Thawing a Turkey

[KeeperOfTheGood]

Hey oh

Ok, did do a search on that title before posting this. As some here know, I don't do whole birds (as a general rule). So, at christamas when I was given a frozen turkey I went out and bought fresh thighs and did those instead.

Last night my wife got tired of waiting on me to do something about it, so took it out of the freezer. Now, I was ignoring it because there is only one day a week when a large dinner like a full turkey is doable (essentially tomorrow).

So, first questions first, should this bird (no tag or label, so, arround 7.5 pounds, yes a small one) be ready to cook tomorrow?

Second, any suggestions on what to do besides cooking it till it is done. Something that IS NOT FESTIVE! My wife does not like morrocan (too sweet) and pinapple or oranges are plain out... Hmmmm, something that has a sweetness and savouryness simmilar to prunes or dates would be the idea.

Thanks

Keeps

[dano1]

probably have to toss it in the sink to defrost completely, unless its been sittin on the counter.....

Ballotine? small enough to work well. little fruit in the stuffin if ya want.

[kuan]

Yeah I say take the bones out, roast and make stock for gravy.

Stuff it with a farce of breastmeat/cream/egg/foie gras cubes/s+p!

Yeah... mmm.

[GaryF]

When she's not looking, sneak it outside onto the rotisserie and bbq nice and slow over some hickory/apple while basting with garlic butter, only stuffing I'd use is onion and garlic

[scott123]

If you ever need to speed up the thawing process and want to be safe about it, utilize the superior conductive qualities of water.

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Seaso...Transcript.htm

[beefcheeks]

Water's good, but still might need more time to defrost thoroughly. Maybe another day in the fridge.

I've done the BBQ idea in a smoker style grill. Brined and slow cooked, it makes for the best tasting and juciest turkey IMO. Keeping the grill temp at a constant 300 was the key.

[KeeperOfTheGood]

Hey oh.

Ok, it was still rock solid yesterday afternoon. Today it is better, but not a day I can spend cooking it. Tommorrow will be the day. SO, about brining.

1 what ratio salt to water do you use? (I would guess 1 tablespoon to a gallon)

2 How long do you brine for? (should I set it up tonight or tomorrow morn).

After that, well, we shall see. I like the ideas so far. So....

[Kerryclan]

KOTG, I've brined a few turkeys and I always use a 1 to 1 ratio of a cup of kosher salt to gallon of water. How much liquid depends on the size of the bird. For a 7.5 pounder, I would use 2 gals. water and 2 cups kosher salt. I also add a bay leaf (2-3 dry, more if fresh) and some pepper corns. Of course, you can add anything you like to it. Refrigerate about 24 hrs.

[beefcheeks]

Like Kerryclan, I use 1 cup kosher (or 3/4 cup granulated) to 1 gallon water. Once the salt ratio is set, the rest is up to you. You can try different spices i.e. indian, south american, asian. Sometimes a mix of citrus juices adds a boost. I also try to separate most of the skin from the breast and back areas for a crisper and tastier skin w/ less fat.

For grill/smoking I like a simple addition of garlic cloves and lemongrass to my brine. You CAN roast the bird in the traditional method BTW. Brining flavors the bird inside and out, and makes it a lot jucier IMO.

A good brine is at least 12 hours. 8-10 hours would probably work with your 7 pounder. I use a heavy duty trash bag and a 5 gallon bucket. Place the bird and brine in trash bag and place in bucket. Tie trash bag tightly to ensure bird is completely macerated in brine, then ice down in sink. This system is really good if space is a factor. Well, I hope this helps. Good luck.

[redace1960]

ok, you've had time. how'd ya do it??? how'd it turn out??

[KeeperOfTheGood]

Hey oh

Ahhhh, my apologies Been really busy. Well, I cooked it. LOL Last night (Sunday) and tonight (Monday!!)! Really, time is a very rare thing to me these days!

I really had a hard time with the notion of doing the whole bird. I really don't like the breast meat as a general rule. So, after some extended discussion with my wife, we decided to separate the bird and do it in two parts. We removed the breast and left it whole. The remaining bird we pieced and liberally coated with chilly powder and dry roasted, served this with nachos and salsa (except that daughter who had sour cream instead of the salsa). Ok, NOT high brow kind of stuck between paydays. I like all of the ideas given, and I am saving them all to try

The breast we brined.

Now, I know that I said not Moroccan, but, as my wife dislikes breast meat more than I dislike breast meat, we decided that if she didn't like it, it was no loss to her. I flavoured the brine as such (approximately, I do this usually by hand, and whim. I follow a general recipe in the back of my head from the first times I did this spice blend)

2 teaspoons of green cardamom
2 teaspoons of thyme
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon fenugreek (on a whim. I like its astringent bean flavour)
1 teaspoon allspice (in place of cinamon which is on my shopping list)
4 bay leaves
(the above spices were whole, they and the next ones all were ground to a fine powder in my coffee grinder )
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon turmeric

1 cup kosher salt
1/2 large navel orange well and truly juiced, and the ground pulp thrown in for good measure! (I didn't zest it. I have tried citrus zest on fowl before, and found it overstrong. Personal fav is lime zest in an herb blend I coat lamb with... ahh but that is a different story....)

water to cover

I let that set overnight, took it out and set it on a bed of celery and leeks, oiled it, paprika'd it, squeezed the juice that was still held in the orange pulp all over it, and roasted it at 400ish for about an hour to an hour and a half (I was catching up on my art site).

It has a wonderful flavour. Not to strong, the orange is there as a note and not in your face. A bit salty, but over such, and I think that came from the juice I squeezed out of the orage pulp). This is something I will do again. Maybe a lime and coriander mix, served chilled on a salad with squash seeds and papaya and lime dressing mmmmmmmmm.


(d'oh! I just realised, corriander sead is NOW also on the shopping list!)