T-Day Arrived Early

DMW

So today is T-Day for the Wenger's, as my both my brother and sister have plans with in laws on Thursday. We're hosting this year, there will be 18 of us total. I got up early to get things going and it was 20* and windy out. Canada, you could have kept this air mass for an extra day.

Brined an 18.5 lb fresh natural (no injections) turkey, then dried it in the fridge. Doing Mad Max style, hoping everything is smooth sailing. I will be serving sourdough bread I baked on the egg a few days ago (frozen, thawed last night, and will be warmed in the oven). For appetizers I will have crackers and smoked cheese. The turkey, sourdough bread, and cheese are the only contributions from the egg this year. I baked the crackers in the oven last night and I have rolls and sandwich loaves to be baked proofing now. SWMBO is doing the stuffing and sweet potato casserole in the oven today, she baked apple and pumpkin pies last night. All other sides are being brought. 

Looking forward to spending the day with family, food, football, and beverages.

Happy Sunday everyone!

krobertsmsn

Sounds like you're off to a good start.

You made the crackers? I've been thinking of trying that.Please share your experience/recipe.

Hope you have a great day!

Terrebandit

Is that butter smeared all over that bird?

DMW

@Terrebandit Yes, that's an herb butter paste, per Mad Max:

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/madmaxturkey.htm

@krobertsmsn Yes, I made the crackers. SWMBO thinks I'm weird for doing it. I adapted a recipe from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day and used replaced the Rye Flour with AP.

1/4C Sunflower Seeds

1/2C Pumpkin Seeds

3 Tbls flaxseeds

6 Tbls sesame seeds

1 3/4C (8 oz) Rye Flour

1/4 tsp Salt

2 Tbls Vegetable Oil

1 Tbls Hone or Agave nectar

3/4 C Water, Room Temp

Sweet Wash (1 Tbls Honey, 3 Tbls Water, Whisked)

When substituting AP flour for Rye, reduce the water by 1 Tbls for every 2 ounces of white flour substituted.  

Grind sunflower and pumpkin seeds into fine powder. Separately, grind the flaxseeds into a fine powder.

Combine seed powders, whole sesame seeds, flour, salt, oil, honey, and water in mixing bowl. Mix on slow 1 to 2 minutes until a dough is formed. Transfer to floured surface, knead for 30 seconds. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. You can refrigerate dough for up to 1 week, freeze up to 3 months. Roll each piece you will be baking to about 1/16th inch. Brush with either egg was or sweet wash. Garnish with whatever you want. I used sesame seeds this time. You can also use garlic powder if you use an egg wash. I wouldn't mix that with sweet wash. Use a pizza cutter to cut into crackers. Use a cutting mat for this. The first time I did it on our counter tops. Not a good idea. Bake on parchment paper lined pan @325* for 10 min, rotate pans, bake for another 10 min or til finished.

It takes a bit to know when they are done at first, especially if you use Rye Flour, as the color change is not as distinct. Practice and you'll get it.

There's another recipe in the same book for Flaky, Buttery Crackers the kids absolutely love.

DMW

Breasts are done, thighs aren't. I did the ice, legs are toward the gap in the back. Not sure what else I could have done different. Hope the breast meat doesn't dry out. With the brine hopefully it compensates. Next time I'm spatchcocking.

DMW

It turned out great, no worries. Breast was still moist and tender and thighs were perfect. I will do this again. Brining rocks.

krobertsmsn

How did the crackers turn out? Have you made them often?

DMW

krobertsmsn said:

How did the crackers turn out? Have you made them often?

Crackers were good as well. I did those last night, was my 3rd time.

tdub4

Good job! A few questions for ya:

1) did you use a knife or utensil to spread the butter? or hands? I found that using my hands was difficult as it would stick to my gloves.

2) how long did you ice the breast? I had the same issue with my "test" turkey as far as legs/thighs not being ready when breast were. I iced for 20 miutes

3) Did you do anything different to get the legs/thighs up to temp? or did you just leave it on as-is until it was ready? How far off were they?

Thanks!

DMW

@tdub4

1) I used a fork to spread the paste. I did it with gloved hands last time and noticed the same thing.

2) I iced the breasts for 20 min. I'm thinking an increase on this might help.

3) Nope, didn't do anything but wait and stress. The thighs were 165 at the lowest probe point.

Here it is. I didn't get a chance to get a pic cut open, everyone was hungry.

henapple

The skin looks crispy... Was it. I usually go with a cajun rub, How'd the herb rub taste?

DMW

henapple said:

The skin looks crispy... Was it. I usually go with a cajun rub, How'd the herb rub taste?

Yes, skin was crispy, some parts more than others. I think the butter helps with browning and crisping the skin. I really like the herb butter rub, was a very traditional turkey flavor, which is what I was shooting for with this cook. I used a small amount of pecan chips for smoke, and was just enough.

caliking

A home run!! The crackers sound so good. I hate buying crackers for the holiday get togethers and then having a lot left over - they just go to waste. I think I would rather make them myself. Maybe that Reinhart book can be SWMBO's  kwanzaa gift this year.

Bigger birds are more likely to cook unevenly, I think. I have found that ~12lbs birds cook the best. Re: icing the breast, try 45mins. That's how long I had read it needed to be iced when I smoked a turkey last year.

Jeremiah

Looks great. I hope mine come out that well.

SkinnyV

Drippings? Every turkey on an egg the drippings look burned. Can't be good for gravy.