Cash, if your DH can't be persuaded to brine, buy a kosher turkey instead of a self-basting one. The koshering process is basically a dry brine, and yields very similar results. (The main difference being that you can't control the level of seasoning the way you can with your own brine, but it is a lot less work.)
How's it sit? Pretty cunning, don'tchya think?
Jayne ,'The Message'
Natter 47: My Brilliance Is Wasted On You People
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Jessica - Nov 14, 2006 4:52:26 am PST #9918 of 10001
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?
Jesse - Nov 14, 2006 4:58:17 am PST #9919 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
eBay, hon. There are a bunch of resellers in Francophone Canada who sell them at about half the price you'll find in, say, Williams-Sonoma. Including the international shipping.
Huh. There's still the schlepping problem (either I get it delivered to work, or have to pick it up at the inconvenient post office), but huh.
Cashmere - Nov 14, 2006 5:01:20 am PST #9920 of 10001
Now tagless for your comfort.
Cash, if your DH can't be persuaded to brine, buy a kosher turkey instead of a self-basting one. The koshering process is basically a dry brine, and yields very similar results.
He's just freaked by the thought of the work because he's never heard of brining. To be fair, I hadn't either, but I watch Good Eats and I have faith in the science of cooking. It doesn't sound like a lot of extra work to me. But I always helped my mother get up at four a.m. and start cooking Thanksgiving dinner when I was a kid so I'm less stressed by the thought.
We even have an extra fridge so space isn't a problem for the brining container or anything.
I'm determined to convert DH to the process.
Ailleann - Nov 14, 2006 5:04:07 am PST #9921 of 10001
vanguard of the socialist Hollywood liberal homosexualist agenda
Does Alton Brown do interventions?
If so, someone please send him to my tiny tiny kitchen. Or, you know, my bed.
If you're doing the turkey, just do it how you want and let him be convinced by the taste.
I was also a "up early to help Mom with the food" girl. This year we may be going out to eat, heaven help us.
Jessica - Nov 14, 2006 5:04:33 am PST #9922 of 10001
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?
In that case, may I also recommend the CI-endorsed method of also letting the turkey air-dry (uncovered) in the fridge for 24 hours after brining? The moisture and seasoning are still locked into the meat, but the skin ends up bone-dry and gets amazingly crisp.
(I also highly recommend butterflying the turkey so that the thighs and the breast are the same distance from the heating element, but so far I've only been able to convert people to this method if I cook the turkey myself. But it really really works! And it saves time!)
Theodosia - Nov 14, 2006 5:07:16 am PST #9923 of 10001
'we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn't end any time soon"
I'm prepared to relax my not-eating-meat-that-reminds-me-of-living-animals guideline for brined roast turkey, so long as someone else does the carving.
Kat - Nov 14, 2006 5:10:17 am PST #9924 of 10001
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
butterflying chickens works wonderfully. I assume it would be the same for turkeys.
oh man. we need to get stuff together for thanksgiving. That's next week, right?
Lee - Nov 14, 2006 5:11:58 am PST #9925 of 10001
The feeling you get when your brain finally lets your heart get in its pants.
YES IT IS!!!
I need to get fred steak.
sarameg - Nov 14, 2006 5:13:45 am PST #9926 of 10001
WHERE DID THE MONTH GO!?
Ack, too much to do this week.
SailAweigh - Nov 14, 2006 5:15:19 am PST #9927 of 10001
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
My daughter has taken Thankgiving away from me. I can't decide if that makes me happy or want to pout. I'm taking the day before T-day off to help her get ready for it; even with only 5 people coming it's still a lot of work to get everything done because half the fun is all the fixin's.