Tonight's Dinner - Maple Brined Turkey

QBabe

Back in November, when turkeys were $.79/lb. I bought a few and put them in my freezer to have throughout the year. I knew that after the Florida Fest last weekend, I'd want this weekend to be one where I just spent time around the house and could kick back and relax. So, I decided to do a turkey. This is only the second turkey I've ever done (oven or egg), but it was the BEST and most succulent turkey I've ever had...![p][p]I made up a brine with water, kosher salt, maple syrup, black peppercorns, onion, bay leaf, lemon zest and orange zest. Then I put the 20 lb bird in and let it sit overnight. Cooked it today at 325°-350° for about 5 hrs. Let it sit while I made the gravy (also the best I've ever made to date) and had a wonderful meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots and cornbread.[p]MMMMMMmmmmmmm!
Tonia
:~)

GrillMeister

QBabe,[p]Looks yummy! What did you use for a brining container?

wdan

QBabe,
I ditto GrillMeister on the looks. Did you put anything in the cavity? Going along with your brine recipe, I would think onion and citrus could work well inside.

Rib-Rob

QBabe,
I have a question on your web site. When I click on a recipe there, I get a downloaded document. That is not bad, but either my browser, or my computer, or Mr. Gates' Word program messes things up when it sees a fraction. "1/2" apparently becomes "_", maybe.
Anyway, I don't have any way to verify fractional amounts in those recipes. Have you heard of this before? Am I doing something wrong or different? Lots of good things on your site, but I am afraid to try any for fear of screwing things up. Thanks for any advice. Rob

QBabe

Rib-Rob,[p]That's interesting...I know sometimes my Word autocorrects to make the fractions a symbol, but I thought I had fixed that. Maybe I'll convert them all to html files and just let it pull up another web page....[p]Thanks for the input.
Tonia

QBabe

GrillMeister,[p]We used a 5 gallon food safe container that we sat the turkey in, poured in the brine, and then put in the refrigerator. Worked out really well...[p]Tonia
:~)

QBabe

WDAN,[p]Nope, nothing in the cavity, but onions and citrus would have worked nicely...maybe next time.[p]Tonia
:~)