Happy Thanksgiving

[Tony Meola]

Well let me kick it off.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We are getting close to the day we get to sit down with our family and friends and enjoy great food and great company.

It is a day that we should all reflect on and give thanks for the great country we live in.

We also need to think back and give thanks to those that have made it possible for us to keep this nation great. A lot of people have given their lives so that we can all continue to enjoy this day.

Let us also not forget those near and dear to us who are no longer with us to celebrate this day and a special remembrance to Capt. Pat who brought us all together.

[Rawleigh]

Here, here!!

[MarkS]

Well said Tony.

[Navatech]

Hear!... Hear!...

[Stephan]

Well put Tony -
Happy thanksgiving to all with thanks also for those who keep this virtual association real and vital.
Stephan

[CamB25]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The bird is in the brine!

[RAWicklund]

Cam my friend........we're going to need to source that brine bag. I just flew into Seattle today and my Mom has 48 chores lined up for me. Went to the store twice for a brine bag......came back twice with wrong item.... Oven bags we used previously had a zip lock closure...no luck for the ones I bought. Went back to store and purchased a complete brining kit....all spices included with bag....got home and it's a non zip lock bag also, so everything went in the garbage.....so I'm out 7 bucks for wrong items...... 20 bucks of wasted gas.....and I've had about 6 cocktails and no patience for Hillary lectures......guess I should have known my environment and left my " make America great" t shirt at home........life is good.....Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Ray

[Navatech]

I should have known my environment and left my " make America great" t shirt at home

Look at the bright side... You could have been wearing this:

[Carl]

Happy Thanksgiving to all--


-to Capt Pat for getting this sandbox going.
-to Bruce for keeping it going.


-to Hillary--- going, going...gone! Hip Hip Hooray!

[CamB25]

Ray - I feel for you! You are in the land of the bizarre out there! Skip the bag - use a cooler. Brine/Ice/bird and leave it outside overnight. This is the "camping" method.

Enjoy!

[Bruce]

Making some progress on the domain. Will do an auction after first of year on some items for fundraiser after Corp is formed and bank account opened. Will make sure a PayPal account is available for those wanting to give other than outdated paper checks.

We are going to be okay, thus said the Christians in Rome when they heard they had front row seats for the circus lion show at the collusseum.

Happy Thanksgiving.

[Bertramp]

A happy & healthy thanksgiving to all !!
.....and a wish of comfort to friends that have lost loved ones and are spending a first Thanksgiving with that "empty seat"
All the best folks

[Dug]

Right back at you all. I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you Pat. Thank you Bruce. Thank you Mom, Dad, and all I am fortunate to be surrounded by.

Thank you to my amazing daughter. And my other half. and my dog.

And I am completely serious.

Have a great long weekend all.

Best,

Dug

[Yannis]

Cam and others,

When you say "brine" do you mean salty water?
If yes, what's the purpose?

I would have thought that a red wine/herbs/spices based marinade, would turn a mere turkey into a "game tasting" bird.

Happy thanksgiving, anyway! and cheers with the help of that good wine !

[Bob H.]

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Yannis 2 cups kosher salt one cup sugar 2 1/2 gallons of water dissolve on low heat let cool, place bird in brine for 8 hours. Moist n tender bird. BH

[IRGuy]

And while enjoying the day lets all remember to give thanks to the best of the best we have to offer.. our men and women in the military, past and present, and their families at home who support them. Where would we be today if it wasn't for our heroes who gave their lives over so many years, in so many wars, in so many foreign places? We here are very fortunate, the US is truly the best country in the world.. their blood and sacrifice has made it so!

[Yannis]

Can you guys find "gluhwine"?
Its this spice scented wine they drink almost hot up in the mountains, mainly in Austria, Switzerland, perhaps southern Germany too.
Try marinate any meat in it. It already contains all the goodies, spices, herbs etc and if you add some olive oil and additional spices of your own taste, it converts a simple dull anything into almost game!
Throw away the marinade before cooking.
Not very practical for a whole turkey because youd need a lot of it, however for those who precut turkey portions (so they dont have to do it during serving) you can marinade the pieces fitting in an oven baking dish with just one bottle.
There is a similar variation consumed in Scandinavia sold at Ikea for 2-3 euros per 1 litter bottle.
PS: I would not add salt in a marinade as it would prohibit absorption of humidity by the meat, I would add salt later during cooking. Nor would I add in it any salted ingredients, like cubes or soy sauce.

[Tony Meola]

Yannis

I have never seen it around here. I will have to check Ikea be t time I stop in there.

[Yannis]

Tony,

On the left is the gluhwein. On the right is the ikea wine.
Both are only sold around xmas; I buy 10 bottles, so as to be equiped during those summer bbq's.
I bring 2 bottles with me in the boat in the summer.

[Carl]

Yannis,
With a dry salt brine you are correct in that it will pull moisture out...makes for a crisp, intensely flavored skin.

But a wet brine is different, the low salt solution is pulled into the meat along with any flavorings added to the brine by osmosis. Remember that word from grade school, where a solution wants to go into equilibrium and will pass through cell walls. Higher salt solution outside and lower salt solution inside meat want to equalize so salted brine and flavorings pass through cell walls. The moisture adds to juiciness and the salt breaks down the tissue for tenderness.

A wet brine is not a marinade.

I will however, give a look for that wine...sounds interesting...like a mulled wine.

[Navatech]

A wet brine is not a marinade.

Technically you're correct... Having said that, for many people putting meat into a flavored liquid means "marinading"... Which, since even the origin of the word alludes to brining isn't really that big a deal... Brining, marination and maceration are all similar and related to each other...

like a mulled wine.

That's EXACTLY what it is... Mulled wine...

[Yannis]

Carl you are correct.

I should have thought you are not marinating, youre rendering the turkey more what, juicier? tastier? Maybe, all of the above.
However, Bob and possibly everyone else, defined brine without much of other ingredients, so where's the extra taste?
Rendering something just saltier, very seldom does it add to the overall taste. Except for eggs or fries ...

So, instead of trying to develop a tasty turkey (inherently tasteless bird to me - thats why they stuff it and make gravies and sauces; to give some little taste to this cotton tasting dull bird) by puting-in more moisture via osmosis, plus the salt that blocks your taste buds from telling whats good or not (garlic and lemon both have this bad habbit too, thats why you meet those ingredients in cuisines that want to hide, not enhance the ingredients), why not try another version, the one with this marinade. Not for thanksgiving perhaps, but on a Sunday family lunch. Better also substitute the turkey for chicken or pork.
I should send you some wine but its difficult...

[Tony Meola]

Yannis

if cooked right it is not that bad of a bird. In fact I screwed up this year and should of had dust but instead the best bird we ever did. I did not brine the bird either.

I usually start the bird out at 450 degrees for 30 minutes then turn the oven down to 350. This year in the heat of the battle getting final Oreos ready and putting up with my mother in law who was staying with us and kept yelling from down stairs can I help, I forgot to lower the heat. Two hours into the book my wife realized the bird is still in at 450 degrees.

I quick take the birds temp and the breast is at 180 degrees. This usually means the white meat is dust. I pull the bird out and cover it in aluminum foil, and there it sits for two hours.

Now the time of reckoning comes. The company is waiting and I am thinking I have to order Chinese take out. I cut into the breast and it is still steaming hot, fully cooked to perfection, white meat and dark meat extremely moist.

What can I say, maybe I found a new way to cook the big guy.

[Yannis]

Ha, Tony, finally all families are practically the same...been there...I'm glad you didnt have to order take away !
What wraps it all up though, is your mil shouting from below to offer help ... all the money !

[Carl]

Yannis,
A good quality turkey cooked right is delicious.

An injected commercial bird can be bland at best, usually overdone tough and dry if waiting on those pop up timers...
But to tell the truth I still like'em...


The way I see it a marinade is like dipping a French fry in ketchup... coats the outside. If left longer some flavor will seep just inside at the surface. Marinades tend to be bold in flavor and have acids that break down some outer tissue tenderizing meat.

A brine is a low salt solution that is pulled into the food...think pickle. It is the low salt solution that allows the brine to enter the cucumber... in the case of a pickle the brine has lots of flavorings, dill garlic, peppercorns, sugar that all get pulled in.

Brining a turkey with salt and water does 2 things.
The water gets inside the meat for more juice.
The salt breaks down the meat fibers making it more tender.

Now some turkey brines will add sugar, brown sugar, garlic, bay leaves etc etc...

As to being salty...the brine does add some salt obviously, but not much.


Personally, I prefer a quality bird, cooked just right. But good is good and I have had many a good bird done every which way.
And some bad ones done every which way.

My .02 tip is to cook breast side down first 3/4 of the way then flip to brown breast.
Chef at a restaurant I worked said the drier breast is self basting when upside down so it doesn't dry out.

[neil]

Kosher salt ,water and pickling spice also add the juice of a lemon,can't go wrong