Kass shares his secrets for perfect Thanksgiving turkey

Every year I have to rescue innocent people before they kill their Thanksgiving dinner by taking my scrumptious turkey brining tips and perverting them.

And this year is no different.

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Just follow the attached and classic video, and you’ll do fine. If you have a fresh bird, a bird that hasn’t been infused with water or salt, you may brine it.

In fact, you should brine it, if you want me to like and respect you and if you want your family to say, “Wow, that turkey is moist! Not like your usual turkeys. This one’s different? Did you do it the John Kass way?”

I’m running this column today so you’ll have time enough to get your equipment together. The problem is, even though I take great pains to help you, some people just don’t get it.

“It’s the brining thing,” said Joe Lane, the manager at Casey’s Market in Western Springs. “People are brining, sure, but there’s always an issue. One woman said she wouldn’t do your brining the turkey thing. And I asked why.

“And she said, ‘Because it was so salty.’ So I asked her how long she brined her turkey. And she said, ‘Oh, 36 hours.’ “

36 hours?

“Yeah, no wonder it was salty,” said Joe. “You don’t brine for 36 hours.”

No you don’t.

And that’s why I’m writing this special Web-only column, so you’ll click on the cool video in which ace butcher Tom Truver discusses the popularity of brining, and I teach you how to brine and how to cook your turkey on the Weber kettle, like a civilized human.

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But don’t brine for 36 hours. Do not brine for 36 hours. Hear me? Thirty-six hours is too long.

Brine your bird overnight, breast side down in a brining bag. If you don’t have room in the refrigerator, then put the brining bag in a cooler, and throw in a bag of ice.

All you need for a basic brine, whether for poultry or pork, is a combination of sugar, salt, water and a glug or two of vinegar, either white or apple cider. And spices of your choice.

“John,” writes a guy named Dennis in asking a brining question. “My wife swears by (commercial frozen turkey).”

It was the same brand that the large and hefty woman tried to steal from our family store years ago. I wrote about it last week. It was 24 pounds and frozen solid and she tried to walk out with the lump of frozen poultry between her thighs. She failed in her thieving thigh-mastery.

But let’s return to the letter:

“Can I, or rather should I, brine a (commercial frozen turkey)? Thanks a lot. Dennis W.”

Dennis, Here’s the problem with brining. Do not brine a commercial frozen turkey if it has a tag or a notice saying “water, salt added” or any such thing. It will be too salty.

But if you follow my instructions, you will have a great bird. Why? Because all fresh poultry should be brined. And pork too. I don’t brine loin roasts, but I do brine chops. They’re juicier that way. And that’s why we brine.

Lane said the new trend this year is spatchcocking the turkey. This is basically removing the backbone and flattening the bird out. It is a technique used with grilled chicken, sometimes under a brick, and it would help a great big turkey fit into a smaller charcoal grill.

But my own humble opinion is that spatchcocking is unnecessary and disfigures the Thanksgiving roast. If you’re using a Weber kettle and you’ve purchased a gigantic turkey, you might think about purchasing another attachment: the rotisserie.

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Not to put the bird on the spit and set it to rolling. But the rotisserie attachment comes with 6-inch-tall ring that fits on top of the lower portion of the grill. And those added six inches would give you enough room in a standard Weber to cook a very large bird.

Another brining technique I’d like to try is dry brining with salt. You basically liberally salt the bird, wrap and seal in a tight poultry bag, and rotate it for three days in the refrigerator. The day before cooking, you remove it from the bag and leave it exposed in the refrigerator overnight. This dries and puckers the exterior and makes for a crispier skin when roasting.

But I haven’t yet tried the dry brine. If you’ve tried it and like it — or any of the brining or other techniques — you might think about letting us know in the comment section attached to this column. Cooks never stop trying to learn. And I want to learn from you.

Good luck with your Thanksgiving bird. Do not brine a pre-brined bird. Do not brine for 36 hours. Use a no sodium or low sodium stock for gravy if you brine. And still, it might be salty. I make a separate turkey stock from nonbrined turkey legs, etc., and I reduce that for a gravy.

Homemade stock for gravy is essential. A wood-roasted bird in a Weber kettle is essential. Brining is essential — but not for 36 hours and not with a pre-brined bird.

The main thing is to remember to have fun. It’s not a test to enter graduate school. It’s not a performance.

It’s just cooking a bird. So don’t make a big deal out of it. Have a few drinks, watch the bird, watch some football, talk to family and friends, and when the bird is ready, take it inside and tent it lightly, and let it rest for about 40 minutes. Then slice.

But don’t serve any Jell-O. Especially the green kind with the horrid floating chunks of fruit. Please don’t do that.

Oh, and one more thing: Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and friends.

Is this a great country, or what?

jskass@tribpub.com

Twitter @John_Kass

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Recipe