Asymmetrical Information

I'm glad you discovered the cooking thermometer - it is the only way to cook large and expensive cuts of meat and ensure that they are neither over nor under-cooked. Not that turkey is expensive but there is a big, highly anticipated meal there and you don't want to disappoint.

I brined a 12lb turkey this year with kosher salt, honey, water, and vegetable stock. It sat in the brine overnight in the fridge. I covered the turkey(after drying it) with a thin layer of olive oil and then put it in my smoker. Smoked it with water soaked apple wood (on top of the red hot coals) until the temperature inside the meatiest part of the breast hit 162 degrees (three hours). I covered it with aluminum foil and let it rest for about an hour.

It was tremendous. Give it a try some time, if you are like me you will love the pace and outdoorsiness of smoker cooking.

Of course, it shouldn't matter at all if the salt is coarse/kosher or fine, as long as you get the right amount of it (and even that is pretty roughly estimated).

Kosher salt, while providing deliciousness and texture, is still just salt, after all.

That first reference to Christmas should actually be Thanksgiving, yes? A nitpick, but we are told that the benefits of the 'sphere are instant feedback and corrections. Besides, I just nitpicked Pejman and want to spread the love around this season.

Brining does wonders for pork as well, or anything that is cooked slowly. Toss a couple of shots of Maker's Mark in the brine and give some extra-thick pork chops a nice twist.

How long did you let it soak in the brine?

Ten hours.

The other trick is to cook it upside down, so that all the fat drips down during the cooking process and keeps the white meat moist.

I used almost the same brine except 1 cup salt and no sugar, and stuffed it with an apple, an onion, rosemary, and a cinnamon stick. Also I cooked it at 500 for 30 minutes and then applied aluminum foil over the white meat before cutting down the heat.(RE: Alton Brown) This and the Digital thermometer led to the best turkey I have ever had. And it was the FIRST Thanksgiving for my wife and I together, so super special.

"it's a matter of getting the turkey out of there the exact second it hits 165"

I prefer a low-tech solution known as 'crack the door every once in a while and take a look'. And if you have a new-fangled oven with an internal light and a window in the door, you don't even have to do that. Oh, and 165F is a bit too low for a bird you haven't killed and cleaned yourself.

Of course MEAT IS MURDER, so I don't know why any ehtical person would want something like this.

Because if you're going to murder a bird, defile the corpse, then roast it and eat it, you should at least do a good job. No one appreciates a half-assed effort.

165?

I thought it had to be closer to 180.

david,
Yeah, dude, your 4 hour turkey must be a real treat. Opening the door releases heat. And how do you see temperature anyway? ;-)

Actually, you could pull the bird at 161 since the internal heat is still going to rise a bit as it rests.

I would also like to add that you should buy a wild turkey. We had one this year and it was extraordinary.

Domestic couldn't even come close to wild. Good for you Kate. This reminds me of Ted Nugent. He hunts constantly on the whatever 1000 acres he owns. Fresh game all the time. I hate/envy Ted Nugent!

Now, Totally OT

http://interestalert.com/brand/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/11300000aaa0255b.upi&Sys=siteia&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw;

[...]He cast the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as a direct assault on the Islamic faith itself,..."

These acts of terror, he said, were "nothing whatever to do with Islam," ...[...]

-0-

http://www.walidphares.com/artman/publish/article_415.shtml

AL JAZEERA "POLLS" SHOWS 73% SUPPORT IRAQ ATTACKS(against US/Coalition)

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http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=869

By a margin of 76% to 7%, Muslims back the Kerry/Edwards ticket over the incumbent Bush/Cheney ticket.

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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11479783%5E421,00.html

A LEADING Islamic cleric was discovered returning to Sydney with a 150-page notebook on tactics for warfare, intelligence and martyrdom, a court has been told.

[...]focuses on "infiltration, deception tactics, martyrdom and the euphoria of fighting a jihad outside one's borders".

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http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications10504&Category=publications&Subcategory=0

26 Saudi scholars addressed a message to the Iraqi people in which the scholars call upon them to unite, resist the occupation, and stop internal fighting.

The message was posted to the IslamToday.net website of Salman Al-Awda, a well-known cleric who was jailed in Saudi Arabia in the past for his radical rhetoric.

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[Leftists(?) give alot of attention to the scholars(?)]
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/11/1703879.php

OT

30November04: Bush thanked the hospitable Canadians for waving at him "with all five fingers."

OT

http://instapundit.com/archives/019440.php

HELPING THE TROOPS: Reader Ron Ford sends this very comprehensive list of support-the-troops websites...

I keep my oven turkeys moist simply by putting a pyrex measuring cup full of water in with it to generate humidity. This also works when baking a cake. When smoking turkeys, I've found that setting the bird over a pan of water with the coals around that worked well. Now that I have a serious grill with a side smoke box, the next one will get brined.

"Yeah, dude, your 4 hour turkey must be a real treat."

My 4-hour, 5-pounder turned out pretty damn well, in fact.

"Opening the door releases heat."

And ovens produce replacement heat. Ain't that a kick in the ass?

"And how do you see temperature anyway? ;-)"

You use a regular meat thermometer just like Grandma did.

You folks still use ovens to cook turkeys?

Spit-roasting or deep-frying is the way to go.

Jane,

Are you aware they make a thermometer like this that not only has a unit you put next to the oven, such as the one you show, but also has a unit you can carry with you that will beep like a pager when the food reaches a temperature you specify? This allows you to move around the house while everything is cooking and still keep an eye on things.

Is this "brining" a new trend? I've seen it mentioned a dozen times this year and cannot remember ever hearing about at all before.

Brining, while excellent, is a giant pain in the ass.

Simpler, equally tasty solution: buy a kosher turkey.

Too bad there aren't kosher pork roasts.

Water brings no taste to the party. I recommend low sodium chicken broth for brining (still need add'l water).

david thompson:

the idea is, opening the door releases heat, thereby increasing the total time the turkey is in the oven, thereby drying out the turkey.

gt: 165 is for the white meat, 180's for the dark meat. dark is a lot more resiliant then the white.

i'm with andy- i had a deep fried turkey last year and it was fantastic.

bkw-

you're correct, water does not impart any flavor. The primary reason for brining a turkey, pork loin, or any other low-fat meat to infuse it with salt, which helps the meat to retain moisture during cooking (that's why kosher is about as good as a brined turkey, since it's been genererously salted).

i prefer a brine with loads of garlic cloves, bay leaves, chopped leeks, sage, and thyme leaves. Yum!

I'd given some thought to deep frying a brined turkey, in an attempt to get the best of both worlds, but decided the possibility of the turkey detonating in the fryer nixed that idea.

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