Turkey Options

It was not very long ago that about the only options for your Thanksgiving turkey were whether it would be stuffed or unstuffed and whether you would splurge for the Butterball.  I think that was part of what made the 1983 St. Elsewhere "A Wing and a Prayer" episode so funny.  In that episode, Dr. Craig (William Daniels) and Dr. Ehrlich (Ed Begley, Jr.) had a turkey cooking contest.  As I recall, Dr. Craig's bird was poached in wine and Dr. Ehrlich grilled his turkey.  One of the recipes involved kiwis, but that detail is long lost to my old age.



Sometime after that, Bobbi & I began our annual turkey cooking competition - she bakes, I grill or smoke (of course I win every year).  I really like this Maple Smoked Turkey Recipe from Steven Raichlan (I use a turkey, not a turkey breast).  Bobbi usually does an herb-butter under the skin of hers, she just does a breast, which is always wonderfully moist.

Anyway I'm trying to come up with all of today's turkey options.  Here's my start:

Fresh
Frozen

Name Brand
Generic

Full Bird
Breast Only

Stuffed
Unstuffed

Brined
Salted (last year's fad)
Neither

Rub
Injection
Herb or Other Butter
Glaze or Baste

Bake
Fry
Grill
Smoke
Poach

Breast Up
Breast Down

What is your strategy for the ultimate Thanksgiving Turkey?  I'm still contemplating how to do this year's bird.

full bird--GOT to have dark meat!
Smoked-might use pecan wood instead of mesquite
fresh local grown organic
unstuffed
with a rub and with lemons-carrot and herbs inside the cavity

You're missing the two most important:
Deep-fried
Turducken

I wonder how Ed Begley Jr. prepares turkey these days.
 
I bet it is on the solar roof panel by now....for Thanksgiving.

We will brine and stuff our turkey and bake it in the oven. One year I deep-fried a 10 lb. turkey on the porch. My wife, not trusting my experimenting, baked another turkey in the oven so we ended up with two turkeys. The deep-fried was juicier but by the time you pay some $20 plus for a one time use of peanut oil it is kind of expensive. Also, in Minnesota, it could be terribly cold outdoors on Thanksgiving to be standing around and frying a turkey. That could be why it is much more popular in the South.

I will go to a real farm on LI to get a fresh killed Broad Breasted White turkey, 16-18 lbs.
Wash and rinse in Cognac, stuff with White Castle Stuffing and baked, breast up 325F 20 minutes per pound, covered in foil for the first 2 hours.

Don't knock Butterball, they are very delicious too and would settle for that if none else.  I just hate having a frozen turkey in the fridge for 4 days and it never thaws out right for me.  How many of us have images of being raised with a partially frozen Turkey on Thanksgiving, the parents panicking and scrambling in different ways to thaw it out.
Please, slaughter it on Tuesday, I'll pick it up Wednesday. 

We'll be a small group, none of which is crazy about dark meat, so we'll cook a full breast out on the grill over some root veggies & herbs.

https://www.masterbuilt.com/mbtv08/index.aspx

• Fresh          --less sodium, and less messing around waiting for it to thaw.
• Generic     --names don't matter to me, we may be trying a Roseland turkey from Aldi this year.
• Full Bird            \   dude, do both. leftover turkey = sandwiches =
• Breast Only      /   also you need the carcass for the soup
• Unstuffed      <----i have become freaky about germs in my old age. also i like it when the stuffing is crunchy on top.
• Neither
• Rub
• Injection                       \    i am completely torn on this one. I think i'd rub it with
• Herb or Other Butter    /   butter & herbs, slide a few cloves of garlic under the
• Glaze or Baste                    skin, and maybe inject leftover rub & baste with it.
• Poach    <---if anyone can make a poached turkey taste good, it's you & the Mrs
• Breast Down     hehehehe. But seriously, it keeps if from getting dry

What is your strategy for the ultimate Thanksgiving Turkey?  I'm still contemplating how to do this year's bird.

My strategy is not to make one at all!!! We make meatballs & sauce & homemade pasta for Thanksgiving. My uncle married someone who is not Italian a few years back so now we are back to turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes made with half & half or real cream, and gravy IN ADDITION to the green beans with bacon, yams, ham, green salad, fruit salad, Italian cream cake, my dad's cousin's Cheese Dream Bars, and a birthday cake for my grandfather some years. My great aunt makes the turkey & I think she uses 2 containers of salt. She shoves rosemary & some other spices in the cavity.

I actually have to call her to see what is up. As the only granddaughter, I have been delegated to putting a cobbler apron on & making sure it's all timed out just right. Also my great aunt broke her shoulder & wrist earlier in the year, so I think my job is now "other duties as assigned", aka Nonna's runner.

Oh & I forgot the 4 loaves of fresh seedless Italian bread from Cardinali's bakery.



grrrrrrrr formatting me no likey

s_d - That's is well thought out and planned.

One tip - for Bobbi's 'breast-only bird' we always buy a 22-24 pound bird and split the breast from the back and thighs.  You cannot find that size 'breast-only' if you are shopping for one.  The thighs go in the smoker with my turkey - someone always wants more smoked dark meat - and the back goes into the stockpot for richer gravy.

We've found cooking an unstuffed breast will optimize the moistness of the white meat.  We don't need to cook the stuffing through and don't have to worry about cooking the rest of the bird.  We just concentrate on the breast.  And you know I am good at that. 

Jim

I am making 3 whole turkeys(12 pounders) for my family of 16:
 
Roasting one the day before Thanksgiving-taking the meat off the bone, using the drippings & carcass for broth for the dressing.
Roasting one Thanksgiving morning so the house smells like turkey when everyone is waking up.
My husband is deep frying one just before our Thanksgiving dinner.