Friday, November 28, 2008

Post-Ex of the Brined Turkey

I am happy to report that the brined turkey breast I prepared for our Thanksgiving meal was nothing short of fantastic. To say that it was just a turkey breast is a bit of a misnomer. What I inadvertently purchased was the entire chest of a turkey! Anyhow, the directions on the bag were pretty simple:

"Pre-heat an oven to 325F. Rub olive oil over the turkey. Roast, breast side up, until the internal temperature is 170F."
The instructions also listed a chart that showed approximate cooking times. For an 8-9 pound bre
ast, the chart showed cooking times of 2 1/2 - 3 1/4 hours. I put the turkey into my new oven at 3PM and I figured we would be eating around 7PM. How wrong I was. The turkey's internal temperature reached 170F in precisely 2 hours and 12 minutes. My new GE Profile stove certainly cooks things quickly and efficiently! We were able to adjust the cooking start times of the side dishes and dinner was served at approximately 5:30PM.

As for the turkey, I c
arved off a few slices for Deirdre and I to enjoy and enjoy it we did. The meat was tender and juicy, with just a hint of the spices and salt that were used to brine it. The gravy was made using the drippings (what little there were) from the turkey, Dee made the whipped potatoes, and while the turkey was resting I popped the biscuits into the oven. The side dishes and the biscuits were all done at the same time and served piping hot. Yep, it was a great meal.

And yes, Samson got a few snitches of turkey.

1 comment:

Lisa said...

Our brined turkey was also delicious. I'd say it's my new favorite way to to prepare the bird. It also had the most perfect, crisp, golden brown skin - roasted for 30 minutes at 500 degrees, before cranking the heat back to 350. It was incredible!

Now, about that pie. How many cups of apples does it take to make a tower of apples as shown in the picture?

L.