Petahet (perogies), hand braided bread, and other traditional food. Its fun when we branch out.