Turkey Tips

A primer on brining and cooking

Hi all!

As Thanksgiving approaches and turkey orders continue rolling in, we thought it would be a good time to offer up a little guidance around seasoning and cooking a turkey.

There is plenty of information available regarding the best way to season and cook a turkey - so our goal isn’t to tell you what is best, but to give you some information so that you can choose a method that will result in a delicious turkey without too much fuss.

No, we will not be walking you through the art of the deep-fried turkey nor the turducken - yes, we will talk you through the pros and cons of a dry brine versus a wet brine, and a whole turkey versus a spatchcocked turkey. As always, we will be selling Rain Shadow dry brine and wet brine mixes at the shop for your convenience - so once you decide which route to take, come visit us and let us help you get set up for the holiday. Additionally, this year we will be have (free!) brine bags for you, in addition to our standard Thanksgiving offerings!

Brining:

Before brining (wet or dry), take your turkey out of the vacuum pack and remove the neck and giblets. If you find that your turkey has a little ice on the surface, just run cold water over it for a few minutes until it melts (not necessary if you’re wet brining).

Wet Brine: Wet brining a turkey requires letting it sit in seasoned salt water for 24-72 hours. As the turkey sits in the salt water, it will absorb the salt and sugar from brine through osmosis. In addition to seasoning the bird, the salt absorbed from the brine causes the protein bundles in the meat to push apart from one each other, tenderizing it.

The pros: Well seasoned, moist, and tender meat

The cons: Difficult to store safely, pan drippings can be watery

If brining, we suggest using our Rain Shadow brine mix so that you don’t have to search for the perfect salt to water ratio. To prepare the brine, simply add the mix to a gallon of water and boil to dissolve the salt and sugar. It is VERY IMPORTANT to cool the brine completely in the refrigerator. Once cooled, move to a brine bag (which we have for you at the shop!) and submerge the turkey. Leave the turkey in the brine for up to 24 hours, flipping if necessary. If you run out of room in the fridge, consider placing the turkey in its bring bag, into a cooler. Surround the brining turkey with ice, but do not put ice in to the brine bag as this will dilute the brine. Remove the turkey 2 - 24 hours before cooking so that the surface of the turkey can dry out, ensuring a crisp, golden brown skin upon roasting. Please note that the skin of the turkey will burn very quickly if it’s not removed from the brine at least two hours prior to cooking. This is because the sugars from the brine sit on the skin of the turkey and tend to caramelize too quickly unless given enough time to equalize.

Dry Brine: Using a dry brine simply requires that you rub the seasoning salt over the surface of your turkey. While it doesn’t add moisture the turkey, it will result in a well seasoned turkey. If salting more than 24 hours in advance, I suggest placing it into a brine bag or placing it onto a tray and covering it with plastic. Just like with a brine, as the turkey absorbs the salt from the rub, the salt will breakdown the protein structure which causes the proteins to lose some water. This makes the meat more tender, and if covered, the moisture that is lost will be re-absorbed. (This is the same reason we suggest cooling braised meat in its braising liquid; denatured proteins will reabsorb some of their lost moisture.)

The pros: Easier to store in your fridge, well seasoned, better drippings for gravy, crispier skin

The cons: Less moisture than a wet brined turkey

Place the turkey on a rack over a baking tray. If using the Rain Shadow Dry Rub, rub it liberally over the surface and the cavity of the turkey. Move the turkey to the refrigerator overnight. This allows the skin to dry out which will ensure even browning. Just the same as brining, uncover the turkey 2 - 24 hours before cooking so that the surface of the turkey can dry out, ensuring a crisp, golden brown skin upon roasting. When cooked through, remove from the oven and let rest at least 20 - 30 minutes before carving. You can keep your turkey hot for up to an hour by covering it with foil and draping a kitchen towel or two over the top to insulate.

Roasting:

Spatchcocked vs. Whole Turkey Cooking

Ten years ago a good friend and I had a disagreement over the best way to cook a turkey. He wanted to spatchcock it, I wanted to roast it whole. We ended up having two turkeys on the table that year, and it remains a particular diplomatic low for me.

So let’s talk it out:

Spatchcocking: Spatchcocking (or butterflying) has become very popular in the last decade. To spatchcock a turkey, the back bone is removed so that it can be flattened. It helps ensure an evenly cooked bird, since the breasts (which are the most susceptible to overcooking) lay flat with the rest of the meat, and decreases the cooking time substantially. This is a fantastic approach for those of you with small ovens and many other things to bake, or for those of you whose greatest fear is an overcooked turkey breast.

Whole Turkey: It’s classic! And yes, can result in a poorly cooked turkey if you’re not attentive. Whole turkey roasts can be tricky to cook well since the breasts will inevitably be slightly overcooked by the time the legs are cooked through. Unfortunately, there is no magic solution for this. What I can suggest is that when your turkey is cooked through, that you let it cool for 20-30 minutes, remove the breasts and slice them very thin and then bury them in the gravy that you made from the drippings (while your bird was cooling).

To roast: Bake your Turkey at 300°F. Roast until the turkey is golden brown and deepest part of breast registers 150°F on meat thermometer and legs register at least 160°F. If you’re roasting it whole, this should take 3 to 4 hours for a 10-14 pound turkey. Check on the turkey after about 2 hours, and if the skin isn’t browning, increase the oven temperature by 50°F (remember, every oven is different!). When cooked through, remove from the oven and let rest at least 20 - 30 minutes before carving. You can keep your turkey hot for up to an hour by covering it with foil and draping a kitchen towel or two over the top to insulate.

What about the stuffing?

Stuffing is best left as a side dish. Stuffing your bird will mean that it’ll take longer to cook, and by the time the stuffing is safely at 155°F, the rest of your bird will be overcooked. In lieu of stuffing, toss some garlic, herbs, a lemon or two, and plenty of salt into the cavity of the bird.

Troubleshooting:

(speaking from experience here)

Turkey is overcooked: Oh well! Make a quick gravy (equal parts butter and flour, stock, and pan drippings). Encourage your guests to pour it all over the turkey, it’ll contribute an illusion of moistness. Remember that you’ve done a kind thing in offering to cook the turkey, feel a solidarity to all the other cooks who have accidentally overcooked their turkey while hosting, and don’t beat yourself up.

Turkey is undercooked: Yikes! If you’ve already let the bird cool and the breasts are done, feel free to cut them off and then place some foil where they once were. Slip the bird back into the oven and let it continue to cook until done.

You dropped the turkey: Give it a rinse, shake it off (literally and figuratively), have an extra glass of wine.